hald/things-mcp

Things MCP Server

This Model Context Protocol (MCP) server lets you use Claude Desktop to interact with your task management data in Things app. You can ask Claude to create tasks, analyze projects, help manage priorities, and more.

This server leverages the Things.py library and the Things URL Scheme. Built with FastMCP for a clean, pythonic implementation.

Features

• Access to all major Things lists (Inbox, Today, Upcoming, etc.)
• Project and area management
• Tag operations
• Advanced search capabilities
• Recent items tracking
• Detailed item information including checklists
• Support for nested data (projects within areas, todos within projects)
• Comprehensive unit test suite

Installation

Prerequisites

• macOS (Things 3 is Mac-only)
• Python 3.12 or higher
• Claude Desktop or Claude Code
• Things 3 app with "Enable Things URLs" turned on (Settings → General)

Step 1: Install uv (Python package manager)

First, make sure you have Homebrew installed:

# Check if Homebrew is installed
brew --version

# If not installed, install Homebrew:
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Then install uv:

brew install uv

Step 2: Clone the repository

Choose a location where you want to install Things MCP. For example, to install in your home directory:

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/hald/things-mcp
cd things-mcp

Important: Remember this location! You'll need the full path. You can get it by running:

pwd

This will show something like: /Users/yourusername/things-mcp

Step 3: Install dependencies

uv sync

Step 4: Configure Claude

For Claude Desktop:

1. Open Claude Desktop
2. Go to Claude → Settings → Developer → Edit Config
3. Add the Things server to the mcpServers section:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "things": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/Users/yourusername/things-mcp",
        "run",
        "things_server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Replace /Users/yourusername/things-mcp with your actual path from Step 2!

4. Save the file and restart Claude Desktop

For Claude Code:

In your terminal, run:

claude mcp add-json things '{"command":"uv","args":["--directory","/path/to/things-mcp","run","things_server.py"]}'

Replace /path/to/things-mcp with your actual path from Step 2!

To make it available globally (across all projects), add -s user:

claude mcp add-json -s user things '{"command":"uv","args":["--directory","/path/to/things-mcp","run","things_server.py"]}'

Step 5: Verify it's working

After restarting Claude:

• You should see an MCP indicator in the bottom-right corner
• Try asking: "What's in my Things inbox?"

Troubleshooting

If it's not working:

1. Make sure Things 3 is installed and has been opened at least once

   • The Things database needs to exist for the server to work

2. Check that "Enable Things URLs" is turned on

   • Open Things → Settings → General → Enable Things URLs

3. Verify the path in your configuration matches where you cloned the repository

   • The path must be absolute (starting with /)
   • Run pwd in the things-mcp directory to get the correct path

4. Check Claude's logs for errors:

   tail -n 20 -f ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp*.log
   

5. Common issues:

   • "Could not attach to MCP" - Usually means the path is wrong
   • "spawn uv ENOENT" - Make sure uv was installed with Homebrew (brew install uv)
   • "No module named 'things'" - Run uv sync in the things-mcp directory
   • "Command not found: uv" - Install uv with Homebrew: brew install uv

Updating

To update to the latest version:

cd ~/things-mcp  # or wherever you installed it
git pull
uv sync

Then restart Claude.

Sample Usage with Claude Desktop

• "What's on my todo list today?"
• "Create a todo to pack for my beach vacation next week, include a packing checklist."
• "Evaluate my current todos using the Eisenhower matrix."
• "Help me conduct a GTD-style weekly review using Things."

Tips

• Create a project in Claude with custom instructions that explains how you use Things and organize areas, projects, tags, etc. Tell Claude what information you want included when it creates a new task (eg asking it to include relevant details in the task description might be helpful).
• Try adding another MCP server that gives Claude access to your calendar. This will let you ask Claude to block time on your calendar for specific tasks, create todos from upcoming calendar events (eg prep for a meeting), etc.

Available Tools

List Views

• get-inbox - Get todos from Inbox
• get-today - Get todos due today
• get-upcoming - Get upcoming todos
• get-anytime - Get todos from Anytime list
• get-someday - Get todos from Someday list
• get-logbook - Get completed todos
• get-trash - Get trashed todos

Basic Operations

• get-todos - Get todos, optionally filtered by project
• get-projects - Get all projects
• get-areas - Get all areas

Tag Operations

• get-tags - Get all tags
• get-tagged-items - Get items with a specific tag

Search Operations

• search-todos - Simple search by title/notes
• search-advanced - Advanced search with multiple filters

Time-based Operations

• get-recent - Get recently created items

Things URL Scheme Operations

• add-todo - Create a new todo
• add-project - Create a new project
• update-todo - Update an existing todo
• update-project - Update an existing project
• show-item - Show a specific item or list in Things
• search-items - Search for items in Things

Tool Parameters

get-todos

• project_uuid (optional) - Filter todos by project
• include_items (optional, default: true) - Include checklist items

get-projects / get-areas / get-tags

• include_items (optional, default: false) - Include contained items

search-advanced

• status - Filter by status (incomplete/completed/canceled)
• start_date - Filter by start date (YYYY-MM-DD)
• deadline - Filter by deadline (YYYY-MM-DD)
• tag - Filter by tag
• area - Filter by area UUID
• type - Filter by item type (to-do/project/heading)

get-recent

• period - Time period (e.g., '3d', '1w', '2m', '1y')

Development

Running Tests

The project includes a comprehensive unit test suite for the URL scheme and formatter modules.

# Install test dependencies
uv sync --extra test

# Run all tests
uv run pytest

# Run tests with verbose output
uv run pytest -v

# Run a specific test file
uv run pytest tests/test_url_scheme.py

# Run tests matching a pattern
uv run pytest -k "test_add_todo"

Project Structure

things-mcp/
├── things_server.py     # Main MCP server implementation
├── url_scheme.py        # Things URL scheme implementation
├── formatters.py        # Data formatting utilities
├── tests/               # Unit tests
│   ├── conftest.py      # Test fixtures and configuration
│   ├── test_url_scheme.py
│   └── test_formatters.py
├── pyproject.toml       # Project dependencies and pytest config
└── run.sh               # Convenience runner script

Troubleshooting

The server includes error handling for:

• Invalid UUIDs
• Missing required parameters
• Things database access errors
• Data formatting errors

All errors are logged and returned with descriptive messages. To review the MCP logs from Claude Desktop, run this in the Terminal:

# Follow logs in real-time
tail -n 20 -f ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp*.log