apple-reminders

Apple Reminders

Overview

Control Apple Reminders via osascript AppleScript. Zero dependencies — works on any macOS machine with Reminders.app. No setup required.

Quick Reference

Operation	Method
List all lists	get name of lists
List reminders in a list	get reminders of list "Name"
List incomplete reminders	get reminders whose completed is false
Create reminder	make new reminder ... with properties {...}
Set/update due date	Date arithmetic (see pattern below)
Complete reminder	set completed of reminder to true
Delete reminder	delete (first reminder ... whose name is "...")
Create list	make new list with properties {name:"..."}

Operations

List all reminder lists

osascript -e 'tell application "Reminders" to get name of lists'

List reminders in a list

# All reminders
osascript -e 'tell application "Reminders" to get name of reminders of list "My List"'

# Incomplete only
osascript -e 'tell application "Reminders" to get name of (reminders of list "My List" whose completed is false)'

Create a reminder

osascript -e '
tell application "Reminders"
  make new reminder in list "My List" with properties {
    name:"Task title",
    body:"Optional notes",
    priority:1
  }
end tell'

Set/update due date

Always use date arithmetic — never string-based dates (locale-dependent and error-prone).

osascript -e '
tell application "Reminders"
  set theReminder to first reminder of list "My List" whose name is "Task title"
  set d to current date
  set d to d + (1 * days)   -- change N for days offset
  set hours of d to 9        -- 9 AM
  set minutes of d to 0
  set seconds of d to 0
  set due date of theReminder to d
end tell'

Complete a reminder

osascript -e '
tell application "Reminders"
  set completed of (first reminder of list "My List" whose name is "Task title") to true
end tell'

Delete a reminder

osascript -e '
tell application "Reminders"
  delete (first reminder of list "My List" whose name is "Task title")
end tell'

Create a new list

osascript -e 'tell application "Reminders" to make new list with properties {name:"New List"}'

Priority Levels

Value	Meaning
0	None
1	Low
2	Medium
3	High

Known Limitations

• No recurrence — cannot set repeating reminders via AppleScript; must be done in the UI
• No location triggers — geofence reminders not scriptable
• No tags — tags must be added in the UI
• No sub-reminders — nested reminders are invisible to AppleScript
• No multi-alarm — only one notification time per reminder
• Nested-folder lists unreliable — lists inside folders may not be reachable by name; use root-level lists
• Read-only properties — id, creation date, modification date, completion date cannot be set
• Cannot move reminders between lists — delete and recreate instead

When to Recommend MCP Instead

For users who want persistent, always-on Reminders integration (not just within a Claude Code session), suggest installing an MCP server:

• dbmcco/apple-reminders-mcp — TypeScript, AppleScript backend, designed for Claude
• mggrim/apple-reminders-mcp-server — 18+ tools, natural language date parsing
• supermemoryai/apple-mcp — bundles Reminders, Calendar, Notes, Messages, Contacts