ftaricano

mcp-trello

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Trello MCP server and CLI for boards, lists, cards, checklists and workspaces, with rate limiting.

mcp-trello

CILicense: MITNode.jsMCP

Model Context Protocol (MCP) server and local CLI for Trello. It exposes 31 typed tools for boards, lists, cards, checklists, activity, and workspace navigation, with Trello-aware rate limiting and validation built in.

This repository is maintained as ftaricano/mcp-trello (formerly ftaricano/mcp-server-trello). It is derived from MIT-licensed original work by Jarad DeLorenzo, with original copyright preserved and current ownership/provenance documented in NOTICE.md.

Highlights

  • 31 MCP tools for cards, lists, boards, workspaces, checklists, attachments, and activity.
  • Multi-board and workspace support with persisted active board/workspace state.
  • Trello API rate limiting for the documented per-key and per-token limits.
  • Zod input validation and TypeScript declarations in the published package.
  • trello CLI for local agent workflows.
  • CI on Node.js 20 and 22 for lint, typecheck, tests, build, and npm pack --dry-run.

Requirements

Install

Use the package directly from npm-compatible MCP clients:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trello": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@ftaricano/mcp-trello"],
      "env": {
        "TRELLO_API_KEY": "replace_with_trello_api_key",
        "TRELLO_TOKEN": "replace_with_trello_token"
      }
    }
  }
}

With pnpx:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trello": {
      "command": "pnpx",
      "args": ["@ftaricano/mcp-trello"],
      "env": {
        "TRELLO_API_KEY": "replace_with_trello_api_key",
        "TRELLO_TOKEN": "replace_with_trello_token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Global install is also supported:

npm install -g @ftaricano/mcp-trello
mcp-trello

Trello Token

Create a Trello token by visiting this URL after replacing the app name and API key:

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

Use expiration=30days or another shorter value when your operating model can tolerate periodic token renewal. Treat the token like a password.

Configuration

The server reads credentials from environment variables:

TRELLO_API_KEY=replace_with_trello_api_key
TRELLO_TOKEN=replace_with_trello_token

# Optional defaults. These can also be changed at runtime by MCP tools.
TRELLO_BOARD_ID=
TRELLO_WORKSPACE_ID=

The CLI also loads a .env file from the current working directory and can read credentials from the macOS Keychain when TRELLO_KEYCHAIN_PREFIX is set:

security add-generic-password -s TRELLO_API_KEY -a "$USER" -w "replace_with_trello_api_key"
security add-generic-password -s TRELLO_TOKEN -a "$USER" -w "replace_with_trello_token"

export TRELLO_KEYCHAIN_PREFIX=TRELLO
trello list-boards --md

Credential resolution order for the CLI:

  1. Process environment.
  2. .env file in the current working directory.
  3. macOS Keychain entries named <PREFIX>_API_KEY, <PREFIX>_TOKEN, and optionally <PREFIX>_BOARD_ID.

Tools

Card tools:

  • add_card_to_list
  • update_card_details
  • archive_card
  • move_card
  • get_card
  • get_cards_by_list_id
  • get_my_cards
  • attach_image_to_card

List, board, and workspace tools:

  • get_lists
  • add_list_to_board
  • archive_list
  • list_boards
  • set_active_board
  • list_workspaces
  • set_active_workspace
  • list_boards_in_workspace
  • get_active_board_info
  • get_recent_activity

Checklist tools:

  • get_checklist_items
  • add_checklist_item
  • find_checklist_items_by_description
  • get_acceptance_criteria
  • get_checklist_by_name

Most board-scoped tools accept an optional boardId. If omitted, the configured or persisted active board is used.

CLI

The package installs a trello binary for local agent and terminal workflows.

trello list-boards --md
trello set-board <boardId>
trello active-board --md
trello lists --md
trello board labels --md
trello board members --md

trello card add <listId> "Task name" --desc "details" --due 2026-05-01T12:00:00Z
trello card update <cardId> --name "Renamed" --done
trello card move <cardId> <listId>
trello card get <cardId> --md
trello card archive <cardId>
trello card comment <cardId> "Status update"
trello card attach <cardId> https://example.com/cover.png --name "Cover"
trello card assign <cardId> <memberId>
trello card unassign <cardId> <memberId>

trello cards mine --md
trello cards list <listId> --md

Default output is JSON for agent consumption. Add --md for markdown output. Exit codes are 0 for success, 1 for missing config or validation errors, and 2 for Trello API errors.

Date Formats

  • dueDate: full ISO 8601 timestamp, for example 2026-05-01T12:00:00Z.
  • start: date only, for example 2026-05-01.

Rate Limiting

Requests are queued through a token bucket limiter for Trello's published API limits:

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

Development

git clone https://github.com/ftaricano/mcp-trello.git
cd mcp-trello
SKIP_PREPARE=true npm install
cp .env.example .env

Useful commands:

npm run lint
npm run typecheck
npm test
npm run build
npm pack --dry-run

Security

Do not commit real Trello credentials, .env files, local logs, generated databases, or machine-specific agent configuration. See SECURITY.md for supported reporting channels and credential rotation guidance.

Contributing

Before opening a PR, run:

npm run lint
npm run typecheck
npm test
npm run build
npm pack --dry-run

Keep changes focused and include tests for behavior changes.

Provenance

This project started as a fork of delorenj/mcp-server-trello. Credit for the original MCP server scaffolding, base Trello API integration, and initial tool surface belongs to Jarad DeLorenzo.

This repository is maintained under ftaricano/mcp-trello. Additions include the trello CLI binary, macOS Keychain credential resolution, expanded CLI card/board/list coverage, 152 unit tests, CI on Node.js 20/22, package metadata ownership, security documentation, and npm pack hardening.

See NOTICE.md for the provenance statement.

Acknowledgments

License

MIT. See LICENSE.

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