Things3 database -> Markdown conversion script (with template support).

things2md was built on things.py and works great with Obsidian.

Installation

In a terminal, confirm Python is in your path by running:

python3 --version

You should see output: e.g., Python 3.11.6

• You may have to update Python to a newer version, if you run into issues running things2md (see later steps). I’m not actually sure what the actual minimum requirement is. Let me know how it works for you!

Get the latest release zip file:

1. On this page: https://github.com/chrisgurney/things2md/releases
2. Download the Source code (zip) file for the latest version.

Unzip the file somewhere you intend to run it from (doesn’t matter where).

In a terminal, go to the folder you unzipped it to and run:

pip3 install -r requirements.txt

Copy things2md.json.example to things2md.json

• I recommend trying to run it without changing it first, to see if the output suits your needs as-is.

Try running (example):

python3 things2md.py --today

…which should list out the tasks in your Today list.

Review the documentation and change your things2md.json as desired.

Usage

Execute things2md.py without any parameters to see the full list of arguments available:

-h, --help            show this help message and exit
--date DATE           Date to get completed tasks for, in ISO format (e.g., 2023-10-07).
--debug               If set will show script debug information.
--due                 If set will show incomplete tasks with deadlines.
--groupby {date,project}
                      How to group the tasks.
--orderby {date,index,project}
                      How to order the tasks.
--project PROJECT     If provided, only tasks for this project are fetched.
--projects            If set will show a list of projects only.
--range RANGE         Relative date range to get completed tasks for (e.g., "today", 
                      "1 day ago", "1 week ago", "this week" which starts on Monday).
                      Completed tasks are relative to midnight of the day requested.
--tag TAG             If provided, only uncompleted tasks with this tag are fetched.
--template TEMPLATE   Name of the template to use from the configuration.
--today               If set will show incomplete tasks in Today.

At least one of these arguments is required: date, due, project, projects, range, tag, today

Quick Start

Get incomplete tasks:

python3 things2md.py --today
python3 things2md.py --tag "tagname"
python3 things2md.py --project "projectname"

Get completed tasks:

python3 things2md.py --date "2024-03-06"
python3 things2md.py --tag "tagname" --range "this week"
python3 things2md.py --project "projectname" --range "this week"

List my projects:

python3 things2md.py --projects --template "projects"

More examples

Listing Completed Tasks

Show tasks completed within the last week, grouped by project, ordered by project:

python3 things2md.py --range "1 week ago" --groupby "project" --orderby "project"

Show tasks completed today:

python3 things2md.py --range "today"

Show tasks completed today, and omit subtasks and notes:

python3 things2md.py --range "today" --template "simple"

BETA: Show tasks completed on a specific date (in ISO format). Known issue: I think due to dates being stored in UTC, if the completion date falls near midnight, it may show up if you're querying tasks for the next day.

python3 things2md.py --date "2024-02-25"

Show tasks completed yesterday:

python3 things2md.py --range "yesterday"

...and ordered by project, but omit subtasks, notes, and cancelled tasks:

python3 things2md.py --range "yesterday" --orderby "project" --template "simple"

Show tasks completed in the last 3 days, and omit subtasks, notes, and cancelled tasks:

python3 things2md.py --range "3 days ago" --template "simple"

Show tasks completed in the last week, ordered by project, but omit subtasks, notes, and cancelled tasks:

python3 things2md.py --range "1 week ago" --orderby "project" --template "simple"

Listing Uncompleted Tasks

Show uncompleted tasks in Today. Note: Evening tasks aren't grouped at the bottom due to things.py lacking support for the startBucket column.

python3 things2md.py --today

To further narrow down tasks to be done:

Show uncompleted tasks for a given project. Project name must match the project name in Things, with one exception: If used in conjunction with "remove_project_emojis": "true" then you can provide the project name without emojis. Can use in conjunction with other arguments.

python3 things2md.py --project "🏡 Fix the House"
python3 things2md.py --project "Fix the House"

Show uncompleted tasks, tagged with "focus", ordered how they're ordered in Things (though Evening tasks seem to show at the top)

python3 things2md.py --tag "focus" --orderby index

Show uncompleted tasks with deadlines set, and those deadline dates, ordered by deadline:

python3 things2md.py --due

Exporting Task Contents as Simple Markdown (into Obsidian, or another Markdown tool)

Sometimes my tasks become full notes in Things.

Show uncompleted tasks, tagged with "note", formatted in Markdown with task names as headers, notes as body text, subtasks as a list, with each note separated by ---:

python3 things2md.py --tag "note" --template note

Want to change the output from the defaults? Modify the configuration + templates or create a new template and use the --template argument to point to it.

Configuration + Templates

If you haven't already, copy things2md.json.example to things2md.json.

This file is organized into three sections:

• filters
• formatting
• templates

Filters

Filters effectively define transformations that happen on data extracted from Things3 before being output to Markdown.

• remove_*_emojis are flags which, if set to true, will remove emojis after these are extracted from the Things3 database.
• remove_empty_checklist_items set true if you want to omit empty checklist items. Default: false.
• skip_tags defines a list of tags that, if your task/project has a tag in this list, or your project is in an area that has a tag in this list, that task/project will not be output.

Formatting

Formatting defines symbols that are used within templates.

• *_sep parameters (i.e., parameters ending with _sep) define a type of separator you can use in your template. These are only substituted into the template if the corresponding type is defined for that task/project.
  • For example, if your template has {deadline_sep} {deadline}, then your output will only output the value for deadline_sep if your task/project has a deadline set; otherwise both values will not be output.
  • Separators can only be used in task and project templates, as checklist items don't use any of these conditional values.
• status_symbols define how statuses from Things3 are to be represented in Markdown. This may be helpful if you're using an Obsidian theme with custom status symbols.

Templates

Templates define the output from things2md, and consist of the variables outlined in the next section. (Variable substitution is done via Python's format() function, so anything that it can handle should be fair game here.)

Here's how each template parameter is used:

• name defines the name of the template that you reference using the --template CLI argument which, if not used, will apply the template named default to any output.
• type is currently only used to distinguish the markdown_note template; don't include it otherwise.
• groupby_project and groupby_date define the headers that are output when the --groupby argument is used.
• project is used if we're outputting a project.
• task is used if we're outputting a task.
• notes is used when notes are being output. Either use it or leave it blank.
  • Notes are automatically indented for non-markdown_note templates.
  • Attempting to prefix this with spacing or a tab will only apply it to the first line of the note.
• checklist_item is used if we're outputting a checklist item (under a task).
  • Checklist items are automatically indented for non-markdown_note templates.

If you wish to omit template parameters, just define the parameter as ""; or if you prefer an empty line, use " ". Newlines can be added by escaping them \n.

After variables have been substituted into tasks/projects:

• extra spaces are trimmed down to single spaces;
• leading and trailing spaces are stripped; and
• empty wikilinks are removed.

While notes are being subtituted:

• non-http URIs are converted into Markdown links.
  • e.g., things://... becomes [Things Link](things://...)

Variables

Variables map to their equivalents in the Things3 database, for the most part:

• If they're not available, they're left blank and are not substituted into templates.
• tags are currently expanded as: #tag1 #tag2 ....
  • If there's interest in other formats, such as a comma-separated or bulleted list, let me know.

Example Variable Usage

From things2md.json.example, here's a regular type template, to get a sense of available variables:

{
    "name": "projects",
    "groupby_project": "\n## ☑️ {project}\n",
    "groupby_date": "\n## ☑️ {date}\n",
    "project": "- {status} {title} [↗]({url}) {date} {deadline}",
    "task": "- {status} [[{project}]] {project_sep} {heading} {heading_sep} {title} [↗]({url}) {date_sep} {date} {deadline_sep} {deadline} {tags}",
    "notes": "{notes}",
    "checklist_item": "- {status} {title}"
}

...and here's a markdown_note template:

{
    "name": "note",
    "type": "markdown_note",
    "title": "## {title}\n\n",
    "body": "{notes}\n\n{checklist}\n\n---\n",
    "checklist_item": "- {status} {title}"
}

Markdown Notes

Sometimes I end up writing a lot in my Things tasks, and would rather just copy/paste it as-is into Obsidian. For this purpose, the markdown_note template type allows you to output tasks as formatted Markdown notes.

For example, using the provided note template outputs each individual task as follows:

• the task name becomes a header;
• notes become the body text;
• subtasks follow as a list;
• and each note is separated by a line (---).

Output is in this order:

1. title
2. body
3. And then all checklist items are formatted per checklist_item

Usage with Obsidian

This script was initially designed for use within Obsidian for Daily Notes, but as it outputs plain text as Markdown, it really can be used anywhere you can run a Python script.

How to do this via the Shell Commands Plugin

Using this plugin, the recommended configuration (i.e., in Obsidian:Settings... > Shell commands) is as follows:

1. Click New shell command to add a command, such as any in the above examples.
   • What works for me is to make sure your path to the Python binary is absolute. For example: /opt/homebrew/bin/python3 ~/Development/things2md/things2md.py --today
2. Click the gear (⚙️) icon for each command, and adjust these settings:
   • In the General tab, set an Alias for the command (e.g., "tasks_today"). You will be able to execute this from a slash command.
   • In the Output tab, change Output channel for stdout to Current file: caret position.

That's it! You can now execute your command from a slash command within any note, placing the output wherever your cursor is.

Alternately, copy the command's URI (using the link (🔗) icon under each command) and paste it into a Markdown link. Clicking that link will execute the command.

References

• things.py - The initial version of this script directly queried the database; had I done more research first, I may have maybe used things.py instead of doing the reverse-engineering myself, and writing the SQL. things2md has now been refactored to use this library, thanks to contributions from @mikez!
• obsidian-things-logbook - This is an Obsidian plugin that periodically syncs the Things logook with your Obsidian vault. This wasn't the behavior I was looking for, hence why I developed things2md.
• things.sh - I found this shell script late in the development of things2md, but I took a couple cues from this to query the Things database in versions pre-1.0.