Things Mac

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; Clawdbot.app for gateway runs).
• -Optional: set THINGSDB (or pass --db) to point at your ThingsData-* folder.
• -Optional: set THINGS_AUTH_TOKEN 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):

- 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 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?

• -Not supported by things3-cli right now (no “delete/move-to-trash” write command; things trash is read-only listing).
• -Options: use Things UI to delete/trash, or mark as --completed / --canceled via things update.

Notes

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