Trello MCP server for AI agents

This MCP server provides tools for interacting with Trello boards, handling rate limiting, type safety, and error handling automatically. It offers seamless integration with Trello's API for board management and checklist operations.

Installation

Quick Start with pnpx (Recommended)

The easiest way to use the Trello MCP server is with pnpx:

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

Or if you're using mise:

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

To connect a Trello workspace, you'll need to manually retrieve a TRELLO_TOKEN once per workspace:

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 a name for your application
YOUR_API_KEY with the API key for your Trello Power-Up

Installing via npm

If you prefer using npm directly:

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

Then use npx mcp-server-trello as the command in your MCP configuration.

Installing via Smithery

To install Trello Server for Claude Desktop automatically:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @delorenj/mcp-server-trello --client claude

Docker Installation

For containerized environments:

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/delorenj/mcp-server-trello
cd mcp-server-trello

Copy the environment template and fill in your Trello credentials:

cp .env.template .env

Build and run with Docker Compose:

docker compose up --build

Configuration

Environment Variables

The server can be configured using environment variables. Create a .env file with:

# Required: Your Trello API credentials
TRELLO_API_KEY=your-api-key
TRELLO_TOKEN=your-token

# Optional (Deprecated): Default board ID (can be changed later using set_active_board)
TRELLO_BOARD_ID=your-board-id

# Optional: Initial workspace ID (can be changed later using set_active_workspace)
TRELLO_WORKSPACE_ID=your-workspace-id

Board and Workspace Management

The MCP server supports multiple ways to work with boards:

Multi-board support: All methods accept an optional boardId parameter
Dynamic board selection: Use workspace management tools

Example Workflow

Start by listing available boards:

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

Set your active board:

{
  name: 'set_active_board',
  arguments: {
    boardId: "abc123"  // ID from list_boards response
  }
}

Available Tools

Checklist Management Tools

get_checklist_items

Get all items from a checklist by name.

{
  name: 'get_checklist_items',
  arguments: {
    name: string,        // Name of the checklist to retrieve items from
    boardId?: string     // Optional: ID of the board (uses default if not provided)
  }
}

add_checklist_item

Add a new item to an existing checklist.

{
  name: 'add_checklist_item',
  arguments: {
    text: string,           // Text content of the checklist item
    checkListName: string,  // Name of the checklist to add the item to
    boardId?: string        // Optional: ID of the board (uses default if not provided)
  }
}

find_checklist_items_by_description

Search for checklist items containing specific text.

{
  name: 'find_checklist_items_by_description',
  arguments: {
    description: string,  // Text to search for in checklist item descriptions
    boardId?: string      // Optional: ID of the board (uses default if not provided)
  }
}

get_acceptance_criteria

Get all items from the "Acceptance Criteria" checklist.

{
  name: 'get_acceptance_criteria',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string  // Optional: ID of the board (uses default if not provided)
  }
}

get_checklist_by_name

Get a complete checklist with all items and completion percentage.

{
  name: 'get_checklist_by_name',
  arguments: {
    name: string,     // Name of the checklist to retrieve
    boardId?: string  // Optional: ID of the board (uses default if not provided)
  }
}

get_card

Get comprehensive details of a specific Trello card with human-level parity.

{
  name: 'get_card',
  arguments: {
    cardId: string,          // ID of the Trello card (short ID like 'FdhbArbK' or full ID)
    includeMarkdown?: boolean // Return formatted markdown instead of JSON (default: false)
  }
}

get_cards_by_list_id

Fetch all cards from a specific list.

{
  name: 'get_cards_by_list_id',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string, // Optional: ID of the board (uses default if not provided)
    listId: string    // ID of the Trello list
  }
}

get_lists

Retrieve all lists from a board.

{
  name: 'get_lists',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string  // Optional: ID of the board (uses default if not provided)
  }
}

get_recent_activity

Fetch recent activity on a board.

{
  name: 'get_recent_activity',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string, // Optional: ID of the board (uses default if not provided)
    limit?: number    // Optional: Number of activities to fetch (default: 10)
  }
}

add_card_to_list

Add a new card to a specified list.

{
  name: 'add_card_to_list',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string,     // Optional: ID of the board (uses default if not provided)
    listId: string,       // ID of the list to add the card to
    name: string,         // Name of the card
    description?: string, // Optional: Description of the card
    dueDate?: string,     // Optional: Due date (ISO 8601 format with time)
    start?: string,       // Optional: Start date (YYYY-MM-DD format, date only)
    labels?: string[]     // Optional: Array of label IDs
  }
}

update_card_details

Update an existing card's details.

{
  name: 'update_card_details',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string,     // Optional: ID of the board (uses default if not provided)
    cardId: string,       // ID of the card to update
    name?: string,        // Optional: New name for the card
    description?: string, // Optional: New description
    dueDate?: string,     // Optional: New due date (ISO 8601 format with time)
    start?: string,       // Optional: New start date (YYYY-MM-DD format, date only)
    dueComplete?: boolean,// Optional: Mark the due date as complete (true) or incomplete (false)
    labels?: string[]     // Optional: New array of label IDs
  }
}

archive_card

Send a card to the archive.

{
  name: 'archive_card',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string, // Optional: ID of the board (uses default if not provided)
    cardId: string    // ID of the card to archive
  }
}

add_list_to_board

Add a new list to a board.

{
  name: 'add_list_to_board',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string, // Optional: ID of the board (uses default if not provided)
    name: string      // Name of the new list
  }
}

attach_image_to_card

Attach an image to a card directly from a URL.

{
  name: 'attach_image_to_card',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string, // Optional: ID of the board (uses default if not provided)
    cardId: string,   // ID of the card to attach the image to
    imageUrl: string, // URL of the image to attach
    name?: string     // Optional: Name for the attachment (defaults to "Image Attachment")
  }
}

attach_file_to_card

Attach any type of file to a card from a URL or a local file path.

{
  name: 'attach_file_to_card',
  arguments: {
    boardId?: string,  // Optional: ID of the board (uses default if not provided)
    cardId: string,    // ID of the card to attach the file to
    fileUrl: string,   // URL or local file path (using the file:// protocol) of the file to attach
    name?: string,     // Optional: Name for the attachment (defaults to the file name for local files)
    mimeType?: string  // Optional: MIME type (e.g., "application/pdf", "text/plain", "video/mp4")
  }
}

list_boards

List all boards the user has access to.

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

set_active_board

Set the active board for future operations.

{
  name: 'set_active_board',
  arguments: {
    boardId: string  // ID of the board to set as active
  }
}

list_workspaces

List all workspaces the user has access to.

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

Integration Examples

Pairing with Ideogram MCP Server

The Trello MCP server pairs with the Ideogram MCP server for AI-powered visual content creation. Generate images with Ideogram and attach them directly to your Trello cards!

Example Workflow

Generate an image with Ideogram:

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

Attach the generated image to a Trello card:

// Using trello-mcp-server
{
  name: 'attach_image_to_card',
  arguments: {
    cardId: "your-card-id",
    imageUrl: "https://...", // URL from Ideogram
    name: "Dashboard Mockup v1"
  }
}

Rate Limiting

The server implements a token bucket algorithm for rate limiting to comply with Trello's API limits:

300 requests per 10 seconds per API key
100 requests per 10 seconds per token

Rate limiting is handled automatically, and requests will be queued if limits are reached.

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