Your Bills Live in a Spreadsheet. Your Calendar Has No Idea They Exist.

Description and use

An automated CSV‑to‑calendar converter that outputs a standards‑compliant .ics file, imports it into major calendar apps, and can be scheduled nightly via cron.

Problem

Freelancers and small‑business owners keep due dates in a spreadsheet but never sync them to their calendar, causing missed deadlines.

Outcome

Automated pipeline turns spreadsheet deadlines into calendar events with reminders, all‑day or timed, and handles bad rows gracefully.

Workflow

• 1. Prepare a CSV/TSV spreadsheet with deadline data (title, date, due, etc.).
• 2. Run python csv2cal.py shared_deadlines.csv -o team.ics to convert the file to .ics.
• 3. Import the resulting team.ics into Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple Calendar, or Thunderbird.
• 4. Schedule the command in cron (e.g., 0 22 * * * python csv2cal.py shared_deadlines.csv -o team.ics || echo "csv2cal failed" >&2).
• 5. Repeat the cron job nightly to keep the calendar up‑to‑date.

Evidence

A single-file Python CLI (pure standard library, zero dependencies — no pip install) that converts any deadline spreadsheet into a calendar file:

Source

0 22 * * * python csv2cal.py shared_deadlines.csv -o team.ics || echo "csv2cal failed" >&2

Source