GregBParkerGregBParker/things3-claude-skill/SKILL.md

things3

Skill4 starsChanged 11 months agoMITView on GitHub

This skill should be used when the user asks to "create a task in Things", "add a todo to Things 3", "manage Things projects", "schedule a task", "complete a todo", "delete a task from Things", "move task to Today", "add to Things inbox", "create a project in Things", "manage Things areas", or mentions Things 3 task management.

3 other projects use a version of this.

Adopted by

Most recently taken up by

gabrielkoerich/skillstheir own version, first seen Nov 1, 2026
novanoticia/pablo-things3their own version, first seen Aug 7, 2026
xiaotianxt/skillstheir own version, first seen May 17, 2026

Other versions3 projects use a version of this.
Word for word · 0
None found.
Edited · 0
None found.
Wrote their own version · 3
gabrielkoerich/skills★ 8same name
xiaotianxt/skills★ 1same name
novanoticia/pablo-things3★ 0same name
How matches are found. Word for word: the exact same text. Edited: shares passages with this file (“99% same” means 99% of its five-word phrases also appear here; 10% or more counts). Their own version: similar meaning, or, weakest, the same name. We can’t tell which project had it first. Projects are counted among the 200 most-starred candidates, and mentions are links to the repository we found, up to 50 per site, so both counts are a floor.

The file

We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent

8 rules. 0 are common, 7 are distinctive, and 1 is very specific to this project.

0
Common
Most of the 3 edited versions we read keep these.
7
Distinctive
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
1
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.

Common
Distinctive
Very specific

Distinctive:
Inbox: - Default landing spot for new tasks
line 20
Very specific:
All scripts are in scripts/ directory and output JSON for easy parsing.
line 44
Distinctive:
Create a new to-do in Things 3.
line 49
Distinctive:
Update properties of an existing to-do.
line 62
Distinctive:
Create a new project.
line 95
Distinctive:
Create a new area.
line 101
Distinctive:
Create a new tag.
line 109
Distinctive:
All scripts return JSON with:
line 151

“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 3 edited versions of this file we could read. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.

Keep what fits and drop the rest. Your version, ready for your agents.

Files

SKILL.md

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

Download now (ZIP)

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