Things 3 Manager

Manage Things 3 cloud tasks via things-cli — a Go CLI that syncs with Things Cloud.

Prerequisites

1. Install Go (if not installed)

brew install go

2. Install things-cli

The official go install is broken due to module path mismatch. Install from source:

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/arthursoares/things-cloud-sdk.git /tmp/things-cloud-sdk
cd /tmp/things-cloud-sdk && go install ./cmd/things-cli/

Binary installs to ~/go/bin/things-cli.

3. Environment Variables

Required in shell profile (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc):

export THINGS_USERNAME="your-things-cloud-email"
export THINGS_PASSWORD="your-things-cloud-password"
export PATH="$HOME/go/bin:$PATH"

Optional: export THINGS_DEBUG=1 for debug output.

CLI Reference

Binary: ~/go/bin/things-cli

Always set PATH before running:

export PATH="$HOME/go/bin:/opt/homebrew/bin:$PATH"

Read Commands

These load state from Things Cloud first.

# List tasks (default: all non-completed)
things-cli list
things-cli list --today        # Today view
things-cli list --inbox        # Inbox only
things-cli list --area "Work"  # Filter by area name
things-cli list --project "My Project"  # Filter by project name

# Show single task details
things-cli show <uuid>

# List all areas
things-cli areas

# List all projects
things-cli projects

# List all tags
things-cli tags

Write Commands

These are fast — they skip state loading and send operations directly.

# Create task
things-cli create "Task title" \
  --note "Description here" \
  --when today|anytime|someday|inbox \
  --deadline 2026-03-20 \
  --scheduled 2026-03-18 \
  --project <uuid> \
  --heading <uuid> \
  --area <uuid> \
  --tags <uuid1>,<uuid2> \
  --type task|project|heading \
  --checklist "Item 1,Item 2,Item 3"

# Create area
things-cli create-area "Area Name" --tags <uuid,...> --uuid <custom-uuid>

# Create tag
things-cli create-tag "Tag Name" --shorthand KEY --parent <uuid>

# Add checklist items to existing task
things-cli add-checklist <task-uuid> "Item 1,Item 2,Item 3"

# Edit task
things-cli edit <uuid> \
  --title "New title" \
  --note "Updated note" \
  --when today \
  --deadline 2026-04-01 \
  --scheduled 2026-03-25 \
  --area <uuid> \
  --project <uuid> \
  --heading <uuid> \
  --tags <uuid1>,<uuid2>

# Complete task
things-cli complete <uuid>

# Trash task (move to trash)
things-cli trash <uuid>

# Purge task (permanently delete)
things-cli purge <uuid>

# Move task to Today
things-cli move-to-today <uuid>

Batch Operations

Send multiple operations in one HTTP request via JSON stdin:

echo '[
  {"cmd": "create", "title": "Task 1", "when": "today"},
  {"cmd": "create", "title": "Task 2", "project": "uuid-here"},
  {"cmd": "complete", "uuid": "abc-123"},
  {"cmd": "trash", "uuid": "def-456"},
  {"cmd": "move-to-today", "uuid": "ghi-789"},
  {"cmd": "move-to-project", "uuid": "xxx", "project": "yyy"},
  {"cmd": "move-to-area", "uuid": "xxx", "area": "yyy"},
  {"cmd": "edit", "uuid": "xxx", "title": "New title", "note": "Updated"}
]' | things-cli batch

Batch is useful when creating multiple tasks at once or performing bulk operations — it's significantly faster than individual commands because it combines everything into a single API call.

Usage Patterns

Workflow: List then act

For operations that need a UUID (edit, complete, trash), first list to find the task:

things-cli list --today    # Find the UUID
things-cli complete <uuid> # Then act on it

Workflow: Quick capture

For fast task creation, no need to list first:

things-cli create "Buy groceries" --when today
things-cli create "Review PR #42" --when today --note "Focus on auth changes"

Workflow: Bulk create from plan

When creating multiple related tasks:

echo '[
  {"cmd": "create", "title": "Design API schema", "when": "today"},
  {"cmd": "create", "title": "Implement endpoints", "when": "anytime"},
  {"cmd": "create", "title": "Write tests", "when": "anytime"}
]' | things-cli batch

Error Handling

• If things-cli is not found: check ~/go/bin/ exists and PATH is set
• If "THINGS_USERNAME is required": env vars not set — check ~/.zshrc
• If connection errors: verify Things Cloud credentials are correct
• If UUID not found: the task may have been completed or trashed already

Output Format

When presenting task lists to the user, format as a clean readable list showing title, status, and relevant dates. For single task details, show all available fields.