OpenClaw + Trello: The Automatic Project Management AI Agent

Trello is simple by design, but the manual work of keeping boards current kills that simplicity fast. Cards get created late, due dates aren't set, members aren't assigned — because no one has time to do the admin. OpenClaw fixes this by making card creation and movement automatic. Trigger an email, and a card appears. Move a card to Done, and a follow-up notification fires. Here's the full setup.

What You Can Automate

The Trello skill covers the full card lifecycle and board management operations:

• Card creation — create cards with title, description, due date, labels, checklists, and assigned members in one operation
• Card movement — move cards between lists based on conditions your agent evaluates
• Comment posting — add AI-generated comments to existing cards with updates, summaries, or action items
• Due date management — set and update due dates programmatically based on priority signals
• Board and list reading — fetch cards from any list for processing or reporting

The most common automation pattern: inbound form submission or email → agent classifies the request → agent creates a Trello card in the right list with the right priority label, due date based on SLA rules, and assigned to the right team member. This replaces manual intake triage that typically takes 2–5 minutes per item.

API Key Setup

Trello authentication is simpler than most APIs. No OAuth app approval process, no waiting for credentials.

1. Go to trello.com/app-key while logged into your Trello account
2. Copy your API key from the page
3. Click "Generate a token" and approve access for your account
4. Copy the generated token

Both values go into your OpenClaw config as environment variables. The token gives OpenClaw the same access as your Trello account — it can see and modify all boards you have access to.

# ~/.openclaw/config.yaml — Trello skill
skills:
  trello:
    enabled: true
    api_key: "${TRELLO_API_KEY}"
    token: "${TRELLO_TOKEN}"

    # Default board for new cards
    default_board_id: "YOUR_BOARD_ID"
    default_list_id: "INBOX_LIST_ID"   # where new cards land by default

    # Label mapping
    labels:
      urgent: "RED_LABEL_ID"
      normal: "BLUE_LABEL_ID"
      low: "GREEN_LABEL_ID"

    # Member mapping (optional)
    members:
      support: "MEMBER_ID_1"
      engineering: "MEMBER_ID_2"

Card Creation Workflows

Card creation is the most used operation. A well-configured card creation action populates every field in one step:

• name — the card title, often generated by the agent based on the trigger content
• desc — full card description with context, formatted in Markdown
• due — ISO 8601 date string. Calculate from trigger time plus SLA hours.
• idLabels — list of label IDs to apply. Map priority to labels in your config.
• idMembers — list of member IDs to assign. Route by category in your workflow.
• idList — which list to create the card in. Default to your Inbox list.

The agent generates the title and description based on the trigger content. Everything else — due date, labels, members, list — is determined by rules in your workflow config. The combination produces a fully populated card in one operation.

Board Automation Patterns

Reading from the board powers monitoring and reporting workflows. Fetch all cards in the "In Progress" list every morning → agent counts cards per assignee → posts a workload summary to Slack. Simple, consistent, requires zero manual effort from the team.

Stage progression automation is more sophisticated: a card in "Review" gets a comment from a stakeholder → agent detects the comment → evaluates whether the comment indicates approval or rejection → moves the card to "Approved" or "Revision Needed" accordingly. This removes the human step of moving cards after approvals, which teams consistently forget.

Due Date and Priority Management

Automatic due date assignment based on priority classification is one of the highest-leverage Trello automations. Define your SLA rules in the workflow: "Urgent = due in 4 hours, High = due in 1 business day, Normal = due in 3 business days." The agent classifies the incoming request, calculates the due date, and sets it on the card.

Combine this with Trello's built-in due date reminders and team members receive automatic notifications before cards go overdue — without anyone manually managing the timeline.

Common Mistakes

Using the wrong list ID is the most common issue. Board IDs and list IDs are different — a common mistake is putting the board ID where a list ID should go. Always fetch the board JSON first to confirm which ID corresponds to which list before putting them in config.

Not handling board membership is the second issue. You can only assign cards to members who are on the board. If your workflow tries to assign a card to someone who hasn't been added to the board, the API silently ignores the member assignment rather than throwing an error. Verify board membership for all members you plan to auto-assign before deploying the workflow.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does OpenClaw need a paid Trello plan?

The Trello API works on all plans including free. Basic card and board management requires no paid subscription. Custom fields — useful for structured metadata on cards — require Trello Standard or Premium. Power-Up integrations are not accessible via the API regardless of plan.

Can OpenClaw move cards between lists automatically?

Yes. Specify the target list by name or ID in your workflow. The skill moves the card and optionally adds a comment explaining the move. This powers stage-progression automation where card position reflects actual workflow state rather than manual updates.

How do I find my Trello board ID?

Add .json to your Trello board URL and fetch it in a browser. The id field at the top of the JSON response is your full board ID. Alternatively, use the Trello API GET /boards endpoint with your API key and token to list all boards you have access to.

Can OpenClaw create checklists inside cards?

Yes. The skill creates checklists and items as part of card creation. Pass a list of checklist item strings in your workflow definition and they are added to the card automatically. Each item can be pre-set to checked or unchecked state.

Does OpenClaw support Trello Power-Ups?

OpenClaw uses the Trello REST API, which does not expose Power-Up-specific data. Custom fields added via Premium are accessible. Third-party Power-Up data — Butler rules, Time tracking, etc. — is generally not available through the standard API.

Can OpenClaw assign cards to team members?

Yes. Use the member ID or map a role to a member ID in your config. OpenClaw adds specified members as card assignees via the API. Members must already be added to the board — assignment to non-members silently fails without an error response.