Node-RED Google Calendar Enhanced

Enhanced Google Calendar nodes for Node-RED with improved error handling, event links, delete functionality, and robust OAuth2 authentication.

Note: This package is based on the original work by @platmac/node-red-google-calendar with significant improvements and enhancements.

✨ Features

• 📅 Complete Calendar Operations: Create, read, update, and delete Google Calendar events
• 🔗 Event Links: Direct links to calendar events and Google Meet video calls
• 🛡️ Robust Error Handling: Comprehensive error responses with detailed debugging information
• 🔐 Enhanced Authentication: Improved OAuth2 token refresh and management
• 📧 Attendee Management: Support for event attendees and notifications
• 🎥 Google Meet Integration: Automatic conference creation with video links
• 🌍 Timezone Support: Proper timezone handling for global events

🚀 What's New in v3.0.1

• NEW: deleteEvent node for removing calendar events
• IMPROVED: Enhanced error handling across all modules
• FIXED: OAuth2 token refresh issues causing 401 errors
• ADDED: Event links (EventLink and MeetLink) in all responses
• ENHANCED: Proactive token management with expiry buffering

📦 Installation

Via Node-RED Palette Manager (Recommended)

1. Open Node-RED
2. Go to Manage Palette → Install
3. Search for @marek-knappe/node-red-google-calendar
4. Click Install

Via npm

npm install @marek-knappe/node-red-google-calendar

🔧 Setup & Configuration

1. Google Calendar API Setup

1. Create Google Cloud Project

   • Go to Google Cloud Console
   • Create a new project or select existing one

2. Enable Google Calendar API

   • Go to APIs & Services → Library
   • Search for "Google Calendar API"
   • Click Enable

3. Create OAuth 2.0 Credentials

   • Go to APIs & Services → Credentials
   • Click Create Credentials → OAuth 2.0 Client IDs
   • Choose Web application
   • Add authorized redirect URIs (shown in Node-RED)

2. Node-RED Configuration

1. Add Calendar Node

   • Drag any Google Calendar node to your flow
   • Click Edit on the Google Account field

2. Enter Credentials

   • Client ID: From Google Cloud Console
   • Client Secret: From Google Cloud Console

3. Authenticate

   • Click Authenticate with Google
   • Grant permissions in browser
   • Click Add to complete setup

📋 Available Nodes

🔍 Get Event

Retrieves events from Google Calendar within a specified time range.

Input Properties:

• msg.payload.timemin - Start time (e.g., "2024-01-01 09:00:00")
• msg.payload.timemax - End time (e.g., "2024-01-01 17:00:00")
• msg.calendarId - Calendar ID (e.g., "[email protected]")

Output Properties:

• msg.payload - Array of event objects
• msg.eventId - Event identifier
• msg.calendarId - Calendar ID
• msg.start - Event start time
• msg.end - Event end time
• msg.title - Event title
• msg.attendees - List of attendees
• msg.EventLink - Direct link to calendar event
• msg.MeetLink - Google Meet video call link

➕ Add Event

Creates new events in Google Calendar.

Input Properties:

• msg.calendarId - Target calendar ID
• msg.title - Event title
• msg.description - Event description
• msg.location - Event location
• msg.start - Start time
• msg.end - End time
• msg.timezone - Timezone offset
• msg.conference - Enable Google Meet

Output Properties:

• msg.payload - Success/Error message
• msg.eventId - Created event ID
• msg.meetLink - Google Meet link (if enabled)
• msg.eventLink - Direct calendar event link
• msg.success - Boolean success flag

✏️ Update Event

Modifies existing calendar events.

Input Properties:

• msg.calendarId - Calendar ID
• msg.eventId - Event ID to update
• msg.title - New title
• msg.description - New description
• msg.location - New location
• msg.conference - Enable/disable Google Meet
• msg.emailNotify - Notify attendees of changes

Output Properties:

• msg.payload - Success/Error message
• msg.thisEventId - Updated event ID
• msg.meetLink - Google Meet link
• msg.eventLink - Direct calendar event link
• msg.success - Boolean success flag

🗑️ Delete Event

Removes events from Google Calendar.

Input Properties:

• msg.calendarId - Calendar ID
• msg.eventId - Event ID to delete
• msg.emailNotify - Notify attendees of deletion

Output Properties:

• msg.payload - Success/Error message
• msg.eventId - Deleted event ID
• msg.calendarId - Calendar ID
• msg.success - Boolean success flag

💡 Use Cases

🤖 Automated Meeting Reminders

// Get upcoming meetings and send reminders
const events = await getEvents({ timemin: "now", timemax: "+1h" });
events.forEach(event => {
    if (event.attendees.length > 0) {
        sendReminder(event.title, event.EventLink, event.attendees);
    }
});

🏢 Room Booking System

// Check room availability and book
const availability = await getEvents({ 
    calendarId: "[email protected]",
    timemin: "2024-01-15 09:00:00",
    timemax: "2024-01-15 10:00:00"
});

if (availability.length === 0) {
    await addEvent({
        calendarId: "[email protected]",
        title: "Team Meeting",
        start: "2024-01-15 09:00:00",
        end: "2024-01-15 10:00:00"
    });
}

📅 Daily Agenda Notifications

// Send daily agenda to team
const today = new Date().toISOString().split('T')[0];
const agenda = await getEvents({
    timemin: today + " 00:00:00",
    timemax: today + " 23:59:59"
});

const agendaText = agenda.map(event => 
    `${event.start} - ${event.title}`
).join('\n');

sendNotification("Today's Agenda", agendaText);

🏠 Smart Home Integration

// Trigger home automation based on calendar events
const events = await getEvents({ timemin: "now", timemax: "+30m" });
events.forEach(event => {
    if (event.title.includes("Meeting")) {
        turnOnLights();
        adjustThermostat();
        sendNotification("Meeting starting soon", event.EventLink);
    }
});

🔍 Error Handling

All nodes provide comprehensive error handling with consistent response formats:

// Success response
{
    payload: "Successfully added event to calendar",
    success: true,
    eventId: "abc123",
    eventLink: "https://calendar.google.com/event/...",
    meetLink: "https://meet.google.com/..."
}

// Error response
{
    payload: "Failed to add event: HTTP Error: 400 - Invalid request",
    success: false,
    error: "HTTP Error: 400 - Invalid request",
    statusCode: 400
}

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Common Issues

401 Authentication Error

• Tokens automatically refresh every 5 minutes
• Check Google Cloud Console credentials
• Ensure Calendar API is enabled

Calendar Not Found

• Verify calendar ID format
• Check calendar sharing permissions
• Ensure OAuth scope includes calendar access

Event Creation Fails

• Validate date/time formats
• Check required fields (title, start, end)
• Verify calendar write permissions

Debug Mode

Enable detailed logging in Node-RED settings to troubleshoot issues.

📚 Examples

See the examples/ folder for complete flow examples and screenshots.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues and pull requests.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Original Work: Based on @platmac/node-red-google-calendar by Hooke Jr.
• Enhancements: Significant improvements by Marek Knappe
• Community: Node-RED community for feedback and testing

📞 Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Documentation: GitHub Wiki
• Email: [email protected]

Made with ❤️ for the Node-RED community