Roster Schedule to Google Calendar — No App Needed

Every month I’d open the Excel roster, find my name, and manually create each shift in Google Calendar. 30+ days, three columns to check, 20 minutes gone. I finally got tired of it and built a small tool to do it for me.

Try it: Roster → Calendar — paste your roster, preview your shifts, sync to Google Calendar (or download an ICS file).

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How It Works

flowchart LR
    A[Excel Roster\nCtrl+C] -->|Paste| B(Parse & Detect\nYour Shifts)
    B --> C{Event exists?}
    C -->|Yes| D[Update]
    C -->|No| E[Create]
    D & E --> F[Google Calendar]

    style A fill:#1e293b,stroke:#475569,color:#e2e8f0
    style B fill:#1e3a5f,stroke:#3b82f6,color:#e2e8f0
    style C fill:#1e293b,stroke:#6366f1,color:#e2e8f0
    style D fill:#064e3b,stroke:#10b981,color:#e2e8f0
    style E fill:#064e3b,stroke:#10b981,color:#e2e8f0
    style F fill:#1e3a5f,stroke:#3b82f6,color:#e2e8f0

You copy the roster table from Excel, paste it into the tool, and it figures out which shifts are yours. You get a preview, then choose to sync directly to Google Calendar or download an .ics file to import anywhere.

No app to install, no account to create, no server running anywhere.

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The Roster Format

The tool reads the standard 5-column roster format:

Select any range in Excel including the header row, copy with Ctrl+C, and paste into the tool.

It handles all the usual variations — names with parentheses like Kumar (Off), comma-separated names like Kumar,Harishankar, and No Weekly Off days.

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One-Time Google Setup

To sync directly to Google Calendar, you need a free OAuth Client ID from Google Cloud. This is a one-time setup.

1. Go to console.cloud.google.com and create a new project
2. Go to APIs & Services → Library and enable Google Calendar API
3. Go to APIs & Services → Credentials → Create Credentials → OAuth 2.0 Client ID
4. Set type to Web application
5. Under Authorized JavaScript origins, add your site URL (e.g. https://yourdomain.github.io)
6. Copy the Client ID, paste it into the Configuration section on the tool page, and click Save

The Client ID is not a secret — it only works from the domains you listed in step 5.

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How to Use It

1. Open Roster → Calendar
2. Select your roster in Excel (include the header row) → Ctrl+C
3. Click inside the paste area on the page → Ctrl+V
4. The tool shows a preview of your shifts with dates, times, and shift type
5. Uncheck any rows you want to skip
6. Option A — Google Calendar: click Sign in with Google, then Sync Events
7. Option B — Any calendar app: click ⬇ Download ICS, then import the file

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What Gets Created

Each event is colour-coded and includes a description showing the full day’s roster:

	Shift 1	Shift 2	Weekly Off
Time	8:30 AM – 5:30 PM	11:30 AM – 8:30 PM	All day
Color	🔵 Blue	🟢 Green	🔴 Red
Reminder	30 min before	30 min before	—
Location	Office	Office	—

The event description always shows who’s on each shift that day, so you can check at a glance without opening the roster:

🔵 Shift 1 (8:30 AM - 5:30 PM)  : Kumar  ← on duty
🟢 Shift 2 (11:30 AM - 8:30 PM) : Harishankar
🔴 Weekly Off                    : Pratik

If you paste the same roster again, it updates existing events instead of creating duplicates.

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Managing Events

The Manage Calendar Events section lets you fetch your existing roster events for any date range, review them in a table, and delete individual ones. There’s also a one-click button to bulk-delete everything older than 2 months — useful for keeping your calendar tidy.

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What’s Next

• Team view — show all team members’ shifts in one calendar, each in a different colour
• Configurable shift times — let you set the start/end times from the UI rather than hardcoding them