trello-fetch

name	trello-fetch
description	Trello API operations — read cards, add comments, move cards, search boards, fetch board JSON. Use when any task involves Trello cards, Trello boards, Trello comments, student card lookups, or Trello data. Triggers — "Trello card", "update Trello", "check Trello", "add comment to card", "move card", "fetch board JSON", "Trello board export".
user-invocable	false

Trello API Operations

Authentication

• Method: REST API with API key + token as query params
• Credentials: ~/.claude/.env → TRELLO_API_KEY, TRELLO_API_TOKEN
• Base URL: https://api.trello.com/1
• Auth pattern: ?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_API_TOKEN appended to every request

Load credentials:

export TRELLO_API_KEY=$(grep TRELLO_API_KEY ~/.claude/.env | cut -d= -f2)
export TRELLO_API_TOKEN=$(grep TRELLO_API_TOKEN ~/.claude/.env | cut -d= -f2)

On Windows (Python preferred over bash for reliability):

import os, re
env_path = os.path.expanduser("~/.claude/.env")
env = open(env_path).read()
TRELLO_API_KEY = re.search(r'TRELLO_API_KEY=(.+)', env).group(1).strip()
TRELLO_API_TOKEN = re.search(r'TRELLO_API_TOKEN=(.+)', env).group(1).strip()

Common Operations

Read a card

curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/{cardId}?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_API_TOKEN&fields=name,desc,idList,shortUrl"

Add a comment to a card

curl -s -X POST "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/{cardId}/actions/comments?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_API_TOKEN" \
  --data-urlencode "text=USER's ClaudeCode PA: Your comment here"

Update comment text

curl -s -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/actions/{actionId}/text?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_API_TOKEN" \
  --data-urlencode "value=Updated text"

Get card comments

url = f'https://api.trello.com/1/cards/{card_id}/actions?filter=commentCard&key={KEY}&token={TOKEN}'

Move a card to a different list

curl -s -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/{cardId}?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"idList": "targetListId"}'

Search across boards

curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/search?query=NAME&key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_API_TOKEN&modelTypes=cards&card_fields=name,shortUrl,idBoard"

Fetch full board JSON (replaces Chrome method)

curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/boards/{boardId}?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_API_TOKEN&fields=all&cards=all&card_fields=all&lists=all&list_fields=all&members=all&actions=all&actions_limit=1000" > board_export.json

Write Safety Rules

Comments = SAFE (append-only)

• Adding comments never destroys existing data
• Always prefer comments for logging PA activity, status updates, notes

Descriptions = DANGEROUS (full replace)

• PUT to desc field replaces the entire description
• If Claude Code gets the content wrong or misses a section, original data is gone
• Only write to descriptions when explicitly instructed by user AND after reading the current description first
• When writing descriptions: read current, merge changes, write back (never blind overwrite)

Card moves = ASK FIRST

• Moving cards between lists is a state change visible to the whole team
• Always confirm with user before moving cards

Comment Prefix Convention

Comments (no date needed — Trello UI shows timestamp):

USER's ClaudeCode PA: <content>

Description edits (include date — descriptions have no timestamp):

USER's ClaudeCode PA (18/2/2026): <content>

Use the current date in DD/M/YYYY format for description edits.

Card ID Formats

Trello accepts multiple card identifiers:

• Short link: CARD_SHORT_ID (from URL https://trello.com/c/CARD_SHORT_ID)
• Full ID: 65522d6c09b034cfd95f51f2
• Both work interchangeably in API calls

Board Registry

No centralized board registry. Known boards by context:

• Sales Storage — student cards, lead history: BOARD_ID_1
• Education Leads / Sales — incoming leads: BOARD_ID_2
• Customer Service — CS cases: BOARD_ID_3

For other boards, search Trello or check project-specific docs.

Member & Access Management

Add member to board

curl -s -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/boards/{boardId}/members/{memberId}?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"type": "normal"}'

Types: normal (member), admin, observer (read-only).

List board members

curl -s "https://api.trello.com/1/boards/{boardId}/members?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_API_TOKEN"

Remove member from board

curl -s -X DELETE "https://api.trello.com/1/boards/{boardId}/members/{memberId}?key=$TRELLO_API_KEY&token=$TRELLO_API_TOKEN"

🚨 Access operations = API ONLY, never browser. Chrome automation on Trello's notification UI is unreliable (dropdowns, popovers, CSRF). The API handles all access operations cleanly.

Fallback: Chrome Agent (Board Export Only)

If API auth fails or tokens expire, the Chrome-based approach still works for read-only board exports:

1. User is logged into Trello in Chrome
2. Chrome agent navigates to https://trello.com/b/{BOARD_ID}.json
3. Session cookies authenticate the request
4. get_page_text extracts the JSON

Only use Chrome fallback if API returns 401/403.

Encoding Note

When parsing Trello JSON in Python on Windows, use encoding='utf-8' explicitly. The default cp1252 will choke on Unicode characters in Hebrew names.