CalDAV sync support

[nstrelow]

I've seen other OSS software that syncs the tasks using CalDAV, like tasks.org.

I've also read briefly somewhere that the standard might not support all fancy things one might want to support.

But might be cool and easy way to sync the tasks with other services.

EDIT: Here is the tasks.org support, I think Nextcloud also uses CalDAV: https://tasks.org/docs/sync_caldav

[dohsimpson]

task syncing in general sounds interesting. However, it looks like CalDAV is mostly used for syncing calendar events?

[nstrelow]

Yes, I think it was developed for Calendars, but Tasks are probably handled as a special calendar event
tasks.org uses it as a sync mechnaism: see https://tasks.org/docs/sync_caldav

[CD11b]

Task (VTODO) objects are contained within VCALENDAR objects, but it's not necessary to handle calendar objects. You could just throw away the wrapping tags and add them back on sync. https://sabre.io/dav/building-a-caldav-client/

[CaqKa]

That would be a very nice feature.

[mvfc]

Vikunja has the caldav sync option https://github.com/go-vikunja/vikunja

might be worth to check their implementation

this was the best feature I found on Vikunja that I feel is missing from tasktrove

i think its a very good feature as it lets me sync my deadlines to any Calendar app such as iOS's Calendar, Google Calendar and Outlook

[CD11b]

Agreed, though I'd prefer that TaskTrove have a calDAV client implementation. Vikunja acts as a calDAV server, but it worked poorly with my other calDAV clients as Vikunja still lacks task hierarchies. Baikal and Radicale are reliable calDAV server, especially Baikal.

[CaqKa]

I really appreciate having a self-hosted to-do list solution. At the moment, my tasks are integrated with my email and calendar, and I'm syncing them on Android using the Tasks.org client. It's a beautifully designed app that makes full use of CalDAV functionality and supports even moderately advanced to-do management. For mobile use, it's more than enough.

The problem is on the desktop side:
There seems to be no reliable, well-designed desktop CalDAV client for tasks. I've tried several options:

Thunderbird and Evolution both offer basic CalDAV task support, but their UI is outdated and not well-suited for to-do list workflows. They also lack support for categories/tags or proper task sorting.

Getting Things GNOME and some other apps failed to work reliably with my CalDAV server setup.

Many others only work well with Nextcloud.

As others have mentioned, Vikunja includes a built-in CalDAV server, but in my experience, it's quite unreliable. Syncing is poor, and task hierarchy support is lacking. That said, it's currently still the most complete option available on desktop for CalDAV-based task management, which is disappointing.

Would I pay for CalDAV client support in TaskTrove?

Yes, probably — if it solved the desktop ↔ Android sync issue.

This is a big gap in the current ecosystem. If TaskTrove could act as a CalDAV client, and reliably sync with existing servers (e.g. Baïkal, Radicale, or ISP-provided CalDAV), it would become a truly compelling self-hosted solution for both platforms.

Would I subscribe monthly? Probably not.
But I’d gladly pay a one-time purchase or support development through a donation.

Right now, I’ve simply accepted that there’s no good desktop client and do all my task management on Android with Tasks.org. But I’d love to change that — and I think TaskTrove could fill that gap beautifully.

Thanks again for your great work!

[dohsimpson]

Appreciate the feedback. I can see how this is useful for folks if there is a solution that works great across all platforms. Let me look into this a bit further.

I think what people are looking for is for TaskTrove to act as a CalDAV client, and is able to sync tasks from CalDAV servers like Baikal and Radicale.

It seems that the support for different CalDAV servers could be tricky. I'd like to know which ones people use the most and should be prioritized.

Also, in what ways are the existing solutions unreliable?

[CD11b]

Baikal and Radicale are seemingly the most commonly used calDAV servers. By reliability, I was referring to compatibility across clients. Vikunja was an unreliable server, and client, because it couldn't handle subtasks/hierarchies. As a result, subtasks created on Tasks (Android app) and Errands (Flatpak) would either not appear at all (despite existing in the db) or appear as main tasks.

Baikal has published a documentation for creating compatible calDAV clients. I partially wrote a Python library for a Baikal-compatible client, and it was quite straightforward to get pulling/pushing/checking up and running.

https://sabre.io/dav/building-a-caldav-client/

Thank you for taking this into consideration! As @CaqKa mentioned, there is still a need for a cross-compatible calDAV client, especially for Windows.

[yagoveloso]

I use Fastmail as my CalDAV server, along with various clients on different devices. Tasks and calendar go hand in hand, avoiding conflicts between tasks, meetings, and other commitments is essential for many workflows. I believe that for the future and success of the application, interoperability with other systems and apps through a built-in CalDAV client is inevitable.

[dohsimpson]

CalDav event syncing is supported in latest version in TaskTrove Pro.

[nilomind-code]

can it be tested in the demo?
will the pro be a subscription model or a one time payment?

[dohsimpson]

Hi @nilomind-code , no you can't test it in demo instance, it's running the base version. You will have to set it up yourself. See https://docs.tasktrove.io/pro-beta-license

The license will be a one-time payment.

[CD11b]

Thank you for all your effort in getting this implemented!