AllOurThings
Your things, understood by AI.
AllOurThings is an inventory system that works the way you do. Catalog anything you like from your home appliances to your Pokémon cards — then ask plain-English questions and get instant answers.
Website: allourthings.io
Packages
Quick start
Desktop only. Requires macOS, Windows, or Linux with Claude Desktop or another MCP-compatible client.
1. Add to Claude Desktop
Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):
{
"mcpServers": {
"allourthings": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@allourthings/mcp-server", "--data-dir", "~/Documents/AllOurThings"]
}
}
}
Restart Claude Desktop. Your inventory vault will be created automatically on first use.
2. Start asking questions
- "Add my Bosch washing machine, bought from John Lewis for £649 in January 2024 with a 2-year warranty"
- "What appliances do I own?"
- "What's in the kitchen?"
- "When does my TV warranty expire?"
- "Search for anything Samsung"
- "How much have I spent on electronics?"
How it works
The MCP server exposes your inventory to any MCP-compatible AI client via 10 tools:
| Tool | Description |
|---|
add_item | Add a new item to your inventory |
get_item | Retrieve an item by ID or name |
list_items | List all items, optionally filtered by category, location, or tags |
update_item | Update fields on an existing item |
delete_item | Delete an item by ID |
search_items | Full-text search across all item fields |
add_attachment | Attach a file (manual, receipt, photo, warranty) to an item |
get_attachment | Retrieve an attachment as base64 |
delete_attachment | Remove an attachment from an item |
attach_from_url | Download a file from a URL and attach it to an item |
Data
Vault structure
Your inventory lives in a vault — a plain directory on your filesystem. Each item gets its own folder:
~/Documents/AllOurThings/
items/
dyson-v15-detect-a1b2c3d4/
item.json
manual.pdf
receipt.jpg
samsung-65-qled-tv-b5c6d7e8/
item.json
warranty.pdf
Attachments (manuals, receipts, photos) sit alongside the item JSON. You can browse and edit the vault directly in Finder or File Explorer.
Item schema
Every item has required fields (id, name, created_at, updated_at) and well-known optional fields:
category brand model purchase_date purchase_price currency warranty_expires retailer location features notes tags attachments
The attachments field links PDFs and images stored in the item's folder:
{
"attachments": [
{ "filename": "manual.pdf", "type": "manual" },
{ "filename": "receipt.jpg", "type": "receipt" },
{ "filename": "photo.jpg", "type": "photo" }
]
}
You can also add any custom fields you like — they are preserved as-is.
CLI
A standalone terminal tool for power users and scripting. Works on macOS, Windows, and Linux. No AI client required.
npx @allourthings/cli list
npm install -g @allourthings/cli
Commands
allourthings search <query>
allourthings list [--category <c>] [-l <loc>] [-t <tag>]
allourthings get <id-or-name>
allourthings add <name> [options]
allourthings update <id> [options]
allourthings delete <id>
Attachment management:
allourthings attach add <item-id> <file>
allourthings attach url <item-id> <url>
allourthings attach get <item-id> <filename>
allourthings attach rm <item-id> <filename>
add and update options:
-c, --category <category>
-b, --brand <brand>
-m, --model <model>
--purchase-date <date> ISO date, e.g. 2024-01-15
--price <price>
--currency <currency> e.g. GBP, USD
--warranty <date> warranty expiry ISO date
--retailer <retailer>
-l, --location <location>
--serial <serial>
-t, --tag <tag...> repeatable
-n, --notes <notes>
--set key=value custom/extra fields (update only, repeatable)
Global options:
--data-dir <path> path to inventory data directory (default: ~/Documents/AllOurThings)
--json output raw JSON — useful for scripting and agent use
Data directory: defaults to ~/Documents/AllOurThings on all platforms. To avoid passing --data-dir every time, set it once in your shell profile:
export ALLOURTHINGS_DATA_DIR=~/Dropbox/AllOurThings
The directory is created automatically on first write. Read commands (list, search, get) return empty results against a missing directory rather than erroring.
Examples
allourthings add "Bosch Washing Machine" --brand Bosch --model "WGG244A9GB" \
--category appliance --location kitchen \
--purchase-date 2024-01-15 --price 649 --currency GBP \
--warranty 2026-01-15 --retailer "John Lewis"
allourthings search "warranty" --json | jq '[.[] | {name, warranty_expires}]'
allourthings attach add 6164c373 ~/Downloads/bosch-manual.pdf --label "User manual"
allourthings update 6164c373 --warranty 2027-01-15
allourthings --data-dir ~/Dropbox/AllOurThings list
Development
Prerequisites
- Bun —
brew install bun
- Task —
brew install go-task
Install dependencies
Tasks
| Task | Description |
|---|
task dev | Seed vault + open MCP Inspector — fastest way to test |
task dev:mcp | Start MCP server in watch mode (stdio) |
task test:run | Run automated tests |
task seed | Append test items to dev vault |
task seed:reset | Clear dev vault and re-seed |
task inspect | Open MCP Inspector (dev mode, no build required) |
task inspect:prod | Build, then open MCP Inspector against compiled dist |
task build | Compile MCP server to dist/ |
task build:cli | Compile CLI to dist/ |
task cli -- <args> | Run CLI from source against dev vault, e.g. task cli -- list |
task typecheck | Run TypeScript type checking |
task clean | Remove dist/ |
task clean:vault | Delete local dev vault |
All tasks use ./dev-vault by default. Override with DATA_DIR=/your/path task <command>.
License
MIT — see LICENSE.