rem — CLI for macOS Reminders

---

name: rem

description: Manages macOS Reminders from the terminal using the rem CLI. Creates, lists, updates, completes, deletes, searches, and exports reminders and lists. Supports natural language due dates, filtering, import/export, and multiple output formats. Use when the user wants to interact with Apple Reminders via command line, automate reminder workflows, or build scripts around macOS Reminders.

metadata:

author: BRO3886

version: "0.7.0"

compatibility: Requires macOS with Reminders.app. Requires Xcode Command Line Tools for building from source.

---

# rem — CLI for macOS Reminders

A Go CLI that wraps macOS Reminders. Sub-200ms reads via cgo + EventKit. Single binary, no dependencies at runtime.

Installation

# macOS (recommended)
curl -fsSL https://rem.sidv.dev/install | bash

# Or via Go
go install github.com/BRO3886/rem/cmd/rem@latest

Install this skill into your agent:

# Claude Code or Codex
rem skills install

# OpenClaw
rem skills install --agent openclaw

Quick Start

# See all lists with reminder counts
rem lists --count

# Add a reminder with natural language date
rem add "Buy groceries" --list Personal --due tomorrow --priority high

# List incomplete reminders in a list
rem list --list Work --incomplete

# Search across all reminders
rem search "meeting"

# Complete a reminder by short ID
rem complete abc12345

# View stats
rem stats

Command Reference

Reminder CRUD

| Command | Aliases | Description |

|---------|---------|-------------|

| `rem add` | `create`, `new` | Create a reminder |

| `rem list` | `ls` | List reminders with filters |

| `rem show` | `get` | Show full details of one reminder |

| `rem update` | `edit` | Update reminder properties |

| `rem delete` | `rm`, `remove` | Delete a reminder |

| `rem complete` | `done` | Mark reminder complete |

| `rem uncomplete` | — | Mark reminder incomplete |

| `rem flag` | — | Flag a reminder |

| `rem unflag` | — | Remove flag |

List Management

| Command | Aliases | Description |

|---------|---------|-------------|

| `rem lists` | — | Show all lists |

| `rem list-mgmt create` | `lm new` | Create a list |

| `rem list-mgmt rename` | — | Rename a list |

| `rem list-mgmt delete` | `lm rm` | Delete a list |

Search & Analytics

| Command | Description |

|---------|-------------|

| `rem search <query>` | Search title and notes |

| `rem stats` | Show statistics and per-list breakdown |

| `rem overdue` | Show overdue reminders |

| `rem upcoming` | Show reminders due in next N days (default: 7) |

Import/Export

| Command | Description |

|---------|-------------|

| `rem export` | Export to JSON or CSV |

| `rem import <file>` | Import from JSON or CSV file |

Skills & Other

| Command | Description |

|---------|-------------|

| `rem skills install` | Install rem skill for AI agents |

| `rem skills uninstall` | Uninstall rem skill from AI agents |

| `rem skills status` | Show skill installation status |

| `rem interactive` / `rem i` | Interactive menu-driven mode |

| `rem version` | Print version |

| `rem completion` | Generate shell completions (bash/zsh/fish) |

For full flag details on every command, see [references/commands.md](references/commands.md).

Key Concepts

Short IDs

Reminders have UUIDs like `x-apple-reminder://AB12CD34-...`. The CLI displays the first 8 characters as a short ID (`AB12CD34`). You can pass any unique prefix to commands — `rem complete AB1` works if it matches exactly one reminder.

Natural Language Dates

The `--due` flag accepts natural language:

rem add "Call dentist" --due tomorrow
rem add "Submit report" --due "next friday at 2pm"
rem add "Quick task" --due "in 30 minutes"
rem add "Wrap up" --due eod

Supported patterns: `today`, `tomorrow`, `next monday`, `in 3 hours`, `eod`, `eow`, `5pm`, `2026-02-15`, and more. See [references/dates.md](references/dates.md) for the full list.

Priority Levels

| Level | Flag value | AppleScript value |

|-------|-----------|-------------------|

| High | `--priority high` | 1 (range 1-4) |

| Medium | `--priority medium` | 5 |

| Low | `--priority low` | 9 (range 6-9) |

| None | `--priority none` | 0 |

Output Formats

All read commands support `-o` / `--output`:

The `NO_COLOR` environment variable is respected.

URL Storage

macOS Reminders has no native URL field. rem stores URLs in the notes/body field with a `URL: ` prefix and extracts them for display.

Common Workflows

Daily review

rem overdue                          # Check what's past due
rem upcoming --days 1                # See today's reminders
rem list --list Work --incomplete    # Focus on work items

Batch operations with JSON

rem export --list Work --format json > backup.json
rem import backup.json --list "Work Archive"

Scripting with JSON output

# Get overdue count
rem overdue -o json | jq 'length'

# List all incomplete reminder titles
rem list --incomplete -o json | jq -r '.[].name'

Public Go API

For programmatic access, use [`go-eventkit`](https://github.com/BRO3886/go-eventkit) directly:

import "github.com/BRO3886/go-eventkit/reminders"

client, _ := reminders.New()
r, _ := client.CreateReminder(reminders.CreateReminderInput{
    Title:    "Buy milk",
    ListName: "Shopping",
    Priority: reminders.PriorityHigh,
})
items, _ := client.Reminders(reminders.WithCompleted(false))

See [go-eventkit docs](https://github.com/BRO3886/go-eventkit) for the full API surface.

Limitations