Support creating and pre-filling calendar events via URL parameters

[RambokDev]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Nextcloud Calendar currently provides a route to create a new event, for example:

/apps/calendar/new

and it is possible to provide basic start/end information through the route.

However, there is currently no equivalent to the "Add to Google Calendar" URLs commonly used by websites and applications.

For example, Google Calendar allows external websites to open the event creation page with fields such as the title, start/end date, description and location already pre-filled.

This makes it difficult for websites supporting several calendar providers to offer a proper "Add to Nextcloud Calendar" button.

Today, the main workaround for Nextcloud users is usually to download/import an .ics file, which provides a less direct user experience.

Describe the solution you'd like

It would be useful for Nextcloud Calendar to support a URL-based event creation mechanism allowing external applications to pre-fill event information.

For example:

https://cloud.example.com/apps/calendar/new?title=My%20Event&start=2026-09-20T10:00:00Z&end=2026-09-20T11:00:00Z&location=Berlin&description=Event%20description

The Calendar app would open the normal event creation interface with these values pre-filled, while still requiring the user to review and explicitly save the event.

Ideally, the following fields could be supported:

• title
• start date/time
• end date/time
• all-day
• description
• location
• URL
• attendees, if appropriate
• recurrence information, if appropriate

The exact parameter format could of course follow Nextcloud conventions rather than the example above.

It would also be useful for the URL format to be documented and considered a stable public interface so that third-party websites and applications can safely rely on it.

This would make it possible to provide buttons such as:

Add to calendar

• Google Calendar
• Outlook
• Nextcloud Calendar (show input to fill instance url -> then open it)
• Download .ics

Describe alternatives you've considered

N/A

Additional context

This type of feature is already commonly available with other calendar providers and is frequently used for conference websites, booking platforms, event registration pages, ticketing systems and similar applications.

It could also improve interoperability around Nextcloud Calendar by giving third-party developers a simple way to integrate Nextcloud alongside Google Calendar and Outlook without requiring direct CalDAV access.

The feature should only pre-fill the event creation form and should not create an event automatically when opening the URL.

[SebastianKrupinski]

Hi @RambokDev

Can I ask where one would use this (use case)?

At the moment I don't see any benefit to having this, "the other guys have this feature" is not a good use case

[RambokDev]

Hi @SebastianKrupinski,

Thanks for the feedback. I can definitely provide more context.

I don’t really see this feature as a “the other guys have it, so we need it too” request. I see it from a slightly different angle: if this kind of integration is widely implemented by other calendar providers, it is worth understanding the use cases it addresses.

For me, this is mainly about Nextcloud’s positioning, interoperability, and the services available around the ecosystem.

A concrete example would be an event company, a conference organizer, or a public authority maintaining a website that lists events happening in a city. Their objective is to make it as easy as possible for people to attend these events.

Today, when a user opens an event page, it is very common to find actions such as:

• Add to Google Calendar
• Add to Outlook
• Download .ics

But there is generally no equivalent “Add to Nextcloud Calendar” option.

As a result, users who deliberately use Nextcloud or other sovereign/open-source solutions do not get the same seamless experience. They have to download an ICS file and import it manually, while Google or Microsoft users can add the event in one or two clicks.

This may look like a relatively small UX difference, but I think it matters when trying to build adoption around an ecosystem. If Nextcloud aims to position itself as a credible alternative to Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, third-party services should also have simple and documented ways to integrate Nextcloud alongside those platforms.

This request would provide exactly that: a stable public interface that event websites, booking platforms, ticketing systems, conference websites, and other applications could use without requiring CalDAV access or any special integration.

There is also a broader point here that is similar to the discussion we had when we decided to build the Nextcloud Calendar mobile app.

One argument could be: “I can already synchronize my Nextcloud calendars with the native calendar application on my phone, so a dedicated application is unnecessary.”

Technically, that is true. But it does not create a complete Nextcloud experience or strengthen the ecosystem around the product. Having a dedicated application gives Nextcloud control over the user experience, enables deeper integration with other Nextcloud services, and makes the overall ecosystem more visible and coherent.

I see this feature in a similar way. The goal is not simply to copy a Google Calendar feature, but to make Nextcloud something that third-party services can treat as a first-class calendar provider.

The expected implementation can also remain very simple: the URL would only open the standard event creation form with predefined values. The user would still have to review and explicitly save the event.

[SebastianKrupinski]

Okay, I can now see a use case but I don't think your idea will work in this case.

Google and Outlook use a stable domain name.... example https://calendar.google.com/new/(event details)

This is not the same for NC every instance has a different domain, your instance might be "https://cloud.example.com/apps/calendar/new" and my instance might be "https://notnow.com/apps/calendar/new"...

There is no way for these 3rd party "event company, a conference organizer, or a public authority maintaining a website that lists events happening in a city" websites to know what your nc instance domain is, there for the link would not work.

The solution that is required is to register a ics file handler on the system, so when one "downloads an ics file" it opens your nc instnace

[RambokDev]

Yes, but we could see that differently. Without having to know the instance url of each:

Image generated with ChatGPT to explain the use case.

[SebastianKrupinski]

Yes, but we could see that differently. Without having to know the instance url of each:

This is a nice idea... but with one big privacy gotcha... you are now submitting your instances url to a 3rd party site... and most of our uses will not like this idea...

I think registering a ics handler on the system would be a better approach.

I'll leave the ticket open for now, to see if there is anymore interest...

[RambokDev]

Okay, let’s see if others ask for this feature as well.

Regarding privacy, I understand the concern. If the button stores the instance URL, this could indeed create privacy issues, especially if the button is not an open-source component or plugin that users can audit themselves.

One possible solution could be to provide this button as an npm package or plugin, for example, and handle everything client-side.

The .ics handler could also be interesting to explore.

Let’s see if others request this feature as well.

Thanks for your time :)