Skip to main content

Using BusyCal with Todoist

Todoist is a popular task management offering by Doist. The BusyCal Todoist integration lets you add your Todoist account to BusyCal and manage all your task lists and calendar items in one place. You can view and manage your Todoist tasks alongside your calendar events, creating a comprehensive productivity system. Changes made in BusyCal will sync to Todoist and all other devices running Todoist and vice versa.

Syncing with Todoist​

To sync BusyCal with Todoist, do the following:

note

BusyCal currently supports a single Todoist account. You can add one Todoist account to BusyCal at a time.

  1. Choose BusyCal > Settings > Accounts.
  2. Click the + (plus) button to add a new account.
  3. Choose Todoist from the Server Type pop-up menu, and click OK.

Troubleshooting​

Update BusyCal first if Todoist sync reports errors​

If Todoist sync shows errors such as Failed to get content, API errors, connectivity errors, metadata errors, or a red exclamation point next to the Todoist account, make sure you are running the very latest version of BusyCal before trying any deeper troubleshooting.

Todoist updates and retires parts of its API roughly every year, and older BusyCal builds simply cannot keep up with those changes — even a build from only a few months ago may stop communicating with Todoist's current API, despite having worked fine before. This is the most common cause of the "Failed to get content" error, so updating BusyCal is always the first step, regardless of how much other troubleshooting you have already done.

If you installed BusyCal from the Mac App Store:

  1. Open the Mac App Store.
  2. Go to Updates, or search for BusyCal directly.
  3. Install the latest available BusyCal update.
  4. Relaunch BusyCal and try the Todoist account again.

If you installed BusyCal directly from BusyMac:

  1. Open BusyCal.
  2. Choose BusyCal > Check for Updates.
  3. Install the latest update.
  4. Quit and reopen BusyCal.
  5. Try syncing Todoist again.

If you installed BusyCal through Setapp, update it from the Setapp app instead.

If the Todoist account still shows Failed to get content after you have confirmed BusyCal is up to date, remove the Todoist account from BusyCal and add it again from BusyCal > Settings > Accounts.

Quota Limits

Todoist enforces request limits. BusyCal’s Todoist sync happens in multiple steps (for example: checking for changes, then syncing lists, labels, reminders, and tasks). Some actions can trigger extra checks/updates (including handling completed tasks), so making lots of changes in a short time can use up your quota quickly.

If sync pauses due to Todoist quota limits, you’ll need to wait a bit and let it resume. For current limits, see Todoist’s “Request Limits / Rate Limiting” documentation: https://developer.todoist.com/api/v1/

Known Limitations​

BusyCal attempts to sync all the information retrieved from Todoist, including projects (calendars in BusyCal), task dates, notes, URL, reminders, labels etc, however the following limitations apply:

  • Labels can currently only be created and managed from your Todoist account. These changes automatically sync with BusyCal.
  • Some properties are not available: Attachments, Graphics, Locations, Location URLs, Private Flag.
  • Location based reminders sync from Todoist → BusyCal, however you cannot currently create one from within BusyCal.
  • Assigning "My Alarm", "My Notes", "My Tag" or "Contact" to a Task will not sync across multiple devices running BusyCal as Todoist does not support syncing 3rd party app meta-data.
  • Rich-text notes will not sync across multiple devices running BusyCal.
  • Snoozing or dismissing alarms on one device does not sync the snooze / dismissal across other devices running BusyCal.

Note that any limits that apply to your Todoist subscription plan also apply from within BusyCal. For instance, non-premium features such as adding an alarm to a task will not be available on a free account.

Last updated on