# Handling of pending and cancelled calendar events for attendees (Outlook behavior)

**URL:** <https://forums.nylas.com/t/handling-of-pending-and-cancelled-calendar-events-for-attendees-outlook-behavior/1048>\
**Category:** Question and Answers\
**Tags:** calendar-api\
**Created:** [January 7, 2026, 10:35am UTC](https://forums.nylas.com/t/handling-of-pending-and-cancelled-calendar-events-for-attendees-outlook-behavior/1048 "2026-01-07T10:35:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Aidapropbase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/977dab/32.png) [@Aidapropbase](https://forums.nylas.com/u/Aidapropbase)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 10:35am UTC](https://forums.nylas.com/t/handling-of-pending-and-cancelled-calendar-events-for-attendees-outlook-behavior/1048/1 "2026-01-07T10:35:33Z")

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Hello,

I have 2 questions regarding how Nylas handles attendee states and cancelled calendar events, especially compared to Outlook behavior.

##### **Scenario 1 – Event created, attendee has not responded**

- Organizer creates a calendar event and adds the attendee

- Attendee receives the invitation email

- In Outlook, the attendee sees:

**Question:**  
Is it possible via Nylas to retrieve an attendee state that represents  
_“invited but not yet accepted or declined”_?

##### **Scenario 2 – Event cancelled by organizer**

- Organizer cancels the event
- Attendee receives a cancellation email with an `.ics` file in our software.
- In Outlook:
  - the cancellation email still shows the **original date and time**
  - the calendar entry appears as **“Cancelled: ”**
  - the event is not colored but remains visible for reference

**Current behavior in our software:**

- The cancellation email is received correctly
- The `.ics` file cannot be opened because the event no longer exists
- As a result, we lose access to:
  - event date
  - event time
  - cancelled-event context

**Questions:**

- Can Nylas still provide the **original date and time** of a cancelled event for attendees?
- Is there a way to identify a **cancelled event state** (similar to Outlook’s “Cancelled: ”)?

Thanks and Best Regards,

Aida

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**Author:** ![Samuel.R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Samuel.R](https://forums.nylas.com/u/Samuel.R)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 12:39pm UTC](https://forums.nylas.com/t/handling-of-pending-and-cancelled-calendar-events-for-attendees-outlook-behavior/1048/2 "2026-01-07T12:39:00Z")

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Hello Aida,

Thanks for your questions, happy to help.

**Scenario 1:**  
Yes, Nylas supports this. You can check the `participant_status` field. If it’s set to `noreply`, it means the attendee has been invited but hasn’t responded yet. Other possible values are `yes`, `no`, and `maybe`.

**Scenario 2:**  
Yes to both of your questions.

- **Original date and time:** Nylas keeps cancelled events in a soft-deleted state, so the start, end, and other details are still available.

- **Cancelled state:** The `status` field will be set to `cancelled`, similar to how Outlook marks events as “Cancelled:”.

**Best practice:**

- Use webhooks to listen for `event.updated` or `event.deleted` when cancellations happen.  
[Webhooks](https://developer.nylas.com/docs/v3/notifications/)

- Query the API with `show_cancelled=true` to get the full event details, including the original date and time.  
[show\_cancelled=true docs](https://developer.nylas.com/docs/api/v3/ecc/?redirect=api#tag/events/get/v3/grants/%7Bgrant_id%7D/events)

- For recurring events, look for the `original_start_time` field on the cancelled instance.

Let me know if you need any help.

Many thanks,  
Samuel R.  
Support Engineer, Nylas

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Aidapropbase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/977dab/32.png) [@Aidapropbase](https://forums.nylas.com/u/Aidapropbase)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 9:24am UTC](https://forums.nylas.com/t/handling-of-pending-and-cancelled-calendar-events-for-attendees-outlook-behavior/1048/3 "2026-01-08T09:24:01Z")

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Hello Samuel,

thank you for your helpful respond !

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**Author:** ![Samuel.R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Samuel.R](https://forums.nylas.com/u/Samuel.R)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 11:54am UTC](https://forums.nylas.com/t/handling-of-pending-and-cancelled-calendar-events-for-attendees-outlook-behavior/1048/4 "2026-01-08T11:54:22Z")

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