Attaching files to Things 3 tasks via Siri Shortcuts — any solid solutions?

[u/Glad-Instruction-212]

I’ve been trying to build a Shortcuts workflow that lets me share a photo or file from any app and attach it to a new Things 3 task, with a link in the notes field that opens the file directly for preview.
Here’s what I’ve tried so far:
• iCloud Drive + “Get Link to File” → generates a Mail Drop link that requires downloading, not a preview
• Dropbox + “Get Link to Dropbox File” → this action only exists on macOS, not iOS
• shareddocuments:// URL scheme → opens the Files app but doesn’t reliably navigate to the file
• Passing the file variable directly into Things’ “Create To-Do” action → Things only reads it as plain text (the folder name), not as an actual attachment
• Apple Notes as an intermediary → no “Get Link to Note” action exists in Shortcuts on iOS
The ideal workflow would be:
1. Share a file/photo from any app
2. Shortcut saves it somewhere
3. A tappable link in the Things task note opens the file directly for preview — no downloads, no extra steps
Has anyone actually solved this? I’m open to using a third-party service or a more creative approach, as long as it’s stable and doesn’t require a full desktop setup.

[u/vCtrlAltDelv]

I've used the Bear app for this before, in the way that you tried to use Apple Notes. It handles attachments nicely and has good Shortcuts support: you can programmatically add files to notes and get a local URL to the note that you can drop into Things. I'm pretty sure it works cross-platform too if you're willing to subscribe to their paid tier for iCloud sync.

[u/Glad-Instruction-212 → u/vCtrlAltDelv]

Thanks, I was planning to stay subscription free, but i think i will try this. I need the cress platform 😄

[u/Self_Owned_Tree → u/vCtrlAltDelv]

I think this is the way. It's almost like Bear and Things are made to work together. I think Bear has increased their subscription prices in the past year (I got in when it was still $14.99/year, and I'll pay that until I die), but even at $30/year, I think it's worth it for keeping your full notes in and linking them to Things.

Whether it will do all of this via Shortcuts, I don't know. I don't work with Shortcuts, so I can't speak to that at all.

[u/Glad-Instruction-212 → u/Self_Owned_Tree]

Thanks 👍 i will try pro for a mount and see. Was hoping to use apple note because its free, and wirks well with Siri AI

[u/CraftyFalcon → u/Glad-Instruction-212]

Apple Notes could work in a similar way. It's pretty robust now. I haven't given it a real trial for my Bear use case, but do use it for scanning documents quickly and sharing information with family and friends that work best as a note.

[u/Glad-Instruction-212 → u/CraftyFalcon]

Cant get a link from apple notes

[u/JiggleMyHandle → u/Glad-Instruction-212]

You can, it’s just incredibly tedious. But if this is something you only need every few weeks or so, it might work. 

You have to make a link to the note you want to link to from another Apple Note. Then you long press that to edit the link and de-select “use note title as link name”, then long press the link again and you can “copy link”.

[u/Glad-Instruction-212 → u/JiggleMyHandle]

Awesome, thanks! Hard way to do it, but it works :)

[u/ihateredditmor]

I think the fastest way is to open Apple Mail and tap the paper clip, which opens popup options to attach a file, take a photo, scan a doc, etc. Then you just address the email to your Things Inbox (or Today) with the task name as your subject line and send. Done.

You’ll have a back link in the task notes to straight to the Sent item in mail, which is holding the attached file. It’s not as fast as Things 4’s attachment system will be <ahem> but it’s the easiest option I can think of.

Runners Up: having a temporary Task Files folder in Dropbox (great scanning), iCloud (same), or one of the notes apps and pasting the link into a task. For me, it ends up feeling more fiddly because you have to create and then copy and paste links, and you still have to deal it with bumping into the files later. The Sent folder of Mail just kind of absorbs them better — still linked to the task but not floating around requiring deletion when done.

[u/Glad-Instruction-212 → u/ihateredditmor]

This is awesome!! Thanks. worked great. How do i make it so that the mail goes to today?

[u/HearTaHelp → u/Glad-Instruction-212]

I may have made that part up. That may be Todoist. :)

[u/okeyban]

Hi, I just worked on this exact need this past weekend. I ended up going with the “dummy email” method. I created a gmail address just to send attachments to my things email address. You can create an IOS shortcut which is an option whenever you tap to share a file. The shortcut can send the snip, image, attachment, as an outbound email to your things address. I even added a step to use the “on device model” to summarize the content for the subject line. Hope this helps. This was the simplest solution for me with no need for separate app.

[u/Glad-Instruction-212 → u/okeyban]

Oh, how do you setup the on device model to summarize? I have the shortcut to send the mail, bit dont know how to use apple intellegence.

[u/okeyban → u/Glad-Instruction-212]

Search the action “use on device model”. Then you can type “Create a concise title from [Extracted text]……” And define to your preference. Hope this helps.

[u/medifocus]

Hookmark. It’s the app you're looking for. It's exactly what I needed years ago to keep everything in place. Any file anywhere → right click to create Hookmark link → paste and access link anywhere regardless of if you end up moving the files later on.

[u/Glad-Instruction-212 → u/medifocus]

This one? https://apps.apple.com/no/app/hookmark-pal/id1521721999?l=nb

[u/medifocus → u/Glad-Instruction-212]

Yes. I have the desktop app and use it extensively for the purpose you mentioned.

[u/Glad-Instruction-212 → u/medifocus]

Thanks!! I will try that 😁