Adding external calendars to your Workspace helps you plan content with more context by bringing events from tools like Google Calendar, Outlook, Asana, and more directly into HeyOrca.
External calendars can be added to workspaces on all plans (Free, Basic and Pro).
Supported external calendar sources
External calendars can help bring more context into your content planning by displaying important events from the tools your team already uses.
🕑 TL;DR: If a platform provides a public or shareable .ics link, it can likely be connected to HeyOrca.
Below are some common platforms that support shareable .ics calendar feeds:
Personal and productivity calendars
Personal and productivity calendars
Google Calendar
Microsoft Outlook/Microsoft 365
Apple iCloud Calendar
Zoho Calendar
Fastmail Calendar
Project management tools
Project management tools
Asana
Trello
ClickUp
Basecamp
Todoist
Monday.com
Smartsheet
Scheduling and appointment tools
Scheduling and appointment tools
Calendly
Acuity Scheduling
Simply Schedule Appointments
Team and shared calendars
Team and shared calendars
Teamup
Teamweek
Keep&Share
Rental and booking calendars
Rental and booking calendars
Airbnb
Vrbo
Booking.com
Public and event calendars
Public and event calendars
National holiday calendars
Sports schedules
School and academic calendars
Conference and event calendars
Sunrise/sunset and moon phase calendars
Add an external calendar
HeyOrca can display any external calendar that publishes an iCal (.ics) feed alongside your social content. Google, Outlook, and Apple all support this, and many other tools do as well. Look for "iCal," "ICS," "Subscribe," or "Calendar feed" in their share settings.
Once you copy the link from your initial calendar location, you can connect it your Workspace following the steps below:
Open the Workspace you want to add a calendar to
Navigate to Workspace Settings and select the Calendar tab
Click Add Calendar
Give the calendar a display name.
Paste the shareable link URL from your external calendar
Click Add Calendar.
Events will appear on your Workspace calendar within a few minutes.
Only Workspace owners and Internal Admins can add external calendars to a Workspace.
Getting your calendar link
Google Calendar
Google offers several sharing options and only one of them is the iCal link that will successfully connect your calendar to HeyOrca. Make sure you're copying the iCal address, not the public URL or embed code.
To get your link for a Google Calendar, follow these steps:
Open Google Calendar.
In the left sidebar, hover over the calendar you want to share → click the three dots (⋮) → Settings and sharing.
Decide whether the calendar should be public or private:
Public (anyone with the link can view): Under "Access permissions for events," check Make available to public. Scroll to "Integrate calendar" and copy the Public address in iCal format.
Private (only people with the secret link can view): Leave access permissions alone. Scroll to "Integrate calendar" and copy the Secret address in iCal format. Treat this link like a password — anyone with it can subscribe.
Paste the link into HeyOrca.
What won't work:
"Public URL to this calendar" — opens Google Calendar in a browser
"Embed code" — an iframe for embedding in websites
"Share with specific people" invite links
Outlook
Open Outlook on the web → Settings → Calendar → Shared calendars.
Under "Publish a calendar," choose the calendar and permission level → Publish.
Copy the ICS link (not the HTML link).
Paste into HeyOrca.
Apple/iCloud
Open Calendar on Mac, or iCloud.com → Calendar.
Click the share icon next to the calendar → check Public Calendar.
Copy the link.
💡 Tip: If the link starts with webcal://, change it to https:// before pasting into HeyOrca.
Other tools
If your calendar tool offers an iCal or ICS subscription link, it should work in HeyOrca. Check the tool's share or export settings for "iCal," "ICS," "Subscribe," or "Calendar feed" to verify that it’s an .ics format.
FAQ: External Calendars
What is .ics?
What is .ics?
An .ics file (also called an iCalendar file) is a standard format used to share calendar information between platforms.
It’s what allows tools like Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Asana, and more to share events with other apps using a calendar feed link.
In HeyOrca, you can paste a shareable .ics link to pull important events into your Workspace calendar so your team can plan content with more context, all in one place.
Can I edit events from connected calendars inside HeyOrca?
Can I edit events from connected calendars inside HeyOrca?
No. External calendars are read-only. To edit an event, update it in the source calendar and changes will appear in HeyOrca on the next refresh.
How often do calendar feeds refresh?
How often do calendar feeds refresh?
Calendar feeds are refreshed each time the calendar view is loaded to ensure that data is up to date the moment the user sees it. This also means that a change made to the calendar wont be reflected until the calendar page is reloaded.
Can I connect my Google Calendar without connecting my Google account to HeyOrca?
Can I connect my Google Calendar without connecting my Google account to HeyOrca?
Yes! You paste a shareable link from your calendar settings so no login or reauthorization is required.
Will scheduled HeyOrca posts appear in my Google Calendar/Outlook?
Will scheduled HeyOrca posts appear in my Google Calendar/Outlook?
Not yet. Currently, this feature pulls events in but does push events out.
Does adding external calendars work with Notion or Airtable?
Does adding external calendars work with Notion or Airtable?
The ability to External calendars supports platforms that publish .ics feeds, which Notion and AirTable currently do not.
Can I connect Facebook Events or Eventbrite?
Can I connect Facebook Events or Eventbrite?
You can add individual events manually if needed but cannot be added as a subscribable feed as both platforms only offer per-event .ics downloads.
How many external calendars can I connect?
How many external calendars can I connect?
You can add an unlimited number of calendar feeds to a HeyOrca workspace. Calendar feeds are not considered social account integrations.
Can clients see the calendars I’ve connected?
Can clients see the calendars I’ve connected?
Yes.
Does Oscar AI use these calendars?
Does Oscar AI use these calendars?
Yes. When drafting content, Oscar can reference events from connected calendars to time posts.