I want to connect my Notion workspace with Google Calendar directly using their APIs. Every time I look online, I only see tutorials for automation platforms like Zapier or Make (formerly Integromat).
I’m wondering if it’s possible to build this integration myself without depending on external services. What programming languages work best for this kind of project? Also, do I need to set up a server that runs continuously to keep everything synced?
I saw a few Python examples on YouTube but couldn’t find any step-by-step tutorials that explain the whole process from start to finish.
totally! i used node.js too for a similar project. just remember, oauth for both nots great but manageable. if u can, avoid the full server setup; webhooks or maybe a cron job work fine for syncing.
Totally doable without third-party services. I used Node.js and it’s pretty straightforward once you get through the initial setup pain. The tricky part is handling rate limits - both APIs have different restrictions you’ve got to respect. For servers, depends what you need. I started with a basic Express server on a cheap VPS that checks both services every 30 minutes, but you could use serverless functions like AWS Lambda or Vercel if you don’t want to babysit infrastructure. Notion’s API docs are actually decent now (way better than a year ago), and Google’s Calendar API is solid. Build in error handling and logging from day one - API calls will break and you’ll want to know why.
Built something like this last year with Python - used the official SDKs from both services. Authentication’s the biggest pain - you’ll need to register apps in Google Cloud Console and Notion’s dev portal for API credentials. Python’s great since both APIs have solid docs and libraries. For hosting, depends what you need. I went with GitHub Actions running every few hours to sync events. Skips the headache of running a server but keeps things current enough. Real-time sync needs webhooks and a dedicated service, but scheduled runs work fine for personal stuff. Took me a weekend to get it working right.