Trello

Trello Skill

Manage Trello via natural language — Claude translates requests into API calls and returns structured results.

Setup

1. Get API key: https://trello.com/app-key
2. Create Token (click the "Token" link on that same page)
3. Set env vars:

   export TRELLO_API_KEY="your-api-key"
   export TRELLO_TOKEN="your-token"
   

Operating Principles

Auth pattern — every request requires:

?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN

Base URL: https://api.trello.com/1

ID lookup workflow — Trello uses IDs for all operations. Always follow this order:

1. Get workspace ID → GET /members/me/organizations (if filtering by workspace)
2. Get board ID → GET /members/me/boards or GET /organizations/{orgId}/boards
3. Get list ID → GET /boards/{boardId}/lists
4. Get card ID → GET /lists/{listId}/cards or GET /boards/{boardId}/cards

After obtaining IDs, store them in shell variables for reuse within the same session.

Output handling: Pipe through jq for formatting. Use jq '.[] | {name, id}' or custom selectors.

Determining Context — Workspaces & Boards

# View all workspaces
curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/members/me/organizations?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN&fields=displayName,name,id,url" | jq '.[] | {displayName, name, id}'

# View boards in a workspace
curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/organizations/{orgId}/boards?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN&filter=open&fields=name,id,url,closed" | jq '.[] | {name, id}'

# View all my boards (not filtered by workspace)
curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/members/me/boards?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN&fields=name,id,url,closed" | jq '.[] | select(.closed == false) | {name, id}'

# View board details
curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/boards/{boardId}?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN&lists=open&members=all&labels=all" | jq '{name, id, lists: [.lists[].name]}'

# Create a new board
curl -s -X POST "https://api.trello.com/1/boards?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" \
  -d "name=Board Name" \
  -d "defaultLists=false"

# Rename a board
curl -s -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/boards/{boardId}?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" \
  -d "name=New Name"

# Archive board (close, not delete)
curl -s -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/boards/{boardId}?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" \
  -d "closed=true"

# Delete board (permanent — warn user first, prefer archive)
curl -s -X DELETE "https://api.trello.com/1/boards/{boardId}?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN"

When the user has multiple workspaces, always list workspaces first to determine the correct context. Full workspace CRUD: see references/workspaces.md

Lists (Columns)

# View all lists in a board
curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/boards/{boardId}/lists?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN&filter=open" | jq '.[] | {name, id}'

# Create a new list
curl -s -X POST "https://api.trello.com/1/boards/{boardId}/lists?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" \
  -d "name=List Name" \
  -d "pos=bottom"

# Rename a list
curl -s -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/lists/{listId}?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" \
  -d "name=New Name"

# Archive a list
curl -s -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/lists/{listId}/closed?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" \
  -d "value=true"

# View all cards in a list
curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/lists/{listId}/cards?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN&fields=name,id,desc,due,labels" | jq

# Archive all cards in a list (cards remain, just hidden)
curl -s -X POST "https://api.trello.com/1/lists/{listId}/archiveAllCards?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN"

# Move a list to another board
curl -s -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/lists/{listId}/idBoard?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" \
  -d "value={newBoardId}"

Cards

# View cards in a board
curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/boards/{boardId}/cards?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN&fields=name,id,idList,desc,due,labels,checklists" | jq

# View card details
curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/{cardId}?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN&checklists=all&members=true&attachments=true" | jq

# Create a new card
curl -s -X POST "https://api.trello.com/1/cards?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" \
  -d "idList={listId}" \
  -d "name=Card Name" \
  -d "desc=Detailed description" \
  -d "pos=bottom"

# Update a card (rename, description, due date)
curl -s -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/{cardId}?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" \
  -d "name=New Name" \
  -d "desc=New description" \
  -d "due=2025-12-31T23:59:59.000Z"

# Move card to another list
curl -s -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/{cardId}?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" \
  -d "idList={newListId}"

# Move card to another board
curl -s -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/{cardId}?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" \
  -d "idBoard={newBoardId}" \
  -d "idList={newListId}"

# Archive a card
curl -s -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/{cardId}?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" \
  -d "closed=true"

# Delete a card (permanent — warn user first)
curl -s -X DELETE "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/{cardId}?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN"

# Mark due date complete
curl -s -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/{cardId}?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" \
  -d "dueComplete=true"

# Set card cover (color or attachment)
curl -s -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/{cardId}?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN" \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{"cover": {"color": "blue", "size": "normal", "brightness": "dark"}}'
# Or use an attachment as cover:
# {"cover": {"idAttachment": "{attachmentId}", "size": "normal", "brightness": "light"}}

Search

# Search cards/boards by keyword
curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/search?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN&query=keyword&modelTypes=cards,boards&cards_fields=name,id,idList,idBoard" | jq

# Search cards in a specific board
curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/search?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN&query=keyword&idBoards={boardId}&modelTypes=cards" | jq '.cards[] | {name, id}'

# Search cards by member
curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/search?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_TOKEN&query=@{username}&modelTypes=cards" | jq '.cards[] | {name, id}'

Limits & Notes

• Rate limit: 300 requests/10s (per API key); 100 requests/10s (per token)
• Endpoint /1/members: limited to 100 requests/900s — avoid repeated calls
• Delete card: permanent, cannot be undone — confirm with user before deleting
• Delete board: DELETE /boards/{id} — permanent, deletes all lists/cards inside. Prefer archive (closed=true) first, only delete when user explicitly confirms
• Delete workspace: permanent, deletes all boards inside — confirm with user first
• IDs: stable, do not change even when renaming board/list/card
• Date format: ISO 8601 — e.g. 2025-12-31T23:59:59.000Z
• Position: use "top", "bottom", or a float number for precise ordering

References — read when needed