MCPInstall

things-mac

by nweii

Read, search, add, and update tasks/projects/areas in Things 3 via its CLI. Use when the user says 'what's in my Things inbox', 'add this to Things', 'show today in Things', 'find Things tasks tagged X', or asks about repeating templates.

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Install

Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.

npx skills add https://github.com/nweii/agent-stuff --skill things-mac
  1. 01

    Install

    Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.

  2. 02

    Describe the task

    Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads things-mac automatically when relevant.

  3. 03

    Review the result

    The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.

SKILL.md

The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.

Things 3 CLI

Use things to read your local Things database (inbox/today/search/projects/areas/tags) and to add/update todos via the Things URL scheme.

Setup

  • Check if already installed: which things (if it returns a path, skip installation)
  • Install (Homebrew): brew install ossianhempel/tap/things3-cli
  • Install (Go, recommended for Apple Silicon): GOBIN=/opt/homebrew/bin go install github.com/ossianhempel/things3-cli/cmd/things@latest
  • Optional: set THINGSDB (or pass --db) to point at your ThingsData-* folder.

Things auth token

Update operations require an auth token. You should set THINGS_AUTH_TOKEN in your shell profile (e.g., ~/.zshrc) to persist it.

Read-only (DB)

  • things inbox --limit 50
  • things today / things logtoday / things createdtoday
  • things upcoming / things deadlines
  • things search "query"
  • things projects / things areas / things tags
  • Inspect contents:
    • things show "Area Name" / things show "Project Name"
    • things tasks --area "Area Name"
    • things tasks --project "Project Name"

Write (URL scheme)

  • Prefer safe preview: things --dry-run add "Title"
  • Add: things add "Title" --notes "..." --when today --deadline 2026-01-02
  • Scheduling: --when=someday, --later (This Evening), --when=evening
  • Bring Things to front: things --foreground add "Title"

Examples

Add a todo

  • Basic: things add "Buy milk"
  • With notes: things add "Buy milk" --notes "2% + bananas"
  • Into a project/area: things add "Book flights" --list "Travel"
  • Into a project heading: things add "Pack charger" --list "Travel" --heading "Before"
  • With tags: things add "Call dentist" --tags "health,phone"
  • Checklist: things add "Trip prep" --checklist-item "Passport" --checklist-item "Tickets"
  • Repeating: things add "Daily standup" --repeat day --repeat-mode schedule
  • From STDIN (multi-line => title + notes):
    • cat <<'EOF' | things add -
    • Title line
    • Notes line 1
    • Notes line 2
    • EOF

Projects and areas

  • Add area: things add-area "Health"
  • Add project: things add-project "New Site" --area "Work" --notes "Plan out the redesign"
  • Update project: things update-project --id <UUID> --auth-token <TOKEN> "New Title" --notes "Updated notes"

Modify a todo (needs auth token)

  • First: get the ID (UUID column): things search "milk" --limit 5
  • Auth: set THINGS_AUTH_TOKEN or pass --auth-token <TOKEN>
  • Title: things update --id <UUID> --auth-token <TOKEN> "New title"
  • Notes replace: things update --id <UUID> --auth-token <TOKEN> --notes "New notes"
  • Notes append/prepend: things update --id <UUID> --auth-token <TOKEN> --append-notes "..." / --prepend-notes "..."
  • Move lists: things update --id <UUID> --auth-token <TOKEN> --list "Travel" --heading "Before"
  • Tags replace/add: things update --id <UUID> --auth-token <TOKEN> --tags "a,b" / things update --id <UUID> --auth-token <TOKEN> --add-tags "a,b"
  • Complete/cancel (soft-delete-ish): things update --id <UUID> --auth-token <TOKEN> --completed / --canceled
  • Safe preview: things --dry-run update --id <UUID> --auth-token <TOKEN> --completed

Delete a todo

  • Supported via AppleScript: things delete --id <UUID>
  • Also supports: delete-project --id <UUID> and delete-area --id <UUID>
  • Note: This prompts for confirmation interactively. Use --confirm for non-interactive scripts.
  • Alternatively: mark as completed/canceled via things update --id <UUID> --completed / --canceled (needs auth token).

Notes

  • macOS-only.
  • --dry-run prints the URL and does not open Things.

FAQ

What does the things-mac skill do?

Read, search, add, and update tasks/projects/areas in Things 3 via its CLI. Use when the user says 'what's in my Things inbox', 'add this to Things', 'show today in Things', 'find Things tasks tagged X', or asks about repeating templates.

How do I install things-mac?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/nweii/agent-stuff --skill things-mac in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/things-mac/ (personal) or .claude/skills/things-mac/ (project).

Which AI agents can use things-mac?

Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.

Is things-mac safe to install?

No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.

Who maintains things-mac?

It is published by nweii in nweii/agent-stuff. It has 45 recorded installs.

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