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; 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)

Write (URL scheme)

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 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

Source Transparency