Integrating Things App with Claude Desktop via MCP

Mar 5, 2026

I use Things app for task management, and I wanted to integrate it with Claude Desktop using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This lets Claude read my to-dos, create new tasks, update existing ones, and organize my workflow. Here’s how I set it up.

What things-mcp Can Do

things-mcp is an MCP server that provides Claude with tools to interact with Things app data. Once configured, Claude can:

List to-dos (optionally filtered by area/project)
Create new tasks with title, notes, when, deadline
Update existing tasks
Mark tasks as complete
List projects and areas
Search for tasks by title or notes

Prerequisites

Before starting, I made sure I had:

macOS (Things is Mac/iOS only)
Things app installed and configured
Claude Desktop installed
uv or uvx installed (Python package manager)

Step 1: Install uv

I installed uv using Homebrew:

brew install uv

# Verify installation
uv --version

Step 2: Configure Claude Desktop

I navigated to Claude Desktop’s config directory:

cd ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/

# Create config if it doesn't exist
touch claude_desktop_config.json

Then I edited claude_desktop_config.json with this configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "things": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--python",
        "3.11",
        "things-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Step 3: The Critical Permission Step

This is where I ran into issues. macOS requires explicit permission for apps to access Things data.

I tried two approaches:

Option 1: Grant Reminders Access (More Secure)

Opened System Settings > Privacy & Security > Reminders
Enabled access for my terminal application
Restarted Terminal and Claude Desktop

Option 2: Grant Full Disk Access (Broader)

Opened System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access
Added Terminal.app (or iTerm if using that)
Restarted Terminal and Claude Desktop

Step 4: The Key Fix - Use uv tool install

The uvx approach worked, but I kept getting permission prompts. The solution is to use uv tool install instead:

# Install permanently
uv tool install things-mcp --python 3.11

Then I updated my config to use the installed version:

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

This creates a permanent installation that retains macOS permissions across Claude Desktop restarts.

Step 5: Restart and Verify

I completely quit Claude Desktop (Cmd+Q), then reopened it. To verify the setup, I asked Claude:

Can you show me my Things to-dos?

Example Usage

Here are some prompts I use regularly:

View tasks:

Show me all my to-dos in Things
What tasks do I have due today?

Create tasks:

Create a new to-do in Things: "Review pull request" with deadline tomorrow
Add a task "Buy groceries" to my Things inbox

Update tasks:

Mark "Review pull request" as complete in Things
Move "Buy groceries" to my Errands project

Search:

Find all tasks in Things containing "meeting"
Show me overdue tasks in Things

Troubleshooting

”No tasks found” or Empty Results

If I got empty results, I checked:

Things app is running: open -a Things
Permissions are granted in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Reminders
Things Cloud sync is enabled in Things > Settings > Things Cloud

Claude Says “I don’t have access to Things”

I verified the config file syntax:

cat ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json | python -m json.tool

Then I checked if things-mcp works standalone:

things-mcp --version

Permission Denied Errors

The fix was granting Full Disk Access to Terminal:

System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access > Add Terminal.app

Slow Performance

Using uv tool install instead of uvx gave me better performance since it avoids creating ephemeral processes each time.

How It Works

The architecture is straightforward:

Claude Desktop
     |
MCP Protocol
     |
things-mcp server (Python)
     |
Things App Data (via Apple Reminders/Things URL scheme)
     |
My Tasks

Security Considerations

When granting access, Claude can read all my tasks, create new ones, and modify existing ones. I’m careful about:

Not creating tasks with sensitive information if I’m concerned
Periodically reviewing my MCP server configurations
Using the minimum required permissions (Reminders access vs Full Disk Access)

Summary

The setup process:

Install uv (Python package manager)
Configure things-mcp in claude_desktop_config.json
Grant macOS permissions (Reminders or Full Disk Access)
Use uv tool install to avoid repeated permission prompts
Restart Claude Desktop to load the MCP server

The key insight: using uv tool install instead of uvx creates a permanent installation that retains macOS permissions across restarts. Once configured, I can naturally interact with my Things tasks through Claude, making task management part of my AI-assisted workflow.

Final Words + More Resources

My intention with this article was to help others share my knowledge and experience. If you want to contact me, you can contact by email: Email me

Here are also the most important links from this article along with some further resources that will help you in this scope:

👨‍💻 things-mcp GitHub
👨‍💻 Things App
👨‍💻 MCP Documentation

Oh, and if you found these resources useful, don’t forget to support me by starring the repo on GitHub!