Trello

Trello

Manage Trello via the REST API using curl. No separate CLI install needed.

Prerequisites

No install needed beyond curl (pre-installed on macOS/Linux).

Set up credentials as environment variables:

export TRELLO_API_KEY="your_api_key"
export TRELLO_TOKEN="your_token"

Get your credentials:

1. API Key: https://trello.com/app-key
2. Token: Click "Token" link on that page and authorize

Store them in your shell profile (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc) or in 1Password and inject via op run.

Commands

Base URL: https://api.trello.com/1 Auth params: key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN

Boards

# List all boards
curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/members/me/boards?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" | jq '.[].name'

# Get board ID by name
curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/members/me/boards?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" | jq '.[] | select(.name=="My Board") | .id'

Lists

# Get lists on a board
curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/boards/<BOARD_ID>/lists?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" | jq '.[] | {id, name}'

# Create a list
curl -s -X POST "https://api.trello.com/1/lists?name=<NAME>&idBoard=<BOARD_ID>&key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN"

Cards

# Get cards on a list
curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/lists/<LIST_ID>/cards?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" | jq '.[] | {id, name, due}'

# Create a card
curl -s -X POST "https://api.trello.com/1/cards?idList=<LIST_ID>&name=<NAME>&desc=<DESC>&key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN"

# Move card to another list
curl -s -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/<CARD_ID>?idList=<NEW_LIST_ID>&key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN"

# Archive a card
curl -s -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/<CARD_ID>?closed=true&key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN"

# Add due date
curl -s -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/<CARD_ID>?due=2026-03-25T10:00:00.000Z&key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN"

Checklists

# Add checklist to card
curl -s -X POST "https://api.trello.com/1/checklists?idCard=<CARD_ID>&name=<NAME>&key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN"

# Add checklist item
curl -s -X POST "https://api.trello.com/1/checklists/<CHECKLIST_ID>/checkItems?name=<ITEM>&key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN"

Usage Examples

List all board names:

curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/members/me/boards?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" | jq -r '.[].name'

Create a card in "To Do" list:

1. Get list ID: find the list named "To Do" on your board
2. Create card:

curl -s -X POST "https://api.trello.com/1/cards?idList=<LIST_ID>&name=Write+blog+post&key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN"

Move a card from "In Progress" to "Done":

curl -s -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/<CARD_ID>?idList=<DONE_LIST_ID>&key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN"

Rules

• Always check that TRELLO_API_KEY and TRELLO_TOKEN are set: [ -z "$TRELLO_API_KEY" ] && echo "Not set"
• If not set, guide the user to https://trello.com/app-key and stop
• NEVER log or store API keys/tokens in memory or workspace files
• Always pipe curl output through jq for readable formatting; install with brew install jq if needed
• When looking up board/list/card IDs, do a lookup first and cache the IDs for subsequent calls in the same session
• URL-encode special characters in names and descriptions (spaces → +, etc.)
• Keep responses concise: confirm action and show the created/updated item name