ical
Python iCalendar implementation (rfc 5545) with built-in recurring event support
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. ical is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries a permissive license, and solves a real problem—handling recurring events natively without needing two separate libraries. It's production-ready (Development Status 5) and already used by Home Assistant. Install it if you need to work with iCalendar files and want a modern, unified API.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.11 or later.
- Optional async support (for remote calendar fetching) requires the ical[async] extra, which adds aiohttp.
- Low install friction; pure Python wheel.
License · maintenance · safety
Apache-2.0 (permissive) — Apache-2.0 permissive license allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; suitable for most projects.
last release 2026-08-09 (5 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-14 · 46 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 123,270 downloads/mo, #11,917 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
from ical.calendar_stream import IcsCalendarStream
cal = IcsCalendarStream.calendar_from_ics(ics_content)
for event in cal.timeline:
print(event.start, event.summary)- Actual performance characteristics when handling large calendars with many recurring events
- Compatibility edge cases with non-standard or malformed iCalendar files in production use
What it is and what it does
ical is a modern Python library for reading, creating, and manipulating iCalendar files (RFC 5545 format). It handles recurring events natively—automatically expanding them into individual occurrences when you iterate over a calendar's timeline—without requiring a separate companion library. The library provides a Pythonic API with direct attribute access (event.start, event.summary), input validation with clear error messages, and full type annotations.
You can parse .ics files from disk or fetch them from remote URLs (with optional async support), create calendars and events programmatically, write calendars back to .ics format, and manage calendar state through an application-level store API. It supports Python 3.11+ and is actively maintained. Home Assistant uses it to power its calendar integrations.
Use it for
- Parse a calendar file and iterate over all events (including expanded recurring instances) in chronological order
- Fetch a remote calendar over HTTP and automatically expand recurring events without blocking
- Create a calendar programmatically with recurring events and write it to an .ics file
- Manage calendar state in an application, handling timezone conversions and editing individual recurring event instances
- Validate iCalendar input with clear error messages before processing
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
ical is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries a permissive license, and solves a real problem—handling recurring events natively without needing two separate libraries. It's production-ready (Development Status 5) and already used by Home Assistant. Install it if you need to work with iCalendar files and want a modern, unified API.
Install
ical on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction; pure Python wheel. Actively maintained with a release 5 days ago. Requires Python 3.11+. Three runtime dependencies (python-dateutil, tzdata, pydantic) are all stable and widely used.
Requires Python 3.11 or later. Optional async support (for remote calendar fetching) requires the ical[async] extra, which adds aiohttp.
License in practice
Apache-2.0 permissive license allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; suitable for most projects.
Quickstart
from ical.calendar_stream import IcsCalendarStream
cal = IcsCalendarStream.calendar_from_ics(ics_content)
for event in cal.timeline:
print(event.start, event.summary)Verify before relying
- Actual performance characteristics when handling large calendars with many recurring events
- Compatibility edge cases with non-standard or malformed iCalendar files in production use
Package facts
| License | Apache-2.0 permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.11 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 3 packagespython-dateutiltzdatapydantic |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 5 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 123,270 / month, #11,917 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Topic :: Office/Business :: SchedulingTopic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python ModulesTyping :: Typed |
Evidence: ical-14.1.0-py3-none-any.whl
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See also caldav · django-ical · icalendar · icalevents · ics · recurring-ical-events · vobject · icalendar-searcher · x-wr-timezone · PyCronofy