FR: End-to-end support for automated family calendar invitations (Server-Side Scheduling)

[israel-lugo]

First, thank you for all the work you've done on OpenCloud, and for providing it to the public.

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

I want to migrate my family's infrastructure from ownCloud to OpenCloud. I chose OpenCloud specifically for its performance-first architecture and its commitment to digital sovereignty. Your recent support for community calendar management makes OpenCloud nearly perfect for us.

However, I've unfortunately encountered a major blocker: a "mission-critical" workflow for family coordination is currently missing.

In our current ownCloud setup, if I create a calendar event and add my family members as attendees, the event automatically appears on their devices (synced via CalDAV/DAVx⁵) as "needs action." This is vital for documenting family milestones, like a baby's first words, or upcoming appointments. My family members are not IT professionals, and some are already retired; requiring them to closely monitor emails and manually import .ics files is a significant barrier. In our current setup, this "just works" automatically on the server side.

Describe the solution you'd like

I would like OpenCloud to implement an end-to-end "Server-Side Scheduling" workflow so that internal invites are handled automatically. Ideally, this would include:

• Internal Delivery: When an OpenCloud user invites another local user, the event is automatically injected into the invitee's calendar store.
• Automatic Status Management: The event should sync to devices with a NEEDS-ACTION status, allowing the user to accept/decline within their native app.
• (Nice to have) iMIP Support: Sending an email notification with an .ics attachment for external guests or as an extra alert for family.
• UI/UX for Configuration and Usage:
  • User-Level Toggle: A simple "Automatic Event Delivery" toggle in the OpenCloud user settings. This allows non-technical users to opt out of the "magic" sync and only use manual email-based invites if they prefer.
  • (Nice to have) Dashboard Widget: A "Pending Invitations" section on the OpenCloud dashboard. This provides a central place for family members to see new invites without having to check their phones or email.
  • (Nice to have) SMTP Configuration UI: A clear interface for administrators to configure the iMIP (email notification) settings.

I have opened a protocol-level request with the Radicale team regarding the underlying RFC 6638 implementation here:
Kozea/Radicale#1945

While the core protocol logic probably belongs in Radicale, I think OpenCloud’s role is crucial as the product orchestrator:

• Dependency Management: Integrating the necessary Radicale updates or patches once available.
• User Identity: Mapping internal "Attendees" to OpenCloud user accounts to ensure the server knows exactly which calendar to inject the event into.
• UI/UX Layer: Providing the toggles and dashboard views that make the feature accessible to non-technical users.
• Service Integration (iMIP): Orchestrating the SMTP/email notification flow.

Describe alternatives you've considered

• Nextcloud/ownCloud: These handle this workflow natively, but I want to abandon their heavy complexity for OpenCloud’s leaner Go-based architecture. ownCloud in particular requires PHP 7, which is obsolete and a nuisance to maintain.
• Manual import: This is not viable for my non-technical family members; the "push" nature of the server is what makes the system usable for them.

Without this coordination feature, I am unfortunately stuck on ownCloud 10, despite it being EoL. I am holding off on a Nextcloud migration in hopes that OpenCloud can provide this essential coordination logic.

Additional context

For families and small organizations, the ability to "push" events to attendees via the server is the primary reason to use a shared CalDAV server over a local-only solution. Supporting this would make OpenCloud the premier lightweight alternative for users migrating away from heavier, less efficient stacks.

Thank you for your time and for considering this request to make OpenCloud even more accessible for families and small teams!