Trello MCP server for AI agents

The MCP Server Trello provides tools for interacting with Trello boards through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling seamless integration with Trello's API while handling rate limiting, type safety, and error handling automatically.

Installation Options

Using Bun (Fastest)

If you have Bun installed, use bunx for the fastest startup:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trello": {
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["@delorenj/mcp-server-trello"],
      "env": {
        "TRELLO_API_KEY": "your-api-key",
        "TRELLO_TOKEN": "your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Using npx/pnpx

You can also use npx or pnpx if you prefer:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trello": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@delorenj/mcp-server-trello"],
      "env": {
        "TRELLO_API_KEY": "your-api-key",
        "TRELLO_TOKEN": "your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Using mise with Bun

If you're using mise, you can explicitly execute bunx:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trello": {
      "command": "mise",
      "args": ["x", "--", "bunx", "@delorenj/mcp-server-trello"],
      "env": {
        "TRELLO_API_KEY": "your-api-key",
        "TRELLO_TOKEN": "your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Global Installation

Install globally with npm:

npm install -g @delorenj/mcp-server-trello

Or with Bun:

bun add -g @delorenj/mcp-server-trello

Docker Installation

For containerized environments:

git clone https://github.com/delorenj/mcp-server-trello
cd mcp-server-trello
cp .env.template .env
# Edit .env with your credentials
docker compose up --build

Obtaining Trello API Credentials

To connect to a Trello workspace, you'll need:

Get your API key from https://trello.com/app-key
Generate a token by visiting:

https://trello.com/1/authorize?expiration=never&name=YOUR_APP_NAME&scope=read,write&response_type=token&key=YOUR_API_KEY

Replace YOUR_APP_NAME with your application name and YOUR_API_KEY with your API key.

Configuration

Environment Variables

Create a .env file with:

# Required
TRELLO_API_KEY=your-api-key
TRELLO_TOKEN=your-token

# Optional
TRELLO_BOARD_ID=your-board-id
TRELLO_WORKSPACE_ID=your-workspace-id

Board and Workspace Management

The server supports multiple ways to work with boards:

Provide boardId in each API call
Set a default board with TRELLO_BOARD_ID and override as needed
Use set_active_board to dynamically switch boards

Example Workflow

// List available boards
{
  name: 'list_boards',
  arguments: {}
}

// Set active board
{
  name: 'set_active_board',
  arguments: {
    boardId: "abc123"
  }
}

// List workspaces
{
  name: 'list_workspaces',
  arguments: {}
}

// Set active workspace
{
  name: 'set_active_workspace',
  arguments: {
    workspaceId: "xyz789"
  }
}

// Check current active board
{
  name: 'get_active_board_info',
  arguments: {}
}

Date Format Guidelines

Due Date (dueDate): Use ISO 8601 format with time (e.g., 2023-12-31T12:00:00Z)
Start Date (start): Use YYYY-MM-DD format (e.g., 2025-08-05)

Available Tools

Card Management

get_card

Get comprehensive details of a Trello card:

{
  name: 'get_card',
  arguments: {
    cardId: string,
    includeMarkdown?: boolean
  }
}

get_cards_by_list_id

{
  name: 'get_cards_by_list_id',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string,
    listId: string
  }
}

add_card_to_list

{
  name: 'add_card_to_list',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string,
    listId: string,
    name: string,
    description?: string,
    dueDate?: string,
    start?: string,
    labels?: string[]
  }
}

update_card_details

{
  name: 'update_card_details',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string,
    cardId: string,
    name?: string,
    description?: string,
    dueDate?: string,
    start?: string,
    dueComplete?: boolean,
    labels?: string[]
  }
}

archive_card

{
  name: 'archive_card',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string,
    cardId: string
  }
}

move_card

{
  name: 'move_card',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string,
    cardId: string,
    listId: string
  }
}

get_my_cards

{
  name: 'get_my_cards',
  arguments: {}
}

List Management

get_lists

{
  name: 'get_lists',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string
  }
}

add_list_to_board

{
  name: 'add_list_to_board',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string,
    name: string
  }
}

archive_list

{
  name: 'archive_list',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string,
    listId: string
  }
}

Board Management

get_recent_activity

{
  name: 'get_recent_activity',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string,
    limit?: number
  }
}

list_boards

{
  name: 'list_boards',
  arguments: {}
}

set_active_board

{
  name: 'set_active_board',
  arguments: {
    boardId: string
  }
}

get_active_board_info

{
  name: 'get_active_board_info',
  arguments: {}
}

Workspace Management

list_workspaces

{
  name: 'list_workspaces',
  arguments: {}
}

set_active_workspace

{
  name: 'set_active_workspace',
  arguments: {
    workspaceId: string
  }
}

list_boards_in_workspace

{
  name: 'list_boards_in_workspace',
  arguments: {
    workspaceId: string
  }
}

Checklist Management

get_checklist_items

{
  name: 'get_checklist_items',
  arguments: {
    name: string,
    boardId?: string
  }
}

add_checklist_item

{
  name: 'add_checklist_item',
  arguments: {
    text: string,
    checkListName: string,
    boardId?: string
  }
}

find_checklist_items_by_description

{
  name: 'find_checklist_items_by_description',
  arguments: {
    description: string,
    boardId?: string
  }
}

get_acceptance_criteria

{
  name: 'get_acceptance_criteria',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string
  }
}

get_checklist_by_name

{
  name: 'get_checklist_by_name',
  arguments: {
    name: string,
    boardId?: string
  }
}

Comment Management

add_comment

{
  name: 'add_comment',
  arguments: {
    cardId: string,
    text: string
  }
}

update_comment

{
  name: 'update_comment',
  arguments: {
    commentId: string,
    text: string
  }
}

delete_comment

{
  name: 'delete_comment',
  arguments: {
    commentId: string
  }
}

get_card_comments

{
  name: 'get_card_comments',
  arguments: {
    cardId: string,
    limit?: number
  }
}

File Attachments

attach_image_to_card

{
  name: 'attach_image_to_card',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string,
    cardId: string,
    imageUrl: string,
    name?: string
  }
}

attach_file_to_card

{
  name: 'attach_file_to_card',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string,
    cardId: string,
    fileUrl: string,
    name?: string,
    mimeType?: string
  }
}

Integration Example with Ideogram

You can pair the Trello MCP server with Ideogram MCP server for AI-powered visual content:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trello": {
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["@delorenj/mcp-server-trello"],
      "env": {
        "TRELLO_API_KEY": "your-trello-api-key",
        "TRELLO_TOKEN": "your-trello-token"
      }
    },
    "ideogram": {
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["@flowluap/ideogram-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "IDEOGRAM_API_KEY": "your-ideogram-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Example workflow:

Generate an image with Ideogram
Attach it to a Trello card

// Generate image with ideogram-mcp-server
{
  name: 'generate_image',
  arguments: {
    prompt: "A futuristic dashboard design with neon accents",
    aspect_ratio: "16:9"
  }
}
// Returns: { image_url: "https://..." }

// Attach to Trello card
{
  name: 'attach_image_to_card',
  arguments: {
    cardId: "your-card-id",
    imageUrl: "https://...", // URL from Ideogram
    name: "Dashboard Mockup v1"
  }
}

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "trello" '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","@delorenj/mcp-server-trello"]}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "trello": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@delorenj/mcp-server-trello"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "trello": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@delorenj/mcp-server-trello"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect