Things Week Ahead Digest

Build a repeatable Things planning digest with four sections:

• Snapshot
• Recently Active
• Week/Weekend Ahead
• Suggestions

Inputs

Collect data with Things MCP tools:

1. things_read_areas
2. things_read_projects with status="open"
3. things_read_todos with status="open" (set limit high enough for a full view, usually 300-500)
4. things_read_todos with status="completed" and completed_after=<today-7d>
5. Optional: things_read_todo for top candidate tasks (include_notes=true) when notes/checklist signals are needed

If any call fails because of permissions, report the missing permission and continue with the best available subset.

Workflow

1. Load active customization config:
   • Prefer <skill_root>/config/customization.yaml.
   • Fall back to <skill_root>/config/customization.template.yaml.
2. Build urgency buckets from open todos:
   • overdue: deadline < today
   • due soon: deadline <= today + <dueSoonDays>
   • week/weekend ahead: deadline between today and today + <daysAhead>
3. Score recent activity by project and area using configured weights:
   • recent completions (last 7 days)
   • open tasks
   • due soon / overdue counts
   • checklist-like hints from notes (- [ ], - [x], multiline bullet blocks)
4. Identify top active projects/areas from the score.
5. Generate configured number of concrete suggestions:
   • one next action for top projects
   • one risk/triage action for overdue work
   • one planning action for weekend or Monday readiness when relevant
6. Format with the template in references/output-format.md.

Keep tone concise and operational. Prefer verbs and specific task titles over generic advice.

Scripts

Use scripts/build_digest.py when deterministic scoring/formatting is preferred (automation, repeatability, large datasets).

uv run --with pyyaml python scripts/build_digest.py \
  --areas areas.json \
  --projects projects.json \
  --open-todos open_todos.json \
  --recent-done recent_done.json

The script reads JSON exported from Things MCP responses and prints Markdown digest output.

Configuration precedence:

1. CLI flags
2. config/customization.yaml
3. config/customization.template.yaml
4. Script hardcoded defaults

Customization Workflow

When a user asks to customize this skill, use this deterministic flow:

1. Read active config from config/customization.yaml; if missing, use config/customization.template.yaml.
2. Confirm desired behavior for:
   • due-soon and planning windows
   • top project/area counts
   • scoring weights and open-count cap
   • suggestion cap and output style
3. Propose 2-4 option bundles with one recommended default.
4. Create or update config/customization.yaml from template and set:
   • schemaVersion: 1
   • isCustomized: true
   • profile: <selected-profile>
5. Validate by generating a sample digest and report changed keys plus behavior deltas.

Customization Reference

• Detailed knobs and examples: references/customization.md
• YAML schema and allowed values: references/config-schema.md

Automation Templates

Use $things-week-ahead-digest inside automation prompts so Codex reliably loads this workflow.

For ready-to-fill Codex App and Codex CLI (codex exec) templates, including Things MCP fallback guidance, placeholders, and customization knobs, use:

• references/automation-prompts.md

References

• Scoring and suggestion rules: references/suggestion-rules.md
• Output shape and section template: references/output-format.md
• Automation prompt templates: references/automation-prompts.md
• Customization guide: references/customization.md
• Customization schema: references/config-schema.md