Local Tasks Bridge

English · 简体中文 · Website

Two-way sync between Apple Reminders and Google Tasks that runs entirely on your Mac.

Local Tasks Bridge is a small menu bar app. It copies new items, edits, completions and deletions between the Reminders lists you choose and the Google Tasks lists with the same names. There is no server in between: your Mac talks to Reminders through macOS and to Google directly over HTTPS, and every credential and sync record stays in your home folder.

[!NOTE] Version 1.0. Builds are ad-hoc signed and not yet notarized by Apple, so macOS asks you to confirm the first launch of a copy downloaded with a browser (steps below). Version 1.0.0 does not include the shared Google sign-in yet: choose your own Google Cloud client in the setup assistant (setup guide). Quick sign-in arrives in a later release, once Google has verified the app.

Features

• Two-way sync of the lists you choose. Each selected Reminders list is paired with the Google Tasks list of exactly the same name, which is created in Google if it doesn't exist. Titles, notes, due dates and completion sync in both directions.
• Completions and deletions, with brakes. Completing or deleting an item on one side does the same on the other. A cycle that would complete or delete more than 25 items, or more than 25 % of the items the bridge manages, is held until you approve it — and everything else keeps syncing in the meantime.
• Local-first, no server. No account with us, no telemetry, no cloud relay. Only your Mac, Apple and Google are involved. See PRIVACY.md.
• Native menu bar app with a setup assistant, status at a glance, Sync Now, Pause Sync, and a review window for held changes.
• English and Simplified Chinese in the app and on the command line.
• Works with everything that uses Reminders: the macOS Reminders widget, Siri, and your iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch through iCloud.
• Brings Google's tasks to your Mac: tasks you add in Google Tasks, Gemini, Gmail or Google Calendar appear in Reminders.
• A command line too. The ltb tool runs the same engine: status, dry runs, diagnostics, approvals and migration.

How it works

flowchart LR
  subgraph mac["Your Mac — everything runs here"]
    rem["Apple Reminders<br/>(your lists)"]
    helpers["EventKit helpers<br/>ltb-reminders-export<br/>ltb-reminders-apply"]
    engine["Sync engine<br/>(Python, standard library)"]
    app["Local Tasks Bridge.app<br/>menu bar · setup · approvals"]
    files[("~/.config/local-tasks-bridge<br/>settings · sign-in · sync map")]
    rem <--> helpers
    helpers <--> engine
    app -->|runs and supervises| engine
    engine --- files
  end
  google["Google Tasks API<br/>(your Google account)"]
  engine <-->|HTTPS| google
  icloud["iPhone · iPad · Watch<br/>via iCloud"] <--> rem
  google <--> gapps["Google Tasks · Gmail ·<br/>Calendar · Gemini"]

Each sync cycle reads the selected Reminders lists and the matching Google lists, works out a complete plan of changes in both directions, checks the plan against the safety limits, applies it, re-reads Google to verify titles and due dates, and saves its sync map. Cycles run every minute (every five minutes with the shared sign-in, see below) and right after you change something in Reminders. The details are in docs/architecture.md.

Syncing happens only while the Mac is on, awake and you are logged in. Changes made on your phone or in Google while the Mac sleeps are picked up when it wakes.

Requirements

• macOS 13 Ventura or later, on Apple silicon or Intel.
• Apple Reminders with the lists you want to sync. Use iCloud lists if you also want the changes on your iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.
• A Google account.
• For the “own client” sign-in method: a free Google Cloud project (no billing account needed). It takes about ten minutes — see docs/google-cloud-setup.md.
• For building from source: the Xcode Command Line Tools, which provide Swift and Python 3.9 or newer. The full Xcode app is not needed.

The sync engine runs on Python 3.9 or newer. Release builds include their own Python, so you don't need to install anything. An app built from source uses the Python of the Command Line Tools (or Homebrew's); if none is found, the app explains how to install Apple's free Command Line Tools.

Install

Option A: one-line installer (recommended)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/siyuanj/local-tasks-bridge/main/install.sh | bash

In mainland China, curl doesn't use the macOS system proxy. Point it at your proxy app first (use the HTTP port it shows), for example:

export https_proxy=http://127.0.0.1:7890
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/siyuanj/local-tasks-bridge/main/install.sh | bash

The installer downloads the latest release for your Mac's processor, checks it against the published SHA256SUMS, installs Local Tasks Bridge.app into ~/Applications (or updates an existing copy where it is), links the ltb command into ~/.local/bin and opens the app. It never uses sudo. Because the app is not downloaded by a browser and the installer clears the quarantine flag, you won't see the Gatekeeper prompt. You are welcome to read install.sh first.

Options go after bash -s --, for example curl -fsSL …/install.sh | bash -s -- --version v1.0.0:

This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗