Things 3 Task Management

This skill enables interaction with Things 3 on macOS using AppleScript. It provides scripts for creating, reading, updating, and deleting tasks, projects, areas, and tags.

Prerequisites

• Things 3 must be installed on macOS
• AppleScript permissions must be granted to the terminal

Core Concepts

Built-in Lists

Things 3 has these built-in lists:

• Inbox - Default landing spot for new tasks
• Today - Tasks scheduled for today
• Upcoming - Tasks with future dates
• Anytime - Tasks available anytime (no specific date)
• Someday - Tasks for later consideration
• Logbook - Completed tasks
• Trash - Deleted items

Task Properties

To-dos can have:

• name - Task title (required)
• notes - Additional details
• due date - When the task is due
• when date - When to start/show the task
• tag names - Comma-separated tags
• status - open, completed, or canceled

Organization Hierarchy

• Areas - High-level life categories (Work, Personal, Health)
• Projects - Collections of related tasks with a goal
• To-dos - Individual actionable items

Available Scripts

All scripts are in scripts/ directory and output JSON for easy parsing.

Task Operations

create-todo.sh

Create a new to-do in Things 3.

~/.claude/skills/things3/scripts/create-todo.sh "Task name" ["notes"] ["due:YYYY-MM-DD"] ["tags:tag1,tag2"] ["list:Today|Inbox|..."] ["project:ProjectName"]

list-todos.sh

List to-dos from a specific list or project.

~/.claude/skills/things3/scripts/list-todos.sh [list_name]
# list_name: Today, Inbox, Upcoming, Anytime, Someday, or project/area name

update-todo.sh

Update properties of an existing to-do.

~/.claude/skills/things3/scripts/update-todo.sh "task name or id" ["name:New Name"] ["notes:New notes"] ["tags:tag1,tag2"]

complete-todo.sh

Mark a to-do as complete.

~/.claude/skills/things3/scripts/complete-todo.sh "task name or id"

delete-todo.sh

Move a to-do to trash.

~/.claude/skills/things3/scripts/delete-todo.sh "task name or id"

move-todo.sh

Move a to-do to a different list, project, or area.

~/.claude/skills/things3/scripts/move-todo.sh "task name or id" "destination"
# destination: Today, Inbox, Someday, project name, or area name

schedule-todo.sh

Schedule a to-do for a specific date.

~/.claude/skills/things3/scripts/schedule-todo.sh "task name or id" "YYYY-MM-DD"

Project & Area Operations

create-project.sh

Create a new project.

~/.claude/skills/things3/scripts/create-project.sh "Project Name" ["notes"] ["area:AreaName"] ["tags:tag1,tag2"]

create-area.sh

Create a new area.

~/.claude/skills/things3/scripts/create-area.sh "Area Name"

Tag Operations

create-tag.sh

Create a new tag.

~/.claude/skills/things3/scripts/create-tag.sh "Tag Name" ["parent:ParentTagName"]

UI Operations

show-todo.sh

Show and select a to-do in Things 3 UI.

~/.claude/skills/things3/scripts/show-todo.sh "task name or id"

Common Workflows

Add a task to Today

~/.claude/skills/things3/scripts/create-todo.sh "Review quarterly report" "Check sales figures" "list:Today"

Create a project with tasks

# Create the project
~/.claude/skills/things3/scripts/create-project.sh "Website Redesign" "Complete by Q2"

# Add tasks to it
~/.claude/skills/things3/scripts/create-todo.sh "Design mockups" "" "" "" "project:Website Redesign"
~/.claude/skills/things3/scripts/create-todo.sh "Review with stakeholders" "" "" "" "project:Website Redesign"

Schedule a task for next week

~/.claude/skills/things3/scripts/create-todo.sh "Prepare presentation" "" "due:2025-01-03"

Complete and clean up

~/.claude/skills/things3/scripts/complete-todo.sh "Review quarterly report"

Error Handling

All scripts return JSON with:

• success: boolean indicating operation result
• message: description of what happened
• data: relevant data (task info, list of tasks, etc.)

Example success:

{"success": true, "message": "Task created", "data": {"name": "My Task", "id": "ABC123"}}

Example error:

{"success": false, "message": "Task not found", "data": null}

Additional Resources

Reference Files

• references/applescript-api.md - Complete Things 3 AppleScript API documentation

Things 3 Documentation

• Things AppleScript Guide
• AppleScript Commands Reference