Things MCP Server

This Model Context Protocol (MCP) server lets you use ChatGPT, Codex, Claude Desktop, and other MCP clients to interact with your task management data in Things 3 from Cultured Code. You can ask your assistant to create tasks, analyze projects, help manage priorities, and more.

This server leverages the Things.py library and the Things URL Scheme.

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Features

• Access to all major Things lists (Inbox, Today, Upcoming, etc.)
• Project and area management
• Tag operations
• Advanced search capabilities
• Recent items
• Detailed item information including checklists
• Support for nested data (projects within areas, todos within projects)
• Someday project filtering: tasks in Someday projects are automatically excluded from Today, Upcoming, and Anytime views, matching Things UI behavior

Installation

Prerequisites

• macOS (Things 3 is Mac-only)
• Things 3 app with "Enable Things URLs" turned on (Settings → General)
• An MCP client, such as the ChatGPT desktop app, Codex, Claude Desktop, or Claude Code
• uv Python package manager: brew install uv

Install via uvx (Any MCP Client)

Things MCP is published on PyPI and can be run directly with uvx:

uvx things-mcp

Configure your MCP client to use uvx with things-mcp as the argument.

Claude Desktop

Option 1: One-Click Install (Recommended)

1. Download the latest file from the releases page
2. Double-click the .mcpb file
3. Done!

Option 2: Manual Config

1. Go to Claude → Settings → Developer → Edit Config
2. Add the Things server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "things": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["things-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

3. Save and restart Claude Desktop

Claude Code

claude mcp add-json things '{"command":"uvx","args":["things-mcp"]}'

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

claude mcp add-json -s user things '{"command":"uvx","args":["things-mcp"]}'

ChatGPT Desktop and Codex

The ChatGPT desktop app, Codex CLI, and Codex IDE extension share the same local MCP configuration. The quickest way to add Things MCP is with the Codex CLI:

codex mcp add things -- uvx things-mcp

Confirm that the server is configured:

codex mcp list

You can also configure it in the ChatGPT desktop app:

1. Open Settings → MCP servers
2. Select Add server
3. Enter things as the name, choose STDIO, and enter the result of which uvx as the command to launch (should look similar to /opt/homebrew/bin/uvx)
4. Enter things-mcp under arguments
5. Save the server and select Restart

[!IMPORTANT] When using the ChatGPT desktop client, you must use Work mode to access Things MCP. Select ChatGPT from the top-left menu, then choose Work from the toggle at the top of the page. Regular Chat mode does not use locally configured MCP tools. You can also select the separate Codex view, which shares the same MCP configuration.

In ChatGPT Work or Codex, type /mcp to check that the Things server is connected, then try asking, "What's in my Things inbox?"

This local setup does not work in ChatGPT on the web because the web client does not read local Codex MCP configuration. See OpenAI's MCP documentation and ChatGPT Work and Codex for current availability and interface details.

Verify it's working

After installation:

• If using Claude Desktop, you should see "Things MCP" in the "Search and tools" list
• If using ChatGPT Work or Codex, type /mcp and confirm that the Things server is connected
• Try asking: "What's in my Things inbox?"

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."
• "Show me tasks that haven't been modified in over a month."

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.
• Use task ages to identify stale items: "Which tasks in my Anytime list are older than 2 weeks?"

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, including tasks in Someday projects
• get-logbook - Get completed and canceled todos, optionally for one project
• 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
• get-tag-usage - Report how many items use each tag, sorted by usage; flag unused tags for cleanup

Search Operations

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

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