Wekan Calendar Sync

Project page: At Codeberg.org
Current version: wekan-ical-php 0.0.2
License: AGPL-3.0 (Free, Opensource Software)

Wekan Calendar Sync (WCS) is a simple service based on the Wekan REST API, which allows to synchronize task boards and maps of a specific Wekan instance with the own calendar program. As the name already suggests, it is completely implemented in the server-side scripting language PHP and therefore usable without problems even for users with weak end devices.

To give a concrete example, a person could use a Wekan board as a to-do list. Individual cards would represent larger to-dos, each of which is subdivided into smaller tasks via checklists. Using wekan-ical-php, these tasks can now also be synchronized with the calendar app on the smartphone in order to keep track of the current status at all times and everywhere.

Use Wekan Calendar Sync

Users of the service only have to log in on the login page with their login data for the respective Wekan server. Of course, WCS does not store these login data, but only uses them temporarily to obtain an authentication at the Wekan server. This is valid for 90 days. Only then do users have to log in to WCS again in order to be able to issue a new authentication.

After login, WCS generates a unique identification number for the respective account. Now the calendar file can be easily requested or downloaded by clicking a button. Alternatively, a button is available for direct import into the system calendar. The same can be achieved via the QR code shown below, which is used to easily subscribe to the calendar on external devices (e.g. smartphones).

Technical Background

When logging into WCS, this authenticates directly with the respective Wekan server using the specified login data and stores the authentication token returned by Wekan in the database (but not the password!). Authentication tokens of the Wekan REST API are valid for 90 days by default. This is how long the service can make requests to the Wekan service on behalf of the respective account. After that, it is necessary to log in to WCS again.

When the calendar script is called, WCS collects all relevant information about the account from the Wekan server, i.e. all boards, swimlanes, list cards and card contents. For all cards that have a deadline (“due date”), the service creates a calendar entry and returns a collected .ics file at the end, which can either be downloaded individually or entered into appropriate calendar software (e.g. Thunderbird) via the webcal:// protocol.

More information about WCS, how to install & configure it on your own server and how to participate in the development of the project can be found on the project page (external on Codeberg.org).