Agent skill · software engineering · steipete
things-mac
Add, update, list, search, or inspect Things 3 todos, inbox, today, projects, areas, and tags on macOS.
Why this skill is useful
Adds specific commands and workflows for managing Things 3 todos that the AI wouldn't reliably generate on its own.
What it needs
Requires go installed locally. About 2k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 385,400 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
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 Install (recommended, Apple Silicon): GOBIN=/opt/homebrew/bin go install github.com/ossianhempel/things3-cli/cmd/things@latest If DB reads fail: grant Full Disk Access to the calling app (Terminal for manual runs; OpenClaw.app for gateway runs). Optional: set THINGSDB (or pass --db) to point at your ThingsData- folder. Optional: set THINGSAUTHTOKEN to avoid passing --auth-token for update ops. Read-only (DB) things inbox --limit 50 things today things upcoming things search "query" things projects / things areas / things tags Write (URL scheme) Prefer safe preview: things --dry-run add "Title" Add: things add "Title" --notes "..." --when today --deadline 2026-01-02 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" From STDIN (multi-line => title + notes): cat <<'EOF' things add - Title line Notes line 1 Notes line 2 EOF Examples: modify a todo (needs auth token) First: get the ID (UUID column): things search "milk" --limit 5 Auth: set THINGSAUTHTOKEN 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" / thing …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills steipete/things-mac