# Calendar Feed

The calendar feed publishes your TaskRatchet deadlines as a subscribable
calendar, so the money-on-the-line commitments you've made show up next to
everything else on your schedule. It works with any app that can subscribe to a
calendar by URL — Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook, and others.

The feed is **read-only** and **one-way** (TaskRatchet → your calendar). Editing
or deleting an event in your calendar app does nothing to the underlying task;
manage tasks in TaskRatchet.

## Get your feed URL

1. Navigate to your settings page and click **Manage integrations**.
2. Find the **Calendar Feed** section.
3. Click **Generate calendar token**. Your **Calendar Feed URL** appears in the
   field above the button.
4. Click the copy button next to the URL.

The URL looks like this, ending in `.ics`:

```
https://api.taskratchet.com/api2/calendar/<your-token>.ics
```

TaskRatchet gives you the `https://` form. If your calendar app insists on a
`webcal://` URL, swap the scheme — the rest of the URL is identical.

## Subscribe in your calendar app

Look for the option to subscribe to a calendar **from a URL** — not "import",
which would copy the events once and never update them:

- **Google Calendar** — "Other calendars" → **+** → **From URL**
- **Apple Calendar** — **File** → **New Calendar Subscription…**
- **Outlook** — **Add calendar** → **Subscribe from web**

Paste the URL and save. The calendar appears as **TaskRatchet Deadlines**.

## What's in the feed

- **Only pending tasks.** A task appears while it's incomplete and its deadline
  is still in the future. It drops out on the next refresh once you complete it,
  charge it immediately, or its deadline passes.
- **One event per task, at the deadline.** Events are zero-length — they mark
  the deadline instant rather than blocking out time. Your calendar app renders
  them in your local timezone.
- **The stake is in the title.** An event is titled `Your task ($5.00)`, and its
  description repeats the task and the stake.
- **Up to 400 tasks.** If you have more pending tasks than that, the feed is
  capped there.

## Important: how the feed behaves

- **The URL is the password.** Anyone who has it can read your task list and
  deadlines without logging in — treat it like a secret and avoid posting it
  anywhere public.
- **Refresh timing is up to your calendar app.** TaskRatchet asks for the feed
  not to be cached, but nothing in the feed tells your calendar app how often to
  poll, and each app decides for itself. Google Calendar in particular can take
  many hours to pick up changes. Don't rely on the feed as a reminder mechanism
  for a deadline that's close.
- **Regenerating invalidates the old URL.** Click **Regenerate calendar token**
  and confirm if the URL has leaked. The previous URL stops working immediately,
  and you'll need to re-subscribe in every calendar app that used it.