apple-reminders

Apple Reminders

Overview

apple-reminders is a built-in native command backed by EventKit. It exposes five verbs — list, create, update, complete, delete — over reminder titles, due dates, lists, priorities, notes, and completion state. Every call prints one JSON envelope to stdout.

The command is small, but three of its behaviours fail silently and successfully: a mistyped list name, an unparseable due date, and a truncated read all return ok: true. Most of this skill exists to keep those three from turning into wrong answers or misplaced tasks. Read references/cli.md for the full contract — flags, JSON shapes, error codes, and the exact date grammar.

apple-reminders list     [--incomplete|--completed] [--list <name>] [--limit <N>]
apple-reminders create   --title <t> [--due <dt>] [--list <name>] [--priority <0-9>] [--notes <text>]
apple-reminders update   --id <id> [--title <t>] [--due <dt>] [--list <name>] [--priority <0-9>] [--notes <text>]
apple-reminders complete --id <id> [--undo]
apple-reminders delete   --id <id>

Add --compact to minimize JSON, -q to print only the data field. Prefer --compact for large reads to save context.

Run apple-reminders --help when you are unsure whether an option still exists — the help text is authoritative for the build you are running, and this reference may lag it.

The command is iOS-only. If it is not on PATH, say that reminder access is not available on this device. Do not reach for a workaround: there is no supported path to Reminders data outside this command, so do not try to install an adapter, script around it, or read Reminders storage directly.

Three checks before any write

These are not style preferences. Each one prevents a wrong result that the command itself reports as success.

1. Resolve the exact list title from a read. Never pass a guessed name.

--list matches by case-insensitive substring, so --list Work also matches Workout, and when several titles match, EventKit's calendar order decides which one wins — not you. Worse, on create an unmatched --list is not an error: the reminder is silently saved to the default list and the response still says ok: true. So read first, pick the exact title, then write, then confirm the list field in the response is the list you intended.