--- title: "Does Things 3 have an API?" description: "No public API — Cultured Code say so themselves. What exists instead is four on-device mechanisms, and only two of them can read your tasks back out." canonical: https://taskpocket.io/answers/does-things-3-have-an-api/ lastUpdated: 2026-09-01 --- 1. [Home](https://taskpocket.io/) 2. [Answers](https://taskpocket.io/answers/) 3. Things 3 API # Does Things 3 have an API? No public API. Cultured Code state it directly: “Things does not provide a public API at this time.” What exists instead runs on your own device — the things:/// URL scheme and Mail to Things can create and update but cannot read, while Apple Shortcuts and Mac-only AppleScript can read your tasks back out. By [Bohdan Stefaniuk](https://taskpocket.io/about/) Last updated 2026-09-01 ## What Cultured Code actually say Their support FAQ answers this under the heading Does Things provide an API?: > “Things does not provide a public API at this time, but you can configure a service to send emails to your Things Cloud account. There are also several ways to interface with the app on your local device: execute commands via Things URLs, create workflows with Apple Shortcuts, or script the app with AppleScript (Mac only).” The phrase worth keeping is “at this time”. This is a statement about today, not a policy, and Cultured Code have never published a roadmap either way. ## The four things that do exist, and which of them can read The distinction that matters for automation is not can I integrate but can I get data out. Two of the four can. The URL scheme (things:///) — write and navigate only. The documented command set is add, add-project, update, update-project, show, search, json and version. Nothing in it returns your tasks; show and search drive the app’s UI, and version returns a build number. Anything that modifies existing data needs an authorisation token, which Cultured Code added so a malicious link cannot rewrite your list. Mail to Things — creates a to-do from an email. One direction, one operation. AppleScript — a genuine read/write interface, and the most powerful of the four, but it is Mac only and needs Things running locally. Cultured Code’s own guidance is worth repeating: “not all of Things’ features are accessible via AppleScript; if it’s not documented, it’s not possible”. Apple Shortcuts — the only cross-device way to read. Find Items queries by filter, and Get Items returns structured fields: title, start date, deadline, tags, status, notes, checklist, creation and modification dates. It needs Things 3.17 with macOS 14, iPadOS 17, iOS 17 or visionOS 26, and it does not run on Apple Watch. ## What this rules out Every mechanism above requires an Apple device with Things installed and unlocked. That is the practical consequence, and it is worth stating in terms of things people actually want to build: - No server-side integration. Nothing on a Linux box, a cron job, or a hosted automation platform can reach your tasks. Zapier and its equivalents have no supported route in. - No sync to a non-Apple tool. There is no supported way to keep Things in step with a database, a spreadsheet, or another task app. - No hosted AI assistant. An MCP server running on your own Mac can drive AppleScript or the URL scheme, and some do — but nothing remote can reach your tasks, and nothing works while the Mac is asleep. - Automation stops when the Mac sleeps. A Shortcuts automation is a thing your device does, not a thing that happens. ## A warning about the unofficial route Searching this turns up reverse-engineered Things Cloud libraries on GitHub, and they do work — the sync protocol is reachable. Cultured Code address this directly and it is worth reading before you try one: some developers “have built unsafe integrations with Things by accessing either your database or your Things Cloud data directly. This is dangerous and can lead to data corruption and data loss. We strongly advise against using those apps.” That is the vendor telling you the failure mode is losing your tasks, not an inconvenience. ## What to use instead If the automation is the point, this is a real constraint rather than a detail, and it is unlikely to change on a schedule you can plan around. On what TaskPocket offers here, the honest position: nothing. There is no public API and no MCP server, so on this particular question there is nothing to claim over Things — and a page that implied otherwise would be exactly the kind of thing this site exists to avoid. What does exist today is a [one-click JSON export](https://taskpocket.io/features/export-your-data/), free on every plan, which covers the “get my data somewhere else” half of why people search for an API. In fairness, Things is not a dead end here either: Cultured Code document copying the Things database out of your own Library folder — an industry-standard SQLite file holding everything — and printing your lists to PDF. What neither of those is, is a format you could hand to another app. ## Sources 1. [Cultured Code — Frequently Asked Questions (“Does Things provide an API?”)](https://culturedcode.com/things/support/articles/2967034/) checked 2026-09-01 2. [Cultured Code — Things URL Scheme (the full command list)](https://culturedcode.com/things/support/articles/2803573/) checked 2026-09-01 3. [Cultured Code — Shortcuts actions reference (Find Items, Get Items)](https://culturedcode.com/things/support/articles/9596775/) checked 2026-09-01 4. [Cultured Code — AppleScript in Things (“only available for Mac”)](https://culturedcode.com/things/support/articles/2803572/) checked 2026-09-01 ## Related reading - [Does Things 3 have a web app?](https://taskpocket.io/answers/does-things-3-have-a-web-app/) — No — and Cultured Code say so plainly. Things runs on Apple devices only, with no browser access at all. What that means if you work on Windows half the week. - [Export your data — one click, one JSON file, free](https://taskpocket.io/features/export-your-data/) — Your tasks, projects, sections, checklists and notes in a readable JSON file, on any plan. Here is exactly what is in it, and the four things it does not keep. - [No AI in TaskPocket — and why that is deliberate](https://taskpocket.io/no-ai/) — No assistant, no summariser, no model reading your list. The date parser is a grammar, not an LLM. What that buys you, and what it costs you. - [Recurring tasks that survive real life](https://taskpocket.io/features/recurring-tasks/) — Nth weekday, the last business day, stop after ten, skip one, and repeats counted from the day you finish. What each app can express, with sources.