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Glossary

Quick definitions for terms you'll encounter throughout PrimeCal and this documentation.

Action​

The "then do this" part of an automation rule. When a trigger fires and all conditions pass, PrimeCal executes one or more actions. Current actions include setting an event's color; future actions include sending notifications and creating additional events. See also: Automation rule, Trigger, Condition.

All-day event​

An event that spans an entire day (or multiple days) without a specific start or end time. All-day events appear as a banner at the top of the day column in Week view and as a full-width block in Month view. Sue Blate's school day is configured as an all-day event from Monday through Friday.

Automation rule​

A saved "if this, then that" rule that runs automatically when something happens in your calendar. Each rule has one trigger (what starts it), optional conditions (filters), and one or more actions (what to do). For example: "when an event titled 'standup' is created on my Work calendar, color it blue."

Calendar​

A named container for events. Every event belongs to exactly one calendar. You can have as many calendars as you want — for example, "Personal", "Work", "Late Family", "School", "Fitness". Each calendar has its own color, which is displayed in the sidebar and on all events belonging to it.

Calendar group​

A folder-like container in the sidebar that groups multiple calendars together. You might have a "Family" group containing "Late Family" and "School", and a "Work" group with your work-related calendars. Groups are visual only — they don't affect sharing or permissions.

Calendar owner​

The person who created a calendar. The owner has full control: they can edit the calendar's name and color, share it with others, modify permissions, and delete it. Even if you share a calendar with someone and give them admin permission, you remain the owner.

Calendar sync​

The feature that connects PrimeCal to an external calendar service (Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook) and imports events from it. Events from external calendars appear in your PrimeCal interface alongside your native events. Sync runs on a schedule and keeps the data fresh. See also: External account.

Condition​

The "but only if..." part of an automation rule. Conditions filter whether an action should actually run after a trigger fires. For example: "event title contains 'standup'" is a condition. Multiple conditions can be combined with AND/OR logic. Conditions are optional — a rule without conditions runs on every matching trigger event.

Event​

A single item on a calendar — a meeting, appointment, birthday, task, or any occurrence you want to track. Events have a title, start time, end time, calendar, and optional details like location, description, notes, and color. Events can be one-time or recurring.

External account​

A connected account from an external calendar service (Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook) that PrimeCal syncs events from. You can connect multiple external accounts. Each account has its own sync status and can be refreshed manually or on a schedule. See also: Calendar sync.

Focus view​

A live, always-updating view that shows your current event and upcoming events for the day. It's designed for "right now" awareness — glance at it to see what's happening in the next few hours. The Focus view shows a live clock and highlights the currently active event. Will Blate keeps Focus view open during his workday so he knows when to stop his deep work block.

Label​

A tag that can be applied to tasks (in the Tasks workspace). Labels help you categorize and filter your tasks. Labels are separate from calendar colors — a task's color is inherited from its calendar, while its label is a custom organizational tag.

Month view​

The classic calendar grid showing all 5–6 weeks of the current month. Each day cell shows event titles (with their calendar color). This is the best view for seeing the big picture and spotting how busy different weeks are. May Blate uses Month view to plan the family's week at a glance.

Permission​

The level of access a person has to a shared calendar. PrimeCal has three permission levels:

  • Read — can view events but not add, edit, or delete them
  • Write — can view, create, and edit events
  • Admin — can view, create, edit, delete events, and also share the calendar with others

Recurring event​

An event that repeats on a schedule — daily, weekly, monthly, or a custom pattern. A recurring event is stored as a single rule (e.g., "every Tuesday and Thursday at 3pm") rather than dozens of individual events. Will Blate's 9am standup is a recurring event set to repeat every weekday.

Shared calendar​

A calendar that its owner has shared with one or more other PrimeCal users. Shared calendars appear in the recipient's sidebar and are color-coded like any other calendar. The Late Family calendar is shared by May (owner) with Will, Sue, and Noah, each at different permission levels.

Subscription plan​

The tier of PrimeCal service you're on. PrimeCal offers Free, User, Family, and Enterprise plans. Your plan determines which features you can access (such as automation, calendar sync, API access, and seat management) and any quantitative limits (such as how many calendars or automation rules you can create).

Task​

An item in the Tasks workspace — a to-do with a title, due date, calendar assignment, and optional label. Tasks appear in the sidebar's Tasks section and can be viewed separately from calendar events. Tasks are available on plans that include the task_management feature.

Theme color​

The accent color applied to your PrimeCal interface. You set your theme color in your profile settings. PrimeCal offers 16 colors in rainbow order — Red, Orange, Yellow, Lime, Green, Emerald, Teal, Cyan, Sky, Blue, Indigo, Violet, Purple, Pink, Rose, and Slate. May uses Pink, Will uses Blue, and Sue uses Yellow.

Trigger​

The "when this happens" part of an automation rule. A trigger is the event that starts the rule. PrimeCal supports 9 trigger types including: event created, event updated, event deleted, event starts in X minutes, event ends in X minutes, a scheduled time (cron), and an incoming webhook. See also: Automation rule.

Week view​

A view that shows the full 7-day week with hour-by-hour time slots. Each event appears as a block in its time slot. You can drag across time slots to select a time range and immediately create a new event. Week view is the most detailed view — Will uses it to see his entire work schedule laid out by the hour.

Webhook​

An HTTP callback from an external system. PrimeCal can receive webhooks on a unique URL per automation rule, allowing external services (Zapier, your own app, a payment processor) to trigger PrimeCal automation rules. The webhook payload's data is accessible as conditions in the rule (e.g., webhook.data.order_status).