Access Your Thunderbird/BetterBird Local Calendar by cli and

[amu]

. Close Thunderbird

• Ensure Thunderbird is not running to avoid database lock.
• You can check with: pgrep thunderbird
• If it’s running, close it from the UI or run: pkill thunderbird

2. Locate your Thunderbird profile directory
   • Thunderbird profiles are stored in ~/.thunderbird/
   • List the directories: ls ~/.thunderbird/*
   • Look for a folder ending with .default-release or .default (e.g., x112dgtq.default-default)

• Inside that profile, the calendar data is in:
  ~/.thunderbird//calendar-data/local.sqlite

3. Make a safe copy of the calendar database (recommended)

   • cp ~/.thunderbird//calendar-data/local.sqlite /tmp/calendar_backup.sqlite
   • Work on the copy to avoid corrupting the live database.

4. Install sqlite3 if not already present

   • On Gnoppix: sudo apt-get install sqlite3

• Verify: sqlite3 --version

5. Examine the database structure

• sqlite3 /tmp/calendar_backup.sqlite “.tables”
• You will see tables like cal_events, cal_todos, cal_alarms, etc.

6. View the columns of the events table

• sqlite3 /tmp/calendar_backup.sqlite “PRAGMA table_info(cal_events);”

. Query existing events (if any)

• Example: Show title, start and end times (Unix timestamp seconds)
  sqlite3 /tmp/calendar_backup.sqlite "
  SELECT id, title,
  datetime(event_start, ‘unixepoch’) AS start_time,
  datetime(event_end, ‘unixepoch’) AS end_time,
  location
  FROM cal_events
  ORDER BY event_start;
  "
• If the table is empty, you currently have no local events.

8. (Optional) Convert timestamps to a more readable format in bash

• You can use a small script or one-liner to convert the INTEGER timestamps.

9. Adding or editing events (use with caution!)

• Directly editing the SQLite database can corrupt your calendar if done incorrectly.
• Always backup first and test on a copy.
• Example INSERT (adjust values):
  INSERT INTO cal_events (id, title, event_start, event_end, event_stamp, time_created, last_modified, priority, privacy, ical_status,
  flags, event_start_tz, event_end_tz)
  VALUES (
  ‘generated-id-123’,
  ‘Meeting with Team’,
  strftime(‘%s’, ‘2026-06-10 14:00:00’)*1000, – milliseconds since epoch (Thunderbird uses ms)
  strftime(‘%s’, ‘2026-06-10 15:00:00’)*1000,
  strftime(‘%s’, ‘2026-06-10 14:00:00’)*1000,
  strftime(‘%s’, ‘now’)*1000,
  strftime(‘%s’, ‘now’)*1000,
  0, – priority (0 = none)
  ‘0’, – privacy (0 = public)
  ‘TENTATIVE’, – ical_status
  0, – flags
  ‘UTC’, – event_start_tz
  ‘UTC’ – event_end_tz
  );
• Note: Thunderbird stores timestamps in **milliseconds** since the Unix epoch. Adjust accordingly.

10. After making changes (if any), copy the file back (only if you are sure)

• cp /tmp/calendar_backup.sqlite ~/.thunderbird//calendar-data/local.sqlite

11. Restart Thunderbird and verify your changes appear in the Calendar tab.

12. Alternative: Use command-line calendar tools that can read the same SQLite format

• Install khcal (KDE) or use a Python script with the sqlite3 module to list/add events without touching Thunderbird.

Safety Tips

• Never edit the live database while Thunderbird is running.
• Always keep a backup before making modifications.
• If you are unsure, use Thunderbird’s GUI to manage events; direct SQLite editing is for advanced users or automation.

Alternative way : start hermes and type: “Read my upcoming meetings from my local Betterbird calendar. At 06:30, create an overview of today’s meetings followed by tomorrow’s meetings in a modern HTML email. Send it via local mail to events@domain.com.”

[amu]

Here is the result as a email automated with the hermes agent