v0.7.0

things-cli v0.7.0 — a config file, tag creation, and output an agent can trust

A TOML config file for persistent defaults, tag creation from the CLI, a things show --agent hand-off format, a repeating view, machine-readable --json errors, and fixes to what lookups and views return.

Settings live in a file now

• ~/.config/things-cli/config.toml supplies defaults for json, color, db, no_verify, strict_tags, create_tags, assume_yes and hints. Flags still win per run. --config PATH or THINGS_CLI_CONFIG point at another file, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is honoured, and the file is optional: without one, things runs on its built-in defaults. things config path, config show and config init (writes a commented template) round it out. Unknown keys and malformed TOML fail with one line naming the file. Full reference at https://things.rlew.io/configuration/. (#159, #160)
• assume_yes is scoped to complete and cancel; it cannot reach skill uninstall, whose --yes means delete. (#158, #169)

Tags can be created from the CLI

• things tag add <name>... creates tags over AppleScript, skipping names that already exist (case-insensitive) and reading the tag list back to confirm. --create-tags on add, edit, project add, project edit and import creates the unknown tags before the write instead of warning. --create-tags with --strict-tags is rejected. Tag names are escaped for AppleScript. (#144, #150)

Handing a to-do to an agent

• things show <ref> --agent prints a self-contained Markdown brief: the to-do, its notes and checklist, and the exact UUID-based commands to close it out, ready for things show 3 --agent | claude -p "action this". Plain list and search output on a terminal ends with a one-line hint; --no-hints or hints = false turns it off. Notes are fenced and labelled as content so a to-do cannot forge the closing-out section. (#153, #172)
• --json is now non-interactive and its errors are JSON. An ambiguous or missing ref no longer opens the picker or prints help text to stdout; you get one object with a stable error token (ambiguous task, not found, import refused, import partially applied, or error), the message, the query and the candidates or per-item details. Exit codes match the plain path. (#152, #157, #161, #166, #164, #168)
• --yes / -y on complete and cancel skips the project confirmation, so things --json complete <project> --yes works from a script. (#158, #169)

Lookups and views return what they claim

• Project headings never come back as tasks from show, edit, complete, cancel, open, search or the numeric index cache. A heading with the same title as a to-do no longer makes the lookup ambiguous. (#146, #149)
• Repeating templates have their own view. things repeating lists to-do and project templates (projects marked (project)), and they are gone from someday, the catch-all project view and things projects. Generated instances were never affected and still list in today and upcoming. (#147, #154, #165, #170)
• A title shared by a template and its generated to-do resolves to the to-do, so things complete "Water plants" no longer hits the repeating refusal while an actionable instance exists. The template is still reachable by UUID or from things repeating. (#156, #163)
• To-dos under a trashed project are hidden in inbox, today, upcoming, anytime, someday and deadlines, not just the filtered views. trash and logbook still show them. (#155, #162)
• To-dos inside a repeating project template are hidden from the same views, since the app only shows the generated copies. (#171, #173)
• import with operation: update goes through the repeating check and the read-back. A payload that sets when, deadline, completed or canceled on a repeating item is refused whole, with the path of each offending item, before anything is sent. Status changes are read back after the write with one shared timeout. completed: false and canceled: false count as status changes, and canceled takes priority over completed, as the Things docs specify. (#145, #151)
• The things tag add suggestion printed for unknown tags is now shell-quoted, and --json=1, -jv and other flag spellings render parse errors as JSON. (#164, #168)

Also

• Import checks resolve every item in one query per round instead of one per item. (#167, #175)
• The bundled agent skill was reorganised and audited against every --help; open is no longer described as a write, and the skill, config and tag commands are covered. Run things skill install again to pick it up. (#176)

Requirements

macOS with Things3 installed. Binaries for Apple Silicon (darwin_arm64) and Intel (darwin_amd64).

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What's Changed

Other Changes

• fix(db): exclude project headings from task lookups by @ryanlewis in #149
• fix(views): keep repeating templates out of someday, add repeating view by @ryanlewis in #154
• feat(tags): create tags from the CLI by @ryanlewis in #150
• fix(cli): make --json non-interactive and emit errors as JSON by @ryanlewis in #157
• fix(import): apply the repeating check and status read-back to update items by @ryanlewis in #151
• feat(config): add a TOML config file for persistent flag defaults by @ryanlewis in #160
• fix(views): hide to-dos whose project is in the trash by @ryanlewis in #162
• fix(db): resolve a shared title to the to-do, not the repeating template by @ryanlewis in #163
• feat(json): add per-item details to import failures under --json by @ryanlewis in #166
• fix(views): list repeating project templates, hide them from things projects by @ryanlewis in #170
• fix(cli): correct --json parse-failure handling and the tag hint's quoting by @ryanlewis in #168
• feat(complete): add --yes to complete and cancel so projects work non-interactively by @ryanlewis in #169
• fix(views): hide the to-dos inside a repeating project template by @ryanlewis in #173
• feat(show): hand a to-do to an agent with things show <ref> --agent by @ryanlewis in #172
• perf(db): batch the per-item uuid lookups in the import checks by @ryanlewis in #175
• docs(skill): reorder the bundled skill around what an agent needs first by @ryanlewis in #176
• docs: give configuration its own page on the docs site by @ryanlewis in #178
• fix(config): keep the config diagnostics working when the file is unusable by @ryanlewis in #180
• docs(site): add configuration tab to locale by @ryanlewis in #181
• docs(config): describe the config file as optional by @ryanlewis in #182
• docs(release): add v0.7.0 release notes header by @ryanlewis in #177

Full Changelog: v0.6.0...v0.7.0