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The moment it happens

Add events by sending plain text

Text like 'Dentist Tuesday 3pm' becomes a calendar event with the right date and time.

Runs
The moment it happens
Apps
Google Calendar
AI
Yes, uses the built-in AI allowance
Access
read+write (calendar.events)

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: give me a link I can send text to. When I send something like 'Dentist Tuesday 3pm', work out the date and time and add it to my Google Calendar.

Paste it into your assistant. It tells you what it will send or change before it runs live.

First time? Adding ClickRuntime to your assistant takes about two minutes.

Why use it

Why teams use this automation

A freelance event planner copies dates from client emails, WhatsApp messages and spreadsheet rows into Google Calendar by hand. She mistypes a time zone on one, forgets to add the address on another, and misses a venue change completely. Each small error costs her a client's confidence, and the copying takes up time she would rather spend on the events themselves.

Anything you send to a ClickRuntime trigger link, such as a spreadsheet row, a forwarded email or plain text like "Lunch with Sam, Friday 12:30 at Rossi's", is parsed into a title, time and place. ClickRuntime creates the Google Calendar event and replies or emails you the link. Structured data is read directly, and loose text is understood with built-in AI.

It works well with a form, a shortcut on your phone or a row-added rule in a spreadsheet.

What you get out of it

  • Typing time disappears

    Events appear from a single message or row, so you stop retyping details. That is especially valuable when you add a dozen events at the start of a project or a season.

  • Fewer mistakes in dates and times

    Fields are read from the source instead of retyped. A message that says Friday at 12:30 becomes exactly that on the calendar, which beats the transposed digit or wrong day you get from manual entry.

  • Works from where you already are

    Send from a phone shortcut, a spreadsheet or an email workflow. Capturing the event the instant it comes up means it is not forgotten between the conversation and the calendar.

  • Natural language is accepted

    Informal messages like "dentist next Tuesday at 4" are understood with AI. You do not need a rigid format, which makes it realistic for the whole household or team to use.

  • Confirmation link every time

    You get the event link back straight away, so you can check it looks right. Corrections are made while the details are fresh, not discovered on the day. The reply link also makes it easy to share the event with attendees.

How it works

What happens, step by step

  1. When you send a line of plain text to your trigger link, such as "Dentist Tuesday 3pm", ClickRuntime receives it.

  2. AI works out the event title, the date and time, and how long it lasts.

  3. The event is created in your Google Calendar.

  4. You get back the event details and a link to open it.

Before it runs live

  • Connect Google Calendar
  • Paste your automation's link into the other app's webhook settings

What you get

RunsThe moment it happens
Add events by sending plain textjust nowSucceeded
Google Calendar · primaryDentist, Tue 21 Oct 15:00–16:00 https://www.google.com/calendar/event?eid=abc123

Build your own

Need it to work differently?

This template is a starting point. Copy the prompt and change it, or describe a different automation from scratch, with your own conditions, more apps or an AI step. Your assistant writes it, tests it and runs it on ClickRuntime.
  • Your own rules

    Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.

  • Any number of apps

    One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.

  • AI where it helps

    Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.

  • On a schedule or on each event

    Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.

Changes you can ask for

  • Act only on the items that match your own rules, and skip the rest
  • Change what the AI looks for, or how it writes the result
  • Add another app, for example also send it to Slack
  • Combine it with other Google Calendar steps into one automation

Under the hood

The code that runs this automation

This is the Python script that runs each time the automation starts. Your AI assistant writes it for you when you send the prompt, and you allow each step in your assistant. To change how the automation works, describe the change to your assistant and it updates the script for you. For every function it can use, see the script reference.
create_events_from_a_trigger_link_or_text.pyexample
from google.oauth2.credentials import Credentials
from googleapiclient.discovery import build
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
from zoneinfo import ZoneInfo
from clickruntime import on_event, credentials, ai

TZ = "America/New_York"
SCHEMA = {"type": "object", "properties": {"title": {"type": "string"}, "start": {"type": "string"},
          "minutes": {"type": "integer"}}, "required": ["title", "start", "minutes"]}

@on_event
def handle(event):
    text = (event.json or {}).get("text") or event.body
    now = datetime.now(ZoneInfo(TZ)).strftime("%A %Y-%m-%d %H:%M")
    parsed = ai.generate(f"It is {now}. Turn this into an event with an ISO start time (no offset) "
                         f"and a length in minutes (default 60): {text[:300]}",
                         json_schema=SCHEMA, max_output_tokens=80).json
    cal = build("calendar", "v3", credentials=Credentials(credentials.connection("google", "work")), cache_discovery=False)
    start = datetime.fromisoformat(parsed["start"])
    end = start + timedelta(minutes=parsed["minutes"])
    created = cal.events().insert(calendarId="primary", body={
        "summary": parsed["title"],
        "start": {"dateTime": start.isoformat(), "timeZone": TZ},
        "end": {"dateTime": end.isoformat(), "timeZone": TZ},
    }).execute()
    return {"created": parsed["title"], "start": parsed["start"], "link": created["htmlLink"]}

FAQ

Common questions

What happens if the text is ambiguous or missing a time?
If the AI cannot find a clear start time, the event can be created as an all-day entry or flagged for you in the reply. A reply asking for clarification is also possible. Being explicit about dates in the message gives the best result.
Can events be added to a calendar other than my main one?
Yes. The target calendar is a setting, so rows from a client spreadsheet can go to a shared project calendar while personal reminders go to your own. Each trigger link can point to a different calendar.
Does it handle time zones?
Events are created with a time zone, using the one you set as a default unless the message names another, such as 3 pm London time. For teams spread across regions, stating the zone in the text avoids surprises.
What permissions does it need?
read+write (calendar.events). Nothing else in your accounts is used.
Does it need AI?
Yes. It uses ClickRuntime's built-in AI, so you don't need an OpenAI or Anthropic key. Every plan includes a monthly AI allowance.
How many runs does it use?
One run for each event the app sends.
Can I change how it works?
Yes. Describe the change to your AI assistant, for example a different schedule, channel or filter. It updates the automation, tests it and tells you what changed.

Set up “Add events by sending plain text” from your assistant

Copy the prompt above, or connect your assistant first. Free plan, no credit card.