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Zero setup. Zero maintenance. Just connect and automate.

🚀 Trello MCP Server — 2026 Complete Version

💡 What This Unlocks

This MCP server gives AI direct access to your entire Trello workspace. Instead of dragging cards and clicking through boards manually, you just tell Claude what you need—and it executes instantly across your entire Kanban workflow.

🎯 Trello-Specific Power Moves

The AI can directly control your Trello boards with natural language. Here are 5 real workflows using the actual tools in this MCP server:

  1. 🎯 Board Health Audits

    • AI uses list_boards → get_board (with lists and cards) → analyzes card distribution
    • Identifies bottlenecks (too many cards in "In Progress"), stale cards (no updates in 30+ days)
    • "Show me all my boards, find any with 10+ cards stuck in 'In Progress', and flag boards with no activity in 2 weeks"

  2. ⚡ Bulk Card Management

    • AI calls list_cards with filters to find matching cards across boards
    • Uses update_card to batch-update properties (due dates, labels, descriptions)
    • Calls move_card to reorganize workflows or migrate cards between boards
    • "Find all cards labeled 'bug' across my boards, set due date to Friday, and move them to the 'Urgent Fixes' board"

  3. 📋 Sprint Board Initialization

    • AI uses create_list to build standard workflow columns ("Backlog", "To Do", "In Progress", "Review", "Done")
    • Calls create_card in batch to populate backlog from a template or previous sprint
    • "Create a new sprint board with standard dev workflow lists, then create 12 cards from last sprint's backlog"

  4. 🔔 Status Update Automation

    • AI chains list_boards → list_cards (filter: due this week) → add_comment to post reminders
    • Identifies overdue cards and tags assignees in comments
    • "Check all cards due this week, add a comment on overdue ones reminding the assignee, and summarize what's at risk"

  5. 🧹 Archive & Cleanup Workflows

    • AI uses list_cards (filter: "Done" or old cards) → archive_card to clean up completed work
    • Can also delete_card for test/duplicate cards
    • "Archive all cards in 'Done' columns across my boards from last month, then delete any cards with 'test' in the title"

🔗 The Real Power: Chaining Operations

AI doesn't just execute single commands—it orchestrates multi-step workflows:

  • Board Migration → list_cards (source board) → create_card (destination) → move_card → archive_card (source)
  • Weekly Triage → list_boards → list_cards (filter: no due date) → update_card (set dates) → add_comment (notify)
  • Cross-Board Search → list_boards → list_cards (each board, filter by label/member) → Generate consolidated report

📦 What's Inside

12 production-ready Trello REST API tools covering complete Kanban board management:

Tool Purpose
list_boards List all boards (filter: open, closed, starred, etc.)
get_board Get detailed board info (with lists, cards, members)
list_lists Get all lists on a board (filter: open, closed)
list_cards Query cards from a board or specific list (filters available)
get_card Fetch detailed card info (members, checklists, attachments)
create_card Create new cards with metadata (name, desc, labels, members, due dates)
update_card Update existing cards (name, desc, due dates, archive status, position)
move_card Move cards between lists or boards (cross-board supported)
add_comment Add comments to cards (plain text)
create_list Create new lists on a board (position control)
archive_card Archive (close) a card
delete_card Permanently delete a card (cannot be undone)

All tools include proper error handling, automatic authentication, and full TypeScript types.

🚀 Quick Start

Option 1: Claude Desktop (Local)

  1. Clone and build:

    git clone https://github.com/BusyBee3333/Trello-MCP-2026-Complete.git
cd trello-mcp-2026-complete
npm install
npm run build

  2. Get your Trello API credentials:

    Trello uses API Key + Token authentication:

    • Get API Key: Visit https://trello.com/power-ups/admin

      • Click "New" to generate a Power-Up (or use existing)
      • Copy your API Key (32-character hex string)

    • Generate Token: Visit this URL (replace YOUR_API_KEY):

      https://trello.com/1/authorize?expiration=never&scope=read,write,account&response_type=token&name=MCPEngage-Server&key=YOUR_API_KEY
      • Click "Allow" to authorize
      • Copy the Token (64-character hex string)

  3. Configure Claude Desktop:

    On macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

    On Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "trello": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/trello-mcp-2026-complete/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "TRELLO_API_KEY": "your_32_char_api_key",
        "TRELLO_TOKEN": "your_64_char_token"
      }
    }
  }
}

  4. Restart Claude Desktop — the 🔌 icon should show "trello" connected

Option 2: Deploy to Railway

Deploy on Railway

  1. Click the button above
  2. Set TRELLO_API_KEY and TRELLO_TOKEN in Railway dashboard
  3. Use the Railway URL as your MCP server endpoint

Option 3: Docker

docker build -t trello-mcp .
docker run -p 3000:3000 \
  -e TRELLO_API_KEY=your_api_key \
  -e TRELLO_TOKEN=your_token \
  trello-mcp

🔐 Authentication

Trello uses API Key + Token for authentication (OAuth also available but not implemented here).

  • API Key: Permanent, identifies your app/integration (get from Power-Ups admin)
  • Token: User-specific, grants read/write access to boards (generate via authorize URL)
  • Permissions: Token scope controls access (read, write, account)
  • Expiration: Tokens can be set to never expire (recommended for automation)

📖 Official docs: Trello REST API Authentication

The MCP server automatically appends key and token query parameters to all API requests.

🎯 Example Prompts for Kanban Workflows

Once connected to Claude, use these natural language prompts:

Board Management:

  • "Show me all my Trello boards, list the number of cards in each, and highlight any with 30+ open cards"
  • "Get the 'Product Roadmap' board with all lists and cards—show me what's in the backlog"

Card Operations:

  • "Create 3 cards in the 'To Do' list on my Engineering board: 'API integration', 'UI mockups', and 'Database schema'"
  • "Find all cards with label 'urgent' across my boards and set their due dates to tomorrow"
  • "Move all cards from 'In Review' to 'Done' on the Sprint 12 board"

Workflow Automation:

  • "List all cards on the Marketing board with no due date, set due dates based on priority labels, and add a comment reminding owners"
  • "Archive all cards in 'Done' columns across my boards that were completed more than 30 days ago"
  • "Find cards assigned to me across all boards that are overdue, and add a comment asking for status updates"

Board Setup:

  • "Create a new board for Q2 Planning, add lists for Backlog, In Progress, Review, and Shipped"
  • "Copy all cards from the 'Backlog' list on Sprint 11 board to the 'To Do' list on Sprint 12 board"

Cleanup & Maintenance:

  • "Show me all archived cards on the Engineering board from last quarter—delete any with 'test' or 'draft' in the title"
  • "Find boards I haven't accessed in 3 months and list their card counts so I can decide which to close"

🛠️ Development

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 18+
  • npm or yarn
  • Trello account with Power-Ups admin access

Setup

git clone https://github.com/BusyBee3333/Trello-MCP-2026-Complete.git
cd trello-mcp-2026-complete
npm install
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your Trello API key and token
npm run build
npm start

Testing

npm test                  # Run all tests
npm run test:watch        # Watch mode
npm run test:coverage     # Coverage report

Project Structure

trello-mcp-2026-complete/
├── src/
│   └── index.ts          # Main MCP server + Trello REST API client
├── dist/                 # Compiled JavaScript (after build)
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
└── .env.example

🐛 Troubleshooting

"Authentication failed" or 401 errors

  • Verify both TRELLO_API_KEY (32 chars) and TRELLO_TOKEN (64 chars) are set
  • Check token wasn't revoked at https://trello.com/my/account
  • Ensure token has read,write scope (check the authorize URL you used)

"Board not found" errors

  • Board IDs are case-sensitive—use list_boards to get exact IDs or shortLinks
  • Some boards may be private/inaccessible to your token—check sharing settings

"Tools not appearing in Claude"

  • Restart Claude Desktop after updating config
  • Verify paths in claude_desktop_config.json are absolute
  • Check dist/index.js exists after build
  • View logs: macOS ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp*.log

Rate limits

  • Trello API limits: 300 requests per 10 seconds per token (free tier)
  • Paid Trello plans may have higher limits
  • Add delays between bulk operations if hitting rate limits

Cards not moving between boards

  • move_card requires both list_id (destination) and optionally board_id for cross-board moves
  • Ensure destination list is on the target board
  • Trello API automatically handles board migration when moving to a list on a different board

📖 Resources

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Missing a Trello feature? Want to add webhooks, Power-Ups, or Butler automation? Open a PR.

How to contribute:

  1. Fork this repo
  2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/add-checklists)
  3. Add your tool definition in src/index.ts (follow existing patterns)
  4. Test locally with Claude Desktop
  5. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add checklist management tools')
  6. Push to your fork (git push origin feature/add-checklists)
  7. Open a Pull Request with details

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

You're free to use, modify, and distribute this MCP server for personal or commercial projects.

🙏 Credits

Built by MCPEngage — AI infrastructure for business software.

This server is part of the MCPEngage 2026 Complete Series, providing production-ready MCP servers for 30+ business platforms.

Want more? Check out our full catalog:

Questions? Open an issue or join our Discord community (invite on mcpengine.pages.dev).