Things Reminders Manager

Use an update-first workflow for Things reminder requests.

Inputs

• Reminder intent:
  • create
  • reschedule
  • correct an existing task
• Scheduling phrase or absolute date/time
• Optional timezone override
• Effective settings may come from:
  • explicit user override
  • config/customization.yaml
  • config/customization.template.yaml
  • workflow defaults
• Workflow settings:
  • timezone
  • defaultReminderTime
  • duplicatePolicy
  • onUpdateWithoutToken
  • requireAbsoluteDateInConfirmation

Workflow

1. Resolve the current local date/time.
   • Run date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %Z %z'.
2. Load effective settings from override, config, then defaults.
   • Use timezone for schedule normalization.
   • Use defaultReminderTime when the user gives a date without a time and the workflow needs a default time.
3. Check Things MCP readiness and auth.
   • things_capabilities
   • things_auth_get_status
   • things_validate_token_config before any likely update path
4. Normalize the requested schedule into an absolute date/time using the effective timezone.
5. Search candidate open tasks before creating anything new.
   • Prefer things_find_todos
   • Fall back to things_read_todos when needed
6. Apply duplicatePolicy.
   • update-first: update on a single clear correction/reschedule match, otherwise create or disambiguate
   • ask-first: stop when a plausible duplicate exists and ask the user to choose
   • always-create: skip update matching and create a new task unless the user explicitly asked to modify an existing one
7. Apply onUpdateWithoutToken if the chosen path requires an update and token access is unavailable.
   • block-and-report: stop with action=blocked
   • ask-to-create-duplicate: ask whether to create a new task instead
8. Execute the selected create or update path.
   • create: things_add_todo
   • update: things_update_todo
9. Confirm the result using requireAbsoluteDateInConfirmation.
   • When true, confirm in absolute form with timezone.

Output Contract

• Return:
  • action: created, updated, or blocked
  • task title
  • normalized absolute schedule
  • blockers, when present
• Confirm dates in absolute form with timezone in user-visible output.

Guardrails

• Never assume relative dates without resolving the current local date.
• Never silently create a duplicate when update intent is clear.
• Never claim mutation success without tool confirmation.
• If an update requires token access and token access is missing, block and report the exact blocker.

References

• references/customization.md
• references/mcp-sequence.md
• references/config-schema.md
• references/automation-prompts.md