get_today/get_anytime: drop top-level duplicates of nested project children

src/things_mcp/server.py

@@ -109,6 +109,50 @@ def filter_someday_project_tasks(todos):
     return [todo for todo in todos if not _is_in_someday_project(todo, someday_project_ids, heading_to_project)]
 
 
+# Helper function to drop top-level duplicates of nested project children
+def dedupe_nested_project_children(todos):
+    """Drop top-level entries whose parent project is also in the result.
+
+    things.today() and things.anytime() return matching projects and those
+    projects' child tasks as separate top-level rows. With include_items=True
+    the children are already nested in the project row's 'items', so each
+    child would be rendered, counted, and paginated twice. Keep the nested
+    copy and skip the top-level duplicate. Tasks under a heading carry a
+    'heading' reference instead of 'project', so headings are resolved to
+    their parent project the same way the Someday filtering does.
+
+    Args:
+        todos: List of todo dictionaries
+
+    Returns:
+        List with top-level duplicates of nested project children removed
+    """
+    project_ids = {t['uuid'] for t in todos if t.get('type') == 'project'}
+    if not project_ids:
+        return todos
+
+    # Resolve heading -> project only when some entry needs it.
+    heading_to_project = {}
+    if any(not t.get('project') and t.get('heading') for t in todos):
+        for proj_id in project_ids:
+            try:
+                headings = things.tasks(type='heading', project=proj_id)
+            except Exception:
+                continue
+            for h in (headings or []):
+                heading_to_project[h['uuid']] = proj_id
+
+    deduped = []
+    for todo in todos:
+        parent = todo.get('project')
+        if not parent and todo.get('heading'):
+            parent = heading_to_project.get(todo['heading'])
+        if parent in project_ids:
+            continue
+        deduped.append(todo)
+    return deduped
+
+
 # Pagination helpers
 def _validate_pagination(limit, offset):
     """Return an error string if limit/offset are invalid, else None."""
@@ -214,8 +258,10 @@ async def get_today(limit: int = None, offset: int = 0) -> ToolResult:
         todos = things.today(include_items=True)
     except TypeError:
         todos = _today_fallback()
-    # Filter out tasks from Someday projects, then paginate
+    # Filter out tasks from Someday projects, drop top-level duplicates of
+    # nested project children, then paginate
     todos = filter_someday_project_tasks(todos or [])
+    todos = dedupe_nested_project_children(todos)
     return _paginate_result(todos, format_todo, limit, offset, "No items found")
 
 @mcp.tool
@@ -246,8 +292,10 @@ async def get_anytime(limit: int = None, offset: int = 0) -> ToolResult:
     if err:
         return _error_result(err)
     todos = things.anytime(include_items=True)
-    # Filter out tasks from Someday projects, then paginate
+    # Filter out tasks from Someday projects, drop top-level duplicates of
+    # nested project children, then paginate
     todos = filter_someday_project_tasks(todos or [])
+    todos = dedupe_nested_project_children(todos)
     return _paginate_result(todos, format_todo, limit, offset, "No items found")
 
 @mcp.tool

tests/test_mcp_server_filtering.py

@@ -149,3 +149,121 @@ async def test_get_someday_no_duplicates(self, mock_projects, mock_someday, mock
         # task-1 should appear only once
         assert result.count('Already someday') == 1
         assert 'Another someday proj task' in result
+
+
+class TestTodayAnytimeDedupe:
+    """Test that get_today/get_anytime drop top-level duplicates of nested project children."""
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    @patch('things_mcp.server.things.today')
+    @patch('things_mcp.server.things.projects')
+    async def test_get_today_drops_top_level_project_children(self, mock_projects, mock_today):
+        """Children of a project in the result appear once, nested in the project's items."""
+        child_1 = {'uuid': 'child-1', 'title': 'First child', 'project': 'proj-1', 'type': 'to-do'}
+        child_2 = {'uuid': 'child-2', 'title': 'Second child', 'project': 'proj-1', 'type': 'to-do'}
+        project = {'uuid': 'proj-1', 'title': 'Started project', 'type': 'project',
+                   'items': [child_1, child_2]}
+        standalone_1 = {'uuid': 'solo-1', 'title': 'Standalone one', 'type': 'to-do'}
+        standalone_2 = {'uuid': 'solo-2', 'title': 'Standalone two', 'type': 'to-do'}
+        mock_today.return_value = [project, child_1, child_2, standalone_1, standalone_2]
+        mock_projects.return_value = []
+
+        result = await things_server.get_today()
+
+        sc = result.structured_content
+        assert [item['uuid'] for item in sc['items']] == ['proj-1', 'solo-1', 'solo-2']
+        assert sc['count'] == 3
+        assert sc['total'] == 3
+        # Children stay nested in the project entry, exactly once
+        assert [item['uuid'] for item in sc['items'][0]['items']] == ['child-1', 'child-2']
+        text = tool_text(result)
+        assert text.count('Title:') == 3
+        assert 'Standalone one' in text
+        assert 'Standalone two' in text
+        assert 'First child' not in text
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    @patch('things_mcp.server.things.anytime')
+    @patch('things_mcp.server.things.projects')
+    async def test_get_anytime_drops_top_level_project_children(self, mock_projects, mock_anytime):
+        """Children of a project in the result appear once, nested in the project's items."""
+        child_1 = {'uuid': 'child-1', 'title': 'First child', 'project': 'proj-1', 'type': 'to-do'}
+        child_2 = {'uuid': 'child-2', 'title': 'Second child', 'project': 'proj-1', 'type': 'to-do'}
+        project = {'uuid': 'proj-1', 'title': 'Started project', 'type': 'project',
+                   'items': [child_1, child_2]}
+        standalone = {'uuid': 'solo-1', 'title': 'Standalone todo', 'type': 'to-do'}
+        mock_anytime.return_value = [project, child_1, child_2, standalone]
+        mock_projects.return_value = []
+
+        result = await things_server.get_anytime()
+
+        sc = result.structured_content
+        assert [item['uuid'] for item in sc['items']] == ['proj-1', 'solo-1']
+        assert sc['count'] == 2
+        assert sc['total'] == 2
+        assert [item['uuid'] for item in sc['items'][0]['items']] == ['child-1', 'child-2']
+        text = tool_text(result)
+        assert text.count('Title:') == 2
+        assert 'Standalone todo' in text
+        assert 'First child' not in text
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    @patch('things_mcp.server.things.tasks')
+    @patch('things_mcp.server.things.today')
+    @patch('things_mcp.server.things.projects')
+    async def test_get_today_drops_top_level_heading_children(self, mock_projects, mock_today, mock_tasks):
+        """Tasks under a heading resolve to the heading's project and are deduplicated."""
+        heading_child = {'uuid': 'hchild-1', 'title': 'Heading child', 'heading': 'heading-1', 'type': 'to-do'}
+        heading = {'uuid': 'heading-1', 'title': 'Phase 1', 'type': 'heading', 'items': [heading_child]}
+        project = {'uuid': 'proj-1', 'title': 'Started project', 'type': 'project', 'items': [heading]}
+        standalone = {'uuid': 'solo-1', 'title': 'Standalone todo', 'type': 'to-do'}
+        mock_today.return_value = [project, heading_child, standalone]
+        mock_projects.return_value = []
+        mock_tasks.return_value = [{'uuid': 'heading-1', 'project': 'proj-1'}]
+
+        result = await things_server.get_today()
+
+        sc = result.structured_content
+        assert [item['uuid'] for item in sc['items']] == ['proj-1', 'solo-1']
+        assert sc['count'] == 2
+        assert sc['total'] == 2
+        mock_tasks.assert_called_once_with(type='heading', project='proj-1')
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    @patch('things_mcp.server.things.anytime')
+    @patch('things_mcp.server.things.projects')
+    async def test_get_anytime_keeps_children_of_projects_not_in_result(self, mock_projects, mock_anytime):
+        """A task whose parent project is not in the result stays top-level."""
+        mock_anytime.return_value = [
+            {'uuid': 'proj-1', 'title': 'Visible project', 'type': 'project', 'items': []},
+            {'uuid': 'task-1', 'title': 'Child of absent project', 'project': 'other-proj', 'type': 'to-do'},
+        ]
+        mock_projects.return_value = []
+
+        result = await things_server.get_anytime()
+
+        sc = result.structured_content
+        assert [item['uuid'] for item in sc['items']] == ['proj-1', 'task-1']
+        assert sc['count'] == 2
+        assert sc['total'] == 2
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    @patch('things_mcp.server.things.today')
+    @patch('things_mcp.server.things.projects')
+    async def test_get_today_paginates_deduplicated_list(self, mock_projects, mock_today):
+        """limit/offset and the Showing header operate on the deduplicated list."""
+        child = {'uuid': 'child-1', 'title': 'Only child', 'project': 'proj-1', 'type': 'to-do'}
+        project = {'uuid': 'proj-1', 'title': 'Started project', 'type': 'project', 'items': [child]}
+        standalone_1 = {'uuid': 'solo-1', 'title': 'Standalone one', 'type': 'to-do'}
+        standalone_2 = {'uuid': 'solo-2', 'title': 'Standalone two', 'type': 'to-do'}
+        mock_today.return_value = [project, child, standalone_1, standalone_2]
+        mock_projects.return_value = []
+
+        result = await things_server.get_today(limit=2)
+
+        text = tool_text(result)
+        assert 'Showing 1-2 of 3 items' in text
+        sc = result.structured_content
+        assert sc['total'] == 3
+        assert sc['count'] == 2
+        assert [item['uuid'] for item in sc['items']] == ['proj-1', 'solo-1']