Things 3 MCP: URL scheme in, almost nothing out

    Writing to Things 3 is easy; reading from it is the hard part. Here is why.

    Community serversLast checked: September 2026

    Things 3 has no cloud API. Community MCP servers write through its URL scheme and read, where they can, through local scripting on macOS.

    What it can do

    • Create to-dos and projects with notes, dates and tags
    • Add several items in one call through the URL scheme
    • Read lists through local scripting, on macOS only

    What it can't do

    • Reading is the weak half: it is local, Mac-only, and varies by server
    • No cloud API means nothing works from a server or a phone
    • Writes are fire-and-forget, so failures are not always reported back

    Things 3 is the clearest example of an asymmetric MCP integration. Writing is easy and reliable, because Things exposes a well-designed URL scheme that accepts a fully specified to-do. Reading is awkward, because there is no cloud API at all and a server has to script the local app to find out what is in your lists.

    What that asymmetry means in practice

    Capture works beautifully. "Add a project for the client onboarding with these six steps, due Friday" becomes a correctly structured Things project in one call. Anything that requires knowing your current state — "what's overdue", "what's in Today" — depends entirely on whether your server implements local reads, and only on a Mac.

    Fire-and-forget writes

    The URL scheme hands the request to the app and does not report back much. If a date was malformed, you may get a to-do without a date and no error anywhere. After setting this up, glance at the first few items the assistant creates rather than trusting them blindly.

    Who should bother

    People who use Things as their trusted system and want frictionless capture from wherever they are already typing. If what you want is an assistant that reviews and reorganises your existing list, Things is a poor fit and no server will change that.

    Where LemTask stands today

    LemTask does not ship an MCP server yet, and we are not going to pretend otherwise on a page developers will read. What LemTask has working right now is outbound and inbound webhooks, Zapier, Make and Apple Shortcuts, which covers "when a task is created, do X" and "create a task from anything that can send an HTTP request". An MCP connection is on the roadmap; when it ships and we have tested it end to end with Claude, this page will say so with the config block, and not a day earlier.

    Setup, step by step

    1. 1

      Install a Things MCP server

      Add a maintained community server to your MCP client config on the Mac where Things is installed, then restart the client.

    2. 2

      Test a fully specified write

      Ask for a to-do with a note, a date and a tag. Then open Things and confirm all three landed, since failures are not reported back.

    3. 3

      Check whether reads are supported

      Ask what is in Today. If it cannot answer, your server is write-only and no configuration will change that.

    4. 4

      Use it for capture, not review

      Lean on it to create well-structured projects and to-dos, and keep review inside Things where the state actually lives.

    Questions

    Related pages

    Want a task app that automates today?

    LemTask has no MCP server yet. It does have webhooks, Zapier, Make and Apple Shortcuts working now, plus tasks, habits, a focus timer and calendar sync. Free forever for individuals.