iCloud Reminders (Go)

Access and manage Apple iCloud Reminders via CloudKit API. Full CRUD with hierarchical subtask support.

Pure Go — no Python or pyicloud required. Authentication, 2FA, session management and CloudKit API calls are all implemented natively in Go.

Installation

Homebrew (Recommended)

brew tap tarekbecker/tap
brew install icloud-reminders

Upgrade to the latest version:

brew upgrade icloud-reminders

Install Script

One-line install for any platform:

curl -sL https://github.com/tarekbecker/icloud-reminders-cli/releases/latest/download/install.sh | bash

Pre-built Binary

Download manually for your platform from GitHub Releases.

Build from Source

Requires Go 1.22+:

bash scripts/build.sh
sudo cp go/reminders /usr/local/bin/

Development: Use scripts/reminders.sh from the repo root — it auto-builds the binary if missing and loads credentials from the credentials file automatically.

Setup

1. Authenticate (interactive — required on first run):

   reminders auth
   

   Credentials are resolved in this order:

   1. ICLOUD_USERNAME / ICLOUD_PASSWORD environment variables
   2. ~/.config/icloud-reminders/credentials file (export KEY=value format)
   3. Interactive prompt (fallback)

2. Session file (~/.config/icloud-reminders/session.json) is created automatically and reused. Run reminders auth again when the session expires.

Commands

# First-time setup / force re-auth
reminders auth
reminders auth --force

# List all active reminders (hierarchical)
reminders list

# Filter by list name
reminders list -l "🛒 Einkauf"

# Include completed
reminders list --all          # or: -a

# Show only children of a parent reminder (by name or short ID)
reminders list --parent "Supermarkt"
reminders list --parent ABC123DE

# Search by title
reminders search "milk"

# Search including completed
reminders search "milk" --all   # or: -a

# Show all lists (with active counts and short IDs)
reminders lists

# Add reminder (-l is REQUIRED)
reminders add "Buy milk" -l "Einkauf"

# Add with due date and priority
reminders add "Call mom" -l "Einkauf" --due 2026-02-25 --priority high

# Add with notes
reminders add "Buy milk" -l "Einkauf" --notes "Get the organic 2% stuff"

# Add as subtask (-l is REQUIRED even for subtasks)
reminders add "Butter" -l "🛒 Einkauf" --parent ABC123DE

# Add multiple at once (batch; -l is REQUIRED)
reminders add-batch "Butter" "Käse" "Milch" -l "Einkauf"

# Add multiple as subtasks
reminders add-batch "Butter" "Käse" -l "Einkauf" --parent ABC123DE

# Complete reminder
reminders complete abc123

# Delete reminder
reminders delete abc123

# Export as JSON
reminders json

# Force full resync
reminders sync

# Export session cookies (share without password)
reminders export-session session.tar.gz

# Import session from export
reminders import-session session.tar.gz

# Verbose output (any command)
reminders list -v

Session Management

The binary handles sessions automatically:

• On each run: tries accountLogin with saved cookies to get a fresh CloudKit URL
• On failure / first run: triggers full interactive signin + 2FA
• Trust token: saved after 2FA so subsequent logins don't require a code
• Session file: ~/.config/icloud-reminders/session.json

Output Format

✅ Reminders: 101 (101 active)

📋 Shopping (12)
  • Supermarket  (ABC123DE)
    • Butter  (FGH456IJ)
    • Cheese  (KLM789NO)
  • Drugstore  (PQR012ST)
    • Baking paper  (UVW345XY)

IDs (8-char) in parentheses — use for complete, delete, --parent.

Cache & Sync

• Cache: ~/.config/icloud-reminders/ck_cache.json (same JSON format as Python version — shared/compatible)
• Delta sync: Fast incremental updates (default)
• Full sync: reminders sync — can take ~2 min for large accounts

Architecture

scripts/
├── reminders.sh            # Dev wrapper (auto-builds + loads creds)
├── build.sh                # Build script
├── install.sh              # Install script (used by curl | bash one-liner)
└── reminders               # Compiled Go binary (generated)

go/
├── main.go                 # Entry point
├── auth/auth.go            # Native iCloud auth (signin, 2FA, trust, accountLogin)
├── cloudkit/client.go      # CloudKit HTTP API client
├── sync/sync.go            # Delta sync engine
├── writer/writer.go        # Write ops (add/complete/delete)
├── cache/cache.go          # Local JSON cache
├── models/models.go        # Data types
├── utils/utils.go          # CRDT title encoding, timestamps
└── cmd/                    # Cobra CLI commands
    ├── root.go             # Root command; global --verbose / -v flag
    ├── auth.go             # reminders auth [--force]
    ├── list.go             # reminders list [-l] [--parent] [--all/-a]
    ├── lists.go            # reminders lists
    ├── search.go           # reminders search [--all/-a]
    ├── add.go              # reminders add / add-batch (both require -l)
    ├── complete.go         # reminders complete <id>
    ├── delete.go           # reminders delete <id>
    ├── json_cmd.go         # reminders json
    ├── sync.go             # reminders sync
    ├── export_session.go   # reminders export-session
    └── import_session.go   # reminders import-session

Troubleshooting