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Rowboat syncs your Google Calendar events and attached Google Docs to keep your schedule and meeting notes accessible to your AI assistant.

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Overview

The Google Calendar integration:
  • Syncs events from 14 days in the past to 14 days in the future
  • Downloads Google Docs attached to calendar events
  • Tracks event changes (new, updated, deleted)
  • Converts meeting notes to markdown
  • Runs automatically every 5 minutes

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Prerequisites

Calendar integration requires Google OAuth setup with both Calendar and Drive API access.

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Google OAuth Setup

Follow these steps to connect Google Calendar to Rowboat.
1

Open Google Cloud Console

Go to Google Cloud Console and make sure you’re logged into the Google account you want to use.
2

Create a New Project

Go to Create Project
  • Click Create Project
  • Give it a name (e.g. Rowboat Integration)
  • Click Create
Once created, select the new project in the top project dropdown.
3

Enable Required APIs

Enable the following APIs for your project:Google Calendar API: https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/api/calendar-json.googleapis.comGoogle Drive API: https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/api/drive.googleapis.comClick Enable for each API.
4

Configure OAuth Consent Screen

Go to OAuth Consent ScreenApp Information:
  • App name: Rowboat
  • User support email: Your email
Audience:
  • Choose External
Contact Information:
  • Add your email address
Click Save and Continue through the remaining steps.
You do NOT need to publish the app — keeping it in Testing mode is fine.
5

Add Test Users

If your app is in Testing mode, you must add users manually.Go to Test UsersUnder Test Users:
  • Click Add Users
  • Add the email address you plan to connect with Rowboat
Save changes.
6

Create OAuth Client ID

Go to CredentialsClick Create Credentials → OAuth Client IDApplication Type:
  • Select: Universal Windows Platform (UWP)
  • Name: Rowboat Desktop
  • Store ID: test
  • Click Create
7

Copy the Client ID

After creation, Google will show:
  • Client ID
  • Client Secret
Copy the Client ID and paste it into Rowboat where prompted.

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How It Works

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Sync Configuration

The Calendar sync runs with these settings: 
const SYNC_DIR = path.join(WorkDir, 'calendar_sync');
const SYNC_INTERVAL_MS = 5 * 60 * 1000; // Every 5 minutes
const LOOKBACK_DAYS = 14; // 14 days back, 14 days forward
const REQUIRED_SCOPES = [
  'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar.events.readonly',
  'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly'
];

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Event Storage Format

Each calendar event is saved as a JSON file: 
{
  "id": "event123",
  "summary": "Team Standup",
  "start": { "dateTime": "2024-01-01T10:00:00Z" },
  "end": { "dateTime": "2024-01-01T10:30:00Z" },
  "organizer": { "email": "[email protected]" },
  "attendees": [
    { "email": "[email protected]" },
    { "email": "[email protected]" }
  ],
  "attachments": [
    {
      "fileId": "doc123",
      "title": "Meeting Notes",
      "mimeType": "application/vnd.google-apps.document"
    }
  ]
}

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Meeting Notes Sync

Google Docs attached to events are automatically synced: 
if (attachment.mimeType === 'application/vnd.google-apps.document') {
  const fileId = attachment.fileId;
  const html = await drive.files.export({
    fileId: fileId,
    mimeType: 'text/html'
  });
  
  const markdown = nodeHtmlMarkdown.translate(html);
  
  const frontmatter = [
    `# ${attachment.title}`,
    `**Event:** ${eventTitle}`,
    `**Date:** ${eventDate}`,
    `**Organizer:** ${organizer}`,
    `**Link:** ${attachment.fileUrl}`,
    `---`,
  ].join('\n');
  
  fs.writeFileSync(filePath, frontmatter + markdown);
}

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Sync Window

Rowboat syncs events in a rolling window: 
const now = new Date();
const lookbackMs = 14 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
const forwardMs = 14 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;

const timeMin = new Date(now.getTime() - lookbackMs).toISOString();
const timeMax = new Date(now.getTime() + forwardMs).toISOString();

const events = await calendar.events.list({
  calendarId: 'primary',
  timeMin: timeMin,
  timeMax: timeMax,
  singleEvents: true,
  orderBy: 'startTime'
});
Events outside this window are automatically deleted from local storage.

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Change Detection

Rowboat tracks three types of changes:

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New Events

if (!fs.existsSync(filePath)) {
  fs.writeFileSync(filePath, content);
  newCount++;
}

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Updated Events

const existing = fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf-8');
if (existing !== content) {
  fs.writeFileSync(filePath, content);
  updatedCount++;
}

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Deleted Events

function cleanUpOldFiles(currentEventIds: Set<string>, syncDir: string) {
  const files = fs.readdirSync(syncDir);
  for (const filename of files) {
    const eventId = filename.replace('.json', '');
    if (!currentEventIds.has(eventId)) {
      fs.unlinkSync(path.join(syncDir, filename));
      deletedCount++;
    }
  }
}

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Activity Logging

Rowboat logs all sync activity: 
await serviceLogger.log({
  type: 'changes_identified',
  service: 'calendar',
  runId,
  level: 'info',
  message: `Calendar updates: ${totalChanges} changes`,
  counts: {
    newEvents: newCount,
    updatedEvents: updatedCount,
    deletedFiles: deletedCount,
    attachments: attachmentCount,
  },
});

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Trigger Manual Sync

You can trigger an immediate sync: 
import { triggerSync } from './sync_calendar';

triggerSync(); // Wakes up sync immediately

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Troubleshooting

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401 Unauthorized Error

If authentication fails, Rowboat clears the OAuth cache and you’ll need to reconnect your Google account.
if (error.response?.status === 401) {
  console.log("401 Unauthorized, clearing cache");
  GoogleClientFactory.clearCache();
}

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Missing Meeting Notes

Rowboat only syncs Google Docs attachments. Other file types are ignored: 
if (attachment.mimeType === 'application/vnd.google-apps.document') {
  // Only process Google Docs
}
PDFs, images, and other file types attached to calendar events are not synced.

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Rate Limiting

To avoid API rate limits:
  • Sync runs every 5 minutes
  • Only events within the sync window are processed
  • Meeting notes are cached (skipped if file exists)

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Files Synced

LocationDescription
~/rowboat/calendar_sync/{eventId}.jsonEvent metadata
~/rowboat/calendar_sync/{eventId}_doc_{title}.mdMeeting notes
~/rowboat/calendar_sync/sync_state.jsonSync state tracking

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Example Use Cases

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Meeting Preparation

“What meetings do I have tomorrow?” Rowboat can search your synced calendar events and provide context from attached meeting notes.

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Follow-up Tasks

“What action items came out of yesterday’s standup?” Rowboat can read the Google Doc notes attached to the event and extract action items.

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Schedule Overview

“When am I meeting with the design team this week?” Rowboat searches event metadata including attendees and titles.

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Privacy & Security

  • Read-Only Access: Uses .readonly scopes only
  • Local Storage: All data stored locally on your machine
  • No Cloud Sync: Calendar data never sent to external servers
  • OAuth Tokens: Securely managed by Google’s OAuth flow

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