[FR]: **Feature Request: Optional Toggle to Import ICS Event End Time as Task “Due Date”**

[MiserMagus]

Feature Description

Summary

When creating a TaskNotes task from an ICS event through the Create Task action in the ICSEventInfoModal, the plugin currently never assigns a due date, even when the ICS event includes a valid end timestamp.

This behaviour is enforced in ICSNoteService.createTaskFromICS():

due: overrides?.due || undefined, // Don't set due date from ICS events

As a result:

• scheduled: is always set (using the ICS start time)
• due: is always suppressed
• Users cannot change this without modifying plugin source code

This leads to missing deadline metadata for calendar-based tasks, even though ICS events almost always include an end time.

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Current Behaviour (Accurate Technical Description)

When a user selects “Create Task” for an ICS event:

1. scheduled:

   • Always populated from icsEvent.start
   • Uses smart logic for all-day vs timed events

2. due:

   • Always undefined
   • Explicitly prevented from using icsEvent.end

3. Task frontmatter therefore never contains:

   due:
   

   or its user-mapped field (typically dueDate:)

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Why This Is a Problem

User expectations

For many users, the end of a calendar event is the natural deadline—especially when using the ICS import system for:

• appointments
• meetings
• deadlines
• submission windows
• classes
• events with a finite duration

Current behaviour forces users to:

• manually add the due date after creation, or
• rely only on “scheduled”, which does not represent a deadline, or
• rewrite the plugin locally every update

This breaks automation workflows and makes TaskNotes less predictable for calendar-based task generation.

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Proposed Solution: Add a Toggle in Settings

Add a user-configurable toggle:

Setting name (developer-friendly)

useICSEndAsDue: boolean

UI label (user-friendly)

“Use ICS event end time as task due date”

Description

When enabled, tasks created from calendar events will have their due date set to the ICS event’s end time.

• Timed events → YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm
• All-day events → YYYY-MM-DD
• Events without an end → No due date

When disabled, due dates are not imported.

Default value

false

This preserves existing behaviour.

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Expected Behaviour Under All Event Types

1. Timed event example

ICS:

DTSTART:20250212T090000
DTEND:20250212T110000

Task created should include:

scheduled: 2025-02-12T09:00
due: 2025-02-12T11:00

2. All-day event

ICS:

DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250212
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250213  (ICS all-day events end the following day)

The due date should anchor to the actual date of the event, not the ICS container date.

Task:

scheduled: 2025-02-12
due: 2025-02-12

3. Event missing DTEND

No due date is created:

due: undefined

4. If user overrides “due” explicitly

Their override wins:

due: overrides.due

---

Internal Implementation Details

Minimal required change in ICSNoteService.createTaskFromICS()

Replace current line:

due: overrides?.due || undefined,

With conditional logic:

due:
    overrides?.due !== undefined
        ? overrides.due
        : (
            this.plugin.settings.useICSEndAsDue && icsEvent.end
                ? this.computeDueFromICSEnd(icsEvent)
                : undefined
        ),

Add helper:

private computeDueFromICSEnd(icsEvent: ICSEvent): string | undefined {
    try {
        const raw = (icsEvent.allDay && /^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}$/.test(icsEvent.end))
            ? icsEvent.end + 'T00:00:00'
            : icsEvent.end;

        const d = new Date(raw);

        return icsEvent.allDay
            ? formatDateForStorage(d)
            : format(d, "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm");
    } catch {
        return icsEvent.end;
    }
}

Field Mapping Compatibility

Because tasks use the canonical field due and TaskService applies:

this.plugin.fieldMapper.toUserField("due")

This automatically respects user preferences (e.g., dueDate: vs deadline:).

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Why a Toggle Is Needed Instead of Changing Default Behaviour

• Many users prefer the existing “scheduled-only” behaviour
• Effects workflows where due dates are intentionally left blank
• Preserves backward compatibility and avoids unexpected metadata changes
• Some use ICS imports only as contextual notes, not deadlines

Adding a toggle provides both behaviours cleanly.

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Optional Enhancements (Future Work)

If maintainers want to extend functionality later:

• Allow mapping ICS → Task fields (start → scheduled, end → due, summary → title, location → context)
• Allow custom date rounding (start of hour, end of day, nearest quarter-hour)
• Allow ignoring ICS end times for events under X minutes (e.g., trivial meetings)