How to Connect Trello to OpenClaw

Trello requires two credentials: an API key tied to your developer account and a user token that grants access to boards on behalf of a specific Trello user. **API Key:** Navigate to trello.com/app-key while logged into your Trello account. Your API key is displayed on the page — it is a 32-character string. Copy it. **User Token:** On the same trello.com/app-key page, click the 'Token' link next to your API key. This opens an OAuth authorization page showing the permissions the token will grant. For OpenClaw integration you typically want read/write access. Click 'Allow'. Trello redirects to a page showing your token — a 64-character string. Copy it. Note: Trello user tokens can be generated with different expiration options (30 days, 1 day, or never). Select 'never expiring' for a long-lived OpenClaw integration token so you do not need to regenerate it monthly. Store both values in OpenClaw's config as TRELLO_API_KEY and TRELLO_TOKEN.

1# Set both Trello credentials in OpenClaw config
2clawhub config set TRELLO_API_KEY YOUR_32_CHAR_API_KEY
3clawhub config set TRELLO_TOKEN YOUR_64_CHAR_USER_TOKEN
4
5# Verify both are set
6clawhub config get TRELLO_API_KEY
7clawhub config get TRELLO_TOKEN
8
9# Test the connection — should return your Trello member info
10curl "https://api.trello.com/1/members/me?key=YOUR_API_KEY&token=YOUR_TOKEN"

Trello identifies boards and lists with opaque alphanumeric IDs (not numeric like ClickUp or Asana). You need the board ID for board-level operations and list IDs for creating cards in specific lists. **Board ID from URL:** Open your Trello board in a browser. The URL format is `https://trello.com/b/{BOARD_ID}/{board-name}`. The `BOARD_ID` is the short alphanumeric segment after `/b/`. **Board ID from API:** Call `/members/me/boards` to list all boards your account has access to. Each board has a full `id` field (24-char) — this is what API calls use, not the short URL ID. **List IDs:** Once you have the board ID, call `/boards/{board_id}/lists` to get all lists on that board with their IDs. Note the `id` values for the lists you want to create cards in. Store board and list IDs in your OpenClaw config by descriptive name.

1# List all boards for your account
2curl "https://api.trello.com/1/members/me/boards?key=YOUR_API_KEY&token=YOUR_TOKEN&fields=id,name,shortUrl"
3
4# Get all lists on a board
5curl "https://api.trello.com/1/boards/BOARD_ID/lists?key=YOUR_API_KEY&token=YOUR_TOKEN&fields=id,name"
6
7# Note: URL board ID (short) vs API board ID (24 chars) differ
8# URL: https://trello.com/b/AbCd1234  → short ID: AbCd1234
9# API: {"id": "5f9a3b2c1d0e4f8a7b6c5d9e", ...}  → full 24-char ID

Add the Trello integration configuration to your OpenClaw config file. Store your board and list IDs under descriptive names so workflows reference them by name rather than raw IDs. TRELLO_API_KEY and TRELLO_TOKEN are read automatically from your environment config. Trello labels and members also use IDs — you can fetch label IDs with GET `/boards/{board_id}/labels` and member IDs with GET `/boards/{board_id}/members`. Store the label and member IDs you use frequently in your config for easy reference.

1# ~/.openclaw/config.yaml
2integrations:
3  trello:
4    # Named board references
5    boards:
6      engineering: "BOARD_24_CHAR_ID_1"
7      content_pipeline: "BOARD_24_CHAR_ID_2"
8      support: "BOARD_24_CHAR_ID_3"
9    # Named list references (by board)
10    lists:
11      engineering_todo: "LIST_ID_1"
12      engineering_in_progress: "LIST_ID_2"
13      engineering_done: "LIST_ID_3"
14      content_incoming: "LIST_ID_4"
15      content_scheduled: "LIST_ID_5"
16    # Named label references
17    labels:
18      urgent: "LABEL_ID_RED"
19      bug: "LABEL_ID_ORANGE"
20      feature: "LABEL_ID_BLUE"

Test card creation with the Trello API. POST to `/cards` with the list ID and card name at minimum. Optional fields include description, due date (ISO 8601 format), label IDs, member IDs, position in the list, and URL attachments. After creating a card, the response includes the full card object with its new ID — save this ID if you need to add more details like checklists or attachments in follow-up calls. Trello cards support checklists (ordered lists of items within a card), which are created via a separate POST to `/cards/{card_id}/checklists`. Checklist items are added with POST to `/checklists/{checklist_id}/checkItems`. This hierarchy is useful for tracking subtasks within a card without creating separate cards.

1# Create a card in a list
2curl -X POST \
3  "https://api.trello.com/1/cards?key=YOUR_API_KEY&token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
4  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
5  -d '{
6    "idList": "LIST_ID",
7    "name": "Implement dark mode toggle",
8    "desc": "Add a dark/light mode toggle to the user preferences page. Reference: design ticket #234",
9    "due": "2026-04-15T23:59:00.000Z",
10    "idLabels": ["LABEL_ID_BLUE"],
11    "idMembers": ["MEMBER_ID"]
12  }'
13
14# Add a checklist to a card
15curl -X POST \
16  "https://api.trello.com/1/checklists?key=YOUR_API_KEY&token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
17  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
18  -d '{"idCard": "CARD_ID", "name": "Implementation Steps"}'

Card movement between lists is the core kanban operation. Use PUT on a card's `idList` field to move it to a different list — this works across lists on the same board or even across different boards. Other common updates: mark a card complete with `dueComplete: true`, archive (close) a card with `closed: true`, change the card name, update the description, or modify labels and members. For reading card data, GET `/lists/{list_id}/cards` returns all cards in a list with optional field filtering. Use `fields=id,name,due,dueComplete,idList,labels` to get a lightweight response without unnecessary data. GET `/boards/{board_id}/cards` returns all cards on an entire board — add `filter=overdue` to get only cards past their due date. RapidDev recommends building a daily or weekly Trello board health check as an OpenClaw automation — querying for overdue cards, cards with no due date, and cards that have been in 'In Progress' for more than a configurable number of days. This surfaces workflow blockers without manual board review.

1# Move a card to a different list
2curl -X PUT \
3  "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/CARD_ID?key=YOUR_API_KEY&token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
4  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
5  -d '{"idList": "TARGET_LIST_ID", "pos": "bottom"}'
6
7# Mark a card's due date as complete
8curl -X PUT \
9  "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/CARD_ID?key=YOUR_API_KEY&token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
10  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
11  -d '{"dueComplete": true}'
12
13# Get all overdue cards on a board
14curl "https://api.trello.com/1/boards/BOARD_ID/cards/overdue?key=YOUR_API_KEY&token=YOUR_TOKEN&fields=id,name,due,idList"
15
16# Add a comment to a card
17curl -X POST \
18  "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/CARD_ID/actions/comments?key=YOUR_API_KEY&token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
19  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
20  -d '{"text": "Automated update: moved to review by OpenClaw"}'