things-mac

What this skill does

When applied, it prepends a system prompt before your request is sent — no extra calls and no change to how you are billed beyond the added tokens.

---
name: things-mac
description: "Add, update, list, search, or inspect Things 3 todos, inbox, today, projects, areas, and tags on macOS."
homepage: https://github.com/ossianhempel/things3-cli
metadata:
  {
    "openclaw":
      {
        "emoji": "✅",
        "os": ["darwin"],
        "requires": { "bins": ["things"] },
        "install":
          [
            {
              "id": "go",
              "kind": "go",
              "module": "github.com/ossianhempel/things3-cli/cmd/things@latest",
              "bins": ["things"],
              "label": "Install things3-cli (go)",
            },
          ],
      },
  }
---

# 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 `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" --

Use this skill

{
  "model": "gpt-4o-mini",
  "skill": "imp-287f96bc-72a8-46a4-87d9-c538eed35f7a",
  "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "…" }]
}

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