Things MCP Reminder Wrapper

Overview

Use a strict update-first workflow for Things reminder requests. Resolve relative dates in the user's local timezone, check auth/token state before updates, and avoid creating duplicates unless the user explicitly asks for duplicates.

Workflow

• Resolve local date anchor first.

• Run date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %Z %z' .

• Use America/New_York unless the user provides a different timezone.

• Check Things MCP readiness before mutations.

• Run things_capabilities .

• Run things_auth_get_status .

• If update/delete may be needed, run things_validate_token_config .

• Normalize scheduling terms to explicit dates.

• Convert relative terms like today , tomorrow , next Monday into absolute dates.

• Always confirm with absolute wording in the final output, for example: Monday, March 2, 2026 at 9:30 AM (America/New_York) .

• Search for existing matching tasks before creating new ones.

• Run things_find_todos with status="open" and a focused query.

• If search is insufficient, run things_read_todos (status="open" , include_notes=true ) and match title/notes.

• Choose mutation path with duplicate protection.

• If clear single match and user intent is correction/reschedule: update existing task.

• If no match: create a new task.

• If multiple likely matches: ask which task to update; do not guess.

• Enforce auth safety rules.

• If update is required but token is unavailable, stop and report the exact missing auth state.

• Do not create a replacement duplicate as fallback unless the user explicitly requests that behavior.

• Execute mutation.

• Create: things_add_todo .

• Update: things_update_todo .

• Report deterministic result.

• State whether the action was created or updated .

• Include task title and normalized schedule in absolute form.

• If blocked, provide exact blocker and next action.

Guardrails

• Never assume relative dates without resolving current local date first.

• Never claim an update succeeded without tool confirmation.

• Never silently create duplicates when update intent is clear.

• Never hide auth errors; surface them with source (env vs keychain vs none).

Customization Workflow

When asked to customize behavior:

• Read config/customization.yaml ; if missing, read config/customization.template.yaml .

• Confirm preferences for:

• timezone

• default reminder time

• duplicate policy

• token-missing behavior for update requests

• Propose 2-3 option bundles with one recommended default.

• Write config/customization.yaml with schemaVersion: 1 , isCustomized: true , and selected profile.

• Validate by simulating one create flow and one update flow, then summarize behavior deltas.

Customization Reference

• Schema and allowed values: references/config-schema.md

• Behavior knobs and examples: references/customization.md

Automation Templates

Use $things-mcp-reminder-wrapper in automation prompts for reliable reminder handling behavior.

For Codex App and Codex CLI templates, use:

• references/automation-prompts.md

References

• MCP sequence and failure handling: references/mcp-sequence.md

• Automation prompt templates: references/automation-prompts.md

• Customization guide: references/customization.md

• Customization schema: references/config-schema.md