Configuration

Prisma Calendar settings with tabs for General, Properties, Calendar UI, Notifications, and Rules

Calendar Management

Add, clone, or delete calendars from Settings → Prisma Calendar
Each calendar is isolated: its own directory, filters, colors, and UI options
Maximum calendars: 10 (configurable limit in code, UI will disable buttons at the max)

Active Calendar

Pick the calendar you want to configure. Actions like Clone Current and Delete Current affect the active calendar only.

Create / Clone / Delete

Create New: generates a unique ID and default name (e.g., “Calendar 2”) with sensible defaults
Clone Current: duplicates the entire configuration to a new calendar (ID and name change)
Delete Current: removes the calendar and re-selects the next available one (at least one calendar must remain)

General Settings

Calendar Directory

Directory: folder to scan for events and create new notes in (supports nested folders)
Template path: optional Templater template used when creating events
Export folder: folder where ICS export files are saved (default: Prisma-Exports)

Parsing

Default duration (minutes): used when only Start is present (default: 60 minutes)
Show duration field in event modal: display a duration in minutes field in the event creation/edit modal for quick editing. Changes to duration automatically update the end date, and vice versa (enabled by default)
Show stopwatch: enable stopwatch in event modal for precise time tracking (enabled by default)
Mark past events as done: automatically mark past events as done during startup by updating their status property (configure the status property and done value in the Properties section)

Show ribbon icon: display calendar icon in the left sidebar to open calendar (enabled by default)
Enable keyboard navigation: enable arrow key navigation for calendar intervals (enabled by default)

Event Presets

Default preset: select a preset to auto-fill when creating new events (optional)

Properties Settings

Tell Prisma Calendar which frontmatter keys you use.

Core Event Properties

Start property (required): default Start Date
End property (optional): default End Date
All-day property (optional): default All Day
Date property (optional): default Date (for all-day events)
Title property (optional): default Title (falls back to file name when missing)
Timezone property (optional): default Timezone (per-note timezone override)
Skip property: property name to skip/hide event from calendar (default: Skip)

Identification & Tracking

ZettelID property (optional): when set, a timestamp-based ID is generated on creation/cloning (see ZettelID Naming System for details). Default: ZettelID
Status property: frontmatter property name for event status (default: Status), used when marking events as done or undone
Done value: value to set in the status property when marking an event as done (default: Done)
Not done value: value to set in the status property when marking an event as undone (default: Not Done)
Category property: frontmatter property name for event categories (default: Category), used for grouping in statistics views. Supports multiple comma-separated categories (e.g., Category: Work, Learning) — events are counted under each category separately in statistics.
Break property: frontmatter property name for break time in minutes (default: Break), subtracted from duration in statistics
CalDAV property: property name for CalDAV sync metadata (default: CalDAV)

Recurring Event Properties

Future instances count property: property name for per-event override of future instances count (default: Future Instances Count)
Generate past events property: property name for generating past recurring instances from source event start date (default: Generate Past Events)

Recurring (node-based)

RRule property: e.g., daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, yearly
RRule specification property: weekdays for weekly/bi-weekly (e.g., monday, wednesday, friday)
RRule ID property: unique identifier for recurrence
Source property: link to the source recurring event
Ignore recurring property: when set to true, excludes the event from future instance generation count (useful for duplicated recurring events)

Example:

---
Start: 2025-01-15T09:00
End: 2025-01-15T10:30
RRule: weekly
RRuleSpec: monday, wednesday, friday
RRuleID: standup-2025
---

Ignored Recurring Instances

When you duplicate a recurring instance using the context menu, the duplicated event gets Ignore Recurring: true. This means:

The event is still tracked as part of the recurring series
It does NOT count towards the "Future instances count" limit
The recurring event manager won't create new instances to replace it

---
Start: 2025-01-22T09:00
End: 2025-01-22T10:30
RRuleID: standup-2025
Source: "[[Weekly Meeting Source]]"
Ignore Recurring: true
---

⚠️ WARNING: Do Not Manually Modify This Property

The Ignore Recurring property is automatically managed by the system when you use the "Duplicate recurring instance" feature. Never manually add, change, or remove this property—doing so may break the recurring event generation logic.

Always Include Date and Time Properties

Prisma Calendar automatically ensures that both date and time properties are always present in event frontmatter, regardless of whether the event is all-day or timed. This makes it easy to convert between all-day and timed events by manually editing the frontmatter.

For all-day events:

The Date property contains the date (e.g., 2025-02-15)
The Start and End properties are empty strings

For timed events:

The Start and End properties contain the full datetime (e.g., 2025-02-15T09:00:00)
The Date property is an empty string

Benefits:

Easy conversion: Change an all-day event to timed by adding values to Start/End and clearing Date
Consistent structure: All events have the same property structure, making templates and scripts easier to write
No missing properties: You can always reference Date, Start, or End without checking if they exist

Example - All-day event:

---
Title: Holiday
Date: 2025-12-25
Start:
End:
AllDay: true
---

Example - Timed event:

---
Title: Meeting
Date:
Start: 2025-02-15T09:00:00
End: 2025-02-15T10:30:00
AllDay: false
---

Auto-mark Past Events

When enabled in General settings, Prisma Calendar will automatically update the status property of past events during startup:

For all-day events: Checks if the date is in the past
For timed events: Checks if the end date/time is in the past
Runs asynchronously: Doesn't block the calendar from loading
Smart updates: Only writes to files when the status needs to be changed

Example behavior:

---
Start: 2025-01-10T14:00
End: 2025-01-10T15:00
STATUS: In Progress
---

After the end time passes, Prisma Calendar will automatically update it to:

---
Start: 2025-01-10T14:00
End: 2025-01-10T15:00
STATUS: Done
---

Calendar Settings (UI)

View Configuration

Default view: set initial calendar view (dayGridMonth, timeGridWeek, timeGridDay, listWeek)
Hide weekends: toggle Saturday/Sunday visibility
First day of week: choose locale preference (0 = Sunday, 1 = Monday, etc.)
Show decimal hours: show durations as decimal hours (e.g., 2.5h) instead of formatted (e.g., 2h 30m)

Time Display

Day start / end hour: visible time range in grids (default: 7-22)
Slot duration (minutes): grid slot height (default: 10 minutes, range: 1-60)
Snap duration (minutes): drag/resize snapping interval (default: 10 minutes, range: 1-60)
Zoom levels (minutes): comma-separated list for CTRL+scroll zoom (default: 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60)

Visual Appearance

Display density: comfortable or compact (default: comfortable)
Past event contrast: visual contrast of past events (0% = invisible, 100% = normal, default: 70%)
Show color dots: show color indicator dots in monthly view (enabled by default)
Thicker hour lines: make full-hour lines thicker in day/week views (enabled by default)

Event Interaction

Enable event preview: hover previews inside the calendar (enabled by default)
Show current time indicator: time line in day/week views (enabled by default)
Highlight upcoming event: highlight the next upcoming event (enabled by default)
Skip underscore properties: skip displaying properties that start with underscore in event chips (enabled by default)

Event Overlap

Allow event overlap: whether events can visually overlap in all views (default: enabled)
Allow slot event overlap: whether events can overlap within the same time slot in time grid views (default: enabled)
Event stack limit: maximum events to stack before showing "+ more" link (1-10, default: 1)
Mobile max events per day: maximum events to show per day on mobile before showing "+more" (0-10, default: 4)

Batch Selection

Batch action buttons: customize which action buttons appear in the batch selection mode toolbar. You can enable or disable individual buttons to streamline your workflow:
- Select All: Select all visible events on the current calendar view
- Clear: Deselect all currently selected events
- Duplicate: Create duplicate copies of selected events
- Move By: Move selected events by a specified number of days/weeks
- Mark as Done: Mark selected events as done using the configured status property
- Clone Next: Clone selected events to the next week
- Clone Prev: Clone selected events to the previous week
- Move Next: Move selected events to the next week
- Move Prev: Move selected events to the previous week
- Open All: Open all selected event notes in separate tabs
- Skip: Mark selected events as skipped (hidden from calendar)
- Delete: Delete selected event notes
All buttons are enabled by default. The Counter (showing selection count) and Exit buttons are always shown and cannot be disabled.

Notifications Settings

Configure desktop notifications and alerts for upcoming events.

General

Enable notifications: turn on desktop notifications for events (enabled by default)
Notification sound: play sound when notifications appear (disabled by default)

Timing

Default minutes before (timed events): minutes before timed events to notify (optional, undefined = no default notification)
Default days before (all-day events): days before all-day events to notify (optional, undefined = no default notification)
Snooze minutes: how many minutes to snooze notifications (default: 15 minutes)

Property Names

Minutes before property: frontmatter property to read per-event notification times (default: Minutes Before)
Days before property: frontmatter property to read per-event notification days for all-day events (default: Days Before)
Already notified property: frontmatter property to mark events as already notified (default: Already Notified)

Per-Event Overrides

Each event can specify its own notification timing via frontmatter:

---
Title: Important Meeting
Start Date: 2025-01-15T14:00
Minutes Before: 30  # Notify 30 minutes before this event
---

For all-day events:

---
Title: Birthday
Date: 2025-01-15
Days Before: 1  # Notify 1 day before this all-day event
---

Rules Settings

Event Colors

Default event color: fallback color when no rule matches
Color rules: evaluated top-to-bottom; first match wins

Examples:

Priority === 'High'         → red
Status === 'Done'           → #22c55e
Project === 'Work'          → hsl(210, 70%, 50%)
Type === 'Meeting'          → #f59e0b

Tips:

Use property names directly (no prefix needed)
Colors support CSS names, hex, or HSL

Event Filtering

All expressions must evaluate to true; events failing any filter are excluded.

Status !== 'Inbox'
Priority === 'High'
Status === 'Done' || Status === 'In Progress'
!_Archived
Array.isArray(Project) && Project.length > 0

Filter Presets

Create named filter expressions for quick access via the calendar toolbar dropdown:

Go to Settings → Rules → Filter Presets
Click "Add Preset"
Enter a name (e.g., "High Priority Only")
Enter the filter expression (e.g., Priority === 'High')

Using Presets:

Click the ▼ dropdown button in the calendar toolbar (next to the zoom button)
Select a preset to apply its filter instantly
Select "Clear" to remove the active filter

Notes:

Filter presets use the same expression syntax as event filtering
Presets are per-calendar configuration
Active preset filters are temporary and reset when the calendar is reloaded

Categories Settings

Manage category colors visually with the Categories Settings section:

Go to Settings → Categories
View all categories automatically detected from your events
See event counts for each category (e.g., "Work (15 events)")
Configure colors using the color picker for each category
View a pie chart showing category distribution with percentages

Features:

Automatic Detection: Categories are automatically collected from all events using the category property configured in Settings → Properties
Read-Only Categories: Categories cannot be edited directly - they're detected from event usage
Color Management: Each category color is stored as a color rule (e.g., Category.includes('Work')) and updates in real-time
Visual Distribution: Pie chart shows percentage breakdown of events across categories
Sorted by Usage: Categories are sorted by event count (most used first)

How Category Colors Work:

When you set a color for a category, it creates or updates a color rule behind the scenes
The expression format is: {CategoryProperty}.includes('{CategoryName}')
Colors apply immediately to all events with that category
If no color is set for a category, it uses the default event color

Example: If your category property is Category and you set a color for "Work", it creates a color rule:

Category.includes('Work') → #3b82f6

All events with Category: Work will now use that color.

Frontmatter Display

Show extra frontmatter properties inside event chips (scrollable when space is tight).

Display properties (timed events): comma-separated list of properties to show in timed event chips (e.g., status, priority, project, tags)
Display properties (all-day events): comma-separated list of properties to show in all-day event chips (can differ from timed events)

Rendered example inside a chip:

Meeting with Team
status: In Progress
priority: High
project: Q4 Planning

Event Presets

Save reusable event templates with pre-filled values for quick event creation.

Creating Presets

Open the Create or Edit Event modal
Fill in the fields you want to save (title, dates, categories, recurring settings, custom properties)
Click "Save as preset" button
Enter a name for the preset (e.g., "Weekly Team Meeting")
Choose to create a new preset or override an existing one

Using Presets

Apply preset: Select from the dropdown in the modal header to populate all fields
Clear button: Reset all fields to empty state if the preset doesn't match your needs
Default preset: Configure a default preset in General Settings that auto-applies when creating new events

What Presets Save

Field	Saved	Notes
Title	✅	Pre-fill event name
All-day	✅	Timed vs all-day mode
Date/Start/End	✅	Date and time values
Categories	✅	Category assignment
Recurring settings	✅	RRule type, weekdays, future count
Custom properties	✅	Any additional frontmatter

Example Use Cases

"Gym Session": Title + 1 hour duration + "Health" category
"Weekly Standup": Title + recurring weekly on Mon/Wed/Fri + custom properties
"Client Meeting": Title + all-day + custom properties for project tracking

Break Time for Statistics

Track accurate productive time by excluding breaks from event duration.

Configuration

Break property: Configure the property name in Settings → Properties (default: Break)
Event modal: When break property is configured, a "Break (minutes)" field appears in the Create/Edit Event modal

Usage

Add the Break property to your event frontmatter:

---
Title: Work Session
Start Date: 2025-01-15T09:00
End Date: 2025-01-15T17:00
Break: 60  # 1 hour lunch break
---

How It Works

Statistics calculation: Break time is subtracted from total duration
Example: An 8-hour event with Break: 60 shows as 7 hours in statistics
Decimal support: Enter partial minutes (e.g., 45.5 for 45.5 minutes)
Per-event: Each event can have its own break time

Use Cases

Exclude lunch breaks from work sessions
Track actual meeting time excluding breaks
Accurate time tracking for billing purposes

Recurring Instances (Generation Horizon)

Future instances count: how many future notes to pre-generate (1–52, default: 2)
Beyond that, events appear as read-only virtual items to keep your vault light
Per-event override: Set Future Instances Count property in a recurring event's frontmatter to override the global setting for that specific recurring series

Frontmatter Propagation

Control how frontmatter changes in source recurring events propagate to physical instances:

Propagate frontmatter to instances: When enabled, changes to custom frontmatter properties automatically propagate to all existing physical instances without confirmation. Multiple rapid changes are accumulated and merged together within the debounce window.
Ask before propagating: When enabled, a confirmation modal appears showing all accumulated changes (added, modified, deleted properties) before applying them. Allows you to review changes before confirming.
Excluded properties: Comma-separated list of additional frontmatter property names to exclude from propagation. These properties, along with all Prisma-managed properties (Start, End, Date, RRule, RRuleID, Source, etc.), are never propagated to preserve instance-specific timing and system integrity.
Propagation debounce delay: Delay in milliseconds before propagating changes (100ms - 10,000ms, default: 3000ms). Multiple rapid changes within this window are accumulated and merged together. Lower values propagate faster; higher values accumulate more changes before propagating.

The system intelligently detects three types of changes:

Added: New properties added to the source event
Modified: Existing properties changed in the source event
Deleted: Properties removed from the source event

Only the specific changes detected are propagated, preserving any instance-specific properties that weren't changed in the source.

Calendar Management​

Active Calendar​

Create / Clone / Delete​

General Settings​

Calendar Directory​

Parsing​

Display & Navigation​

Event Presets​

Properties Settings​

Core Event Properties​

Identification & Tracking​

Recurring Event Properties​

Recurring (node-based)​

Ignored Recurring Instances​

Always Include Date and Time Properties​

Auto-mark Past Events​

Calendar Settings (UI)​

View Configuration​

Time Display​

Visual Appearance​

Event Interaction​

Event Overlap​

Batch Selection​

Notifications Settings​

General​

Timing​

Property Names​

Per-Event Overrides​

Rules Settings​

Event Colors​

Event Filtering​

Filter Presets​

Categories Settings​

Frontmatter Display​

Event Presets​

Creating Presets​

Using Presets​

What Presets Save​

Example Use Cases​

Break Time for Statistics​

Configuration​

Usage​

How It Works​

Use Cases​

Recurring Instances (Generation Horizon)​

Frontmatter Propagation​

Calendar Management

Active Calendar

Create / Clone / Delete

General Settings

Calendar Directory

Parsing

Display & Navigation

Event Presets

Properties Settings

Core Event Properties

Identification & Tracking

Recurring Event Properties

Recurring (node-based)

Ignored Recurring Instances

Always Include Date and Time Properties

Auto-mark Past Events

Calendar Settings (UI)

View Configuration

Time Display

Visual Appearance

Event Interaction

Event Overlap

Batch Selection

Notifications Settings

General

Timing

Property Names

Per-Event Overrides

Rules Settings

Event Colors

Event Filtering

Filter Presets

Categories Settings

Frontmatter Display

Event Presets

Creating Presets

Using Presets

What Presets Save

Example Use Cases

Break Time for Statistics

Configuration

Usage

How It Works

Use Cases

Recurring Instances (Generation Horizon)

Frontmatter Propagation