SkedPal

Automatically schedules flexible tasks around calendar commitments

KINDA · partial replacement
price $9.95/mosubscription / year $119.4estimated build time multi-dayreplaced by 0 people

The visible automatic scheduling loop is buildable, but a credible replacement needs more than the first screen. SkedPal earns its keep through polish, OS integration, so expect a weekend or multi-day build and a narrower personal scope.

Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability

What you give up

  • calendar-provider edge cases and timezone correctness
  • cross-device sync
  • deep operating-system edge-case coverage
  • polished shortcuts and accessibility
  • vendor-maintained updates

Why people still pay

SkedPal: People keep paying because a utility used dozens of times a day must be instant, predictable, and compatible with every OS update.

Your build guide

The stack, security requirements, and agent rules for a focused replacement.

Before you start

  • Runtime and tools: TypeScript, React, Node and PostgreSQL with a single authorized calendar adapter.
  • Before starting: One calendar account with documented OAuth scopes, HTTPS callbacks, the host timezone and an always-on worker for reminders.
01
TypeScript, React, Node and PostgreSQL with a single authorized calendar adapter
02
Data design: Store TaskEstimate, Deadline, TimeMap, FixedEvent and ProposedBlock; suggestions may split only splittable tasks and must expose unscheduled work when capacity is insufficient.
03
Setup: One calendar account with documented OAuth scopes, HTTPS callbacks, the host timezone and an always-on worker for reminders
engineering roadmap

Implementation plan

1

Phase 1

Pin the working slice and create its example input: Schedule flexible tasks around fixed calendar commitments using duration, deadline, priority and user-defined working-time windows. Confirm setup: One calendar account with documented OAuth scopes, HTTPS callbacks, the host timezone and an always-on worker for reminders.

2

Phase 2

Implement persistence and write-time invariants before decorating the UI: Store TaskEstimate, Deadline, TimeMap, FixedEvent and ProposedBlock; suggestions may split only splittable tasks and must expose unscheduled work when capacity is insufficient.

3

Phase 3

Connect the working view to real saved state. Store UTC instants plus the host IANA timezone and local availability rules. Recheck external busy time before reserving; serialize overlapping local reservations, and reconcile external creation failures without silently confirming.

4

Phase 4

Expose the app-specific limits and recovery path in context: Generate a preview before writing calendar events. Start with a deterministic heuristic and one calendar; optimal scheduling, automatic rescheduling and multi-provider consistency are not guaranteed.

5

Phase 5

Walk through this concrete acceptance case and preserve its exported evidence: Give a two-hour unsplittable task only two one-hour gaps before its deadline; leave it unscheduled with a reason rather than violating the constraint. Finish the README and backup/restore instructions; report unfinished capabilities explicitly.

the pro prompt
download AGENTS.md
Build the following focused alternative to SkedPal. This is a deliberately limited personal or small-team substitute, not parity with the paid service.

WORKING SLICE
Schedule flexible tasks around fixed calendar commitments using duration, deadline, priority and user-defined working-time windows.

SETUP AND ARCHITECTURE
Use TypeScript, React, Node and PostgreSQL with a single authorized calendar adapter. Prerequisites: One calendar account with documented OAuth scopes, HTTPS callbacks, the host timezone and an always-on worker for reminders. Before integrating anything, record actual versions and permissions, plus model files or provider limits only where used, in the README; make unavailable dependencies visible rather than simulating success.

DOMAIN MODEL AND INVARIANTS
Store TaskEstimate, Deadline, TimeMap, FixedEvent and ProposedBlock; suggestions may split only splittable tasks and must expose unscheduled work when capacity is insufficient.

IMPLEMENTATION CONTRACT
Store UTC instants plus the host IANA timezone and local availability rules. Recheck external busy time before reserving; serialize overlapping local reservations, and reconcile external creation failures without silently confirming. Provide an input/setup view, the main work view, and a review/export view appropriate to this workflow. Preserve the last saved state if a job or save fails. Include empty, loading, permission-denied, partial and retryable-error states. Log identifiers and error categories without secret values or unnecessary private content.

APP-SPECIFIC BOUNDARY AND RECOVERY
Generate a preview before writing calendar events. Start with a deterministic heuristic and one calendar; optimal scheduling, automatic rescheduling and multi-provider consistency are not guaranteed.

ACCEPTANCE SCENARIO
Give a two-hour unsplittable task only two one-hour gaps before its deadline; leave it unscheduled with a reason rather than violating the constraint. Also reopen the app after an interrupted operation, confirm the saved record/export remains inspectable, and document the recovery action. These are implementation acceptance requirements, not a claim that this guide has been tested.

DELIVERY
Deliver a runnable repository with migrations or project-format versioning, a non-sensitive example, environment/permission setup, the exact manual acceptance steps, and a backup/export-and-restore walkthrough. Implement the working slice before optional integrations; list any deferred paid-product capabilities honestly. Do not add capabilities outside the working slice just to resemble the original product.

PROJECT RULES FOR AGENTS.md
Keep the domain invariants above executable at the write boundary. Propose scope changes before adding providers or permissions. Never fabricate source evidence, publish results, identity matches or successful delivery. Preserve user originals and require an explicit confirmation for destructive changes or external publication.

$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter), copy the prompt or copy or download AGENTS.md · generated from this app's build plan

share on X ↗

Alternatives to building your own

FlowSavvy FreeIt puts tasks around calendar events for free; the rolling scheduling horizon stops two weeks out.$0free↗Reclaim LiteA free one-week planning horizon for tasks and focus time; long-range plans remain billable.$0free↗

no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real

SkedPal pricing

planmonthlyannual (per mo)what you get
core—$9.95/user21-day automatic-scheduling window and 1 connected calendar account.Annual equivalent verified; current monthly numeric price was not exposed in crawlable public text.
pro—$14.95/user60-day automatic-scheduling window, unlimited calendar accounts, and time tracking.Annual equivalent verified; current monthly numeric price was not exposed in crawlable public text.

free tierno free tier

billingmonthly + annual; only annual numeric prices were publicly exposed; 14-day trial with no card

hidden costsThe $9.95 figure on file is the annual-billing equivalent, not a verified month-to-month price. Core is capped at a 21-day scheduling horizon and 1 calendar account; Pro raises the horizon to 60 days and removes the calendar-account cap.

pricing sources checked 2026-08-14 · pricing source ↗

Questions about SkedPal

Can you build your own SkedPal with AI?

Partly. The visible automatic scheduling loop is buildable, but a credible replacement needs more than the first screen. SkedPal earns its keep through polish, OS integration, so expect a weekend or multi-day build and a narrower personal scope.

What does the SkedPal build prompt cover?

The prompt starts with this scope: Schedule flexible tasks around fixed calendar commitments using duration, deadline, priority and user-defined working-time windows. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: calendar-provider edge cases and timezone correctness; cross-device sync; deep operating-system edge-case coverage. Follow the implementation plan and its prerequisites before expanding the build.

How do I use the prompt, AGENTS.md and agent skills?

Start with the SkedPal prerequisites and stack, then copy the prompt into your coding agent. Save the project rules as AGENTS.md in the project root. Linked skills are optional packages or source instructions for specific tasks; review their current contents and install only those matching the chosen stack. A skill does not supply API credentials or verify the finished app.

How long will this SkedPal project take?

The catalogue estimate is multi-day for the limited scope. Setup, integration approvals, debugging, deployment and ongoing maintenance can add time. This is an estimate, not a delivery guarantee.

What would I give up by replacing SkedPal?

calendar-provider edge cases and timezone correctness; cross-device sync; deep operating-system edge-case coverage; polished shortcuts and accessibility; vendor-maintained updates. SkedPal: People keep paying because a utility used dozens of times a day must be instant, predictable, and compatible with every OS update.

What price is this guide comparing against?

The recorded Core plan is $9.95/mo (per month billed annually), checked 2026-07-31. Check the linked pricing source before buying. Building your own also has hosting, API and maintenance costs; the recorded amount is not a guaranteed saving.

What can I use instead of building SkedPal?

FlowSavvy Free: It puts tasks around calendar events for free; the rolling scheduling horizon stops two weeks out. Reclaim Lite: A free one-week planning horizon for tasks and focus time; long-range plans remain billable. Check each option's license, hosting needs and feature limits.

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