Sunrise

Product Introduction

1. Definition: Sunrise is a web-based productivity planner and task management application. Technically, it is a client-side interface layer built on top of the Google Tasks and Google Calendar APIs, functioning as a unified planning dashboard.
2. Core Value Proposition: It exists to solve the fragmented planning experience between Google Calendar and Google Tasks. Its primary value is providing a single, integrated view for daily and weekly planning, syncing bidirectionally with Google's ecosystem to eliminate app-switching and context loss.

Main Features

1. Today View: This is a consolidated dashboard that merges time-blocked calendar events with task-based to-do items for the current day. It works by making parallel API calls to Google Calendar (for events) and Google Tasks (for tasks with a due date of "today"), then rendering them in a single, chronologically ordered interface. This provides an at-a-glance overview of your daily commitments.
2. Upcoming Agenda & Kanban Board: This feature presents a scrollable, linear list of items categorized as "Overdue," "Today," and "Upcoming." It technically queries the Google Tasks API for all incomplete tasks, sorts them by due date, and displays them in an actionable list. Simultaneously, the Kanban board view maps each Google Tasks list to a visual column, enabling drag-and-drop reorganization of tasks between lists (e.g., "To Do," "Doing," "Done") directly through the Sunrise interface, with all changes synced back to Google Tasks via PATCH requests.
3. Calendar Week View with Google Sync: This component renders a traditional weekly calendar layout by fetching event data from the Google Calendar API. The key technical integration is OAuth 2.0 authentication and secure token management, which allows Sunrise to have read/write access to the user's primary calendar. Any event creation or modification within Sunrise's week view triggers corresponding API calls to update the user's Google Calendar in real-time, ensuring data parity.

Problems Solved

1. Pain Point: It directly addresses the lack of a holistic "Today view" in Google's native ecosystem. Users are forced to mentally juggle between the flat, list-based Google Tasks interface and the time-based Google Calendar, leading to missed tasks and inefficient daily planning.
2. Target Audience: The primary user personas are knowledge workers, project managers, and productivity-focused professionals who rely on Google Workspace (Gmail, Calendar) for their core workflow but find Google Tasks insufficient for actionable day-planning and visual task organization.
3. Use Cases: Essential for planning a workday by seeing meetings and actionable tasks side-byide; reviewing overdue items to prevent tasks from falling through the cracks; using a Kanban board to manage project workflows (like content calendars or development sprints) without leaving the Google ecosystem; and getting a quick overview of the week's commitments during a Monday morning planning session.

Unique Advantages

1. Differentiation: Unlike standalone task managers (Todoist, TickTick) or calendar apps, Sunrise does not attempt to replace Google's services. Its key differentiation is acting as a synchronized visualization and planning layer on top of the user's existing Google data. Compared to using Google Calendar and Tasks separately, it provides integrated views and workflow tools those platforms lack natively.
2. Key Innovation: The core technical innovation is its architecture as a secure, read/write client for Google's APIs rather than a data-siloed SaaS product. User data (events, tasks) never migrates to a separate Sunrise database; the application purely manipulates data via Google's official APIs. This approach guarantees data sovereignty for the user and reduces the security and migration concerns associated with third-party productivity tools.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Where is my Google Calendar and Tasks data stored when using Sunrise? Your data remains exclusively in your Google account. Sunrise uses OAuth to request permission to read and write to your Google Calendar and Tasks via their official APIs. It is a client interface, not a data storage platform, so no event or task data is copied to Sunrise servers.
2. How does the Sunrise Kanban board sync with Google Tasks? Each column on the Sunrise Kanban board corresponds directly to a Google Tasks list. When you drag a task between columns, Sunrise sends an API request to Google Tasks to move that task to the corresponding list. This bidirectional sync means changes in the Kanban view are instantly reflected in the Google Tasks mobile app or web interface, and vice versa.
3. What is the difference between Sunrise and Google Calendar's "Tasks" sidebar? Google Calendar's sidebar shows a simple, flat list of tasks. Sunrise provides a comprehensive planning suite including a unified Today view (calendar + tasks), an agenda with overdue items, a full week calendar, and a visual Kanban board for task management—all features absent from the native Google integration.
4. Is Sunrise a free application and what are the limitations? The Sunrise web app is currently free with full access to Google Calendar and Tasks sync, the Today view, week calendar, and Kanban board. A future Pro tier is planned, which will introduce power-user features like custom themes, advanced filters, saved views, priority sync, offline support, and direct email support, with pricing to be announced.