Trello CLI v3.0

Official Python CLI for Trello - Extensible workflow management with plugin system and comprehensive board auditing.

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✨ Features

• 🧠 Claude AI Context Analysis - Intelligent opinions on every card movement
• 🔌 Plugin System - Extensible architecture for custom functionality
• 🔍 Board Audit - Expose workflow chaos and structural problems (available as plugin!)
• 🤖 Optimized for Claude Code - AI-first design with discovery commands
• 🏃 Sprint Planning - Complete sprint lifecycle management
• 📦 Bulk Operations - Process multiple cards efficiently
• 📊 Board Standardization - Enforce Agile/Scrum best practices
• 🔍 Advanced Queries - Filter and analyze cards
• ⚡ Quick Workflows - Shortcuts for common operations
• 🎯 50+ Commands - Comprehensive board management

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🆕 What's New in v2.2

🧠 Claude AI Context Analysis + Plugin System

Two major innovations in this release:

1. Intelligent Card Movement Analysis ⭐

Every card movement now includes Claude AI analysis:

• What: Understands what the card is about (title, description, labels)
• Why: Analyzes why the movement matters in context
• Concerns: Identifies risks (overdue items, incomplete checklists, unmet criteria)
• Recommendations: Provides actionable insights

Enhanced Commands:

trello move-card <card_id> <list_id>   # General movement with analysis
trello quick-start <card_id>            # Start work with context insight
trello quick-test <card_id>             # Testing phase with validation analysis
trello quick-done <card_id>             # Completion with quality assessment

Example Output:

✅ Moved card 'Frontend: System Health Dashboard' to list '⚙️ In Progress'

💡 CLAUDE AI ANALYSIS
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
This card focuses on building a comprehensive monitoring dashboard...
Moving to "In Progress" signals the team is prioritizing observability...
The 12-16 hour estimate seems optimistic considering the scope includes
6 API integrations, real-time polling, and responsive design...

2. Production-Ready Plugin System

• Language-agnostic (Python, Bash, JS, Ruby, Go, etc.)
• Environment injection (credentials, config paths)
• Metadata validation and discovery
• Timeout protection and error handling

3. Official Board Audit Plugin

• 8 critical workflow validations
• Health score system (0-100)
• JSON output for CI/CD integration
• 600+ lines of production-ready code

Previous in v2.1:

• 29 new commands across 5 categories (Quick, Sprint, Bulk, Query, Standardization)
• See CLAUDE.md for complete v2.1 features

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📦 Installation

Prerequisites

pip3 install py-trello

Setup

1. Clone or download this repository

2. Add to PATH (already done if using from ~/Documents/trello-cli-python)

3. Configure API credentials:

trello config

Get your credentials from:

• API Key: https://trello.com/app-key
• Token: Follow the link provided during config

Optional: Claude AI Integration

For intelligent card movement analysis, configure Claude AI:

# Create .env file with your Anthropic API key
echo 'ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-api03-YOUR_KEY_HERE' > .env

# Or set as environment variable
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-api03-YOUR_KEY_HERE

Get your API key from: https://console.anthropic.com/

Note: The system works without Claude AI (graceful degradation). With the API key, card movements include intelligent analysis.

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🚀 Quick Start

For Claude Code Users

🎯 Essential Command:

trello help-json    # Get ALL commands in JSON format

Key Discovery Commands:

trello boards                              # List all boards
trello board-overview <board_id>           # Complete board structure
trello board-ids <board_id>                # Quick ID reference
trello search-cards <board_id> "query"     # Find cards anywhere

📖 Full Guide: CLAUDE.md

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🔌 Plugin System - Extensibility at its Core

The Trello CLI features a production-ready plugin system that allows you to extend functionality without modifying core code.

Why This Matters

Even the board auditor runs as a plugin. If critical analysis logic can live externally, anything can.

This isn't just a feature - it's an architectural statement: The core doesn't need to change for the CLI to evolve.

Quick Start with Plugins

# List available plugins
trello plugin list

# See plugin details
trello plugin info board-audit

# Run the official board auditor plugin
trello plugin run board-audit <board_id>

# JSON output for CI/CD integration
trello plugin run board-audit <board_id> --json

🔍 Featured Plugin: Board Audit

Exposes the structural chaos that Trello hides.

Your board looks organized, but underneath:

• ❌ Cards in "Done" without due dates (can't measure velocity)
• ❌ Cards in "Done" with incomplete checklists (false completion)
• ❌ Overdue cards not marked complete (zombie tasks)
• ⚠️ Active cards without due dates (no accountability)
• ⚠️ Execution cards without owners (orphaned work)
• ⚠️ Empty checklists (fake productivity signals)

Real Example:

$ trello plugin run board-audit 68fcf05e481843db13204397

🔍 BOARD AUDIT REPORT - AI Portfolio Sprint 1
Health Score: 60/100 - 🟠 NEEDS ATTENTION

Critical Issues: 1
- 17 cards in Done without due dates

High Priority: 2
- 11 active cards without due dates
- 11 execution cards without owners

Health Score System:

• 90-100: 🟢 EXCELLENT - Board ready for production
• 70-89: 🟡 GOOD - Minor issues detected
• 50-69: 🟠 NEEDS ATTENTION - Significant workflow problems
• 0-49: 🔴 CRITICAL - Severe structural problems

Official Plugins Included

1. board-audit.py - Comprehensive workflow auditor (600+ lines, production-ready)
2. example-python.py - Python plugin template
3. example-bash.sh - Bash plugin template

Creating Your Own Plugins

Plugins can be written in any language (Python, Bash, JavaScript, Ruby, Go, etc.)

Example plugin structure:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
# trello-plugin
# name: My Plugin
# description: What it does
# usage: plugin run my-plugin [args]
# author: Your Name
# version: 1.0.0

import os
import sys

# Access injected credentials
api_key = os.environ.get('TRELLO_API_KEY')
token = os.environ.get('TRELLO_TOKEN')

# Your plugin logic here...

Available Environment Variables:

• TRELLO_API_KEY - Your API key
• TRELLO_TOKEN - Your API token
• TRELLO_USER_ID - Your user ID
• TRELLO_BASE_URL - Trello API base URL
• TRELLO_CLI_VERSION - CLI version
• TRELLO_CONFIG_DIR - Config directory
• TRELLO_PLUGIN_DIR - Plugin directory

📖 Full Plugin Guide: PLUGINS.md

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📚 Command Categories

1. Discovery & Help (5 commands)

trello help                    # Show all commands
trello help-json               # Get commands in JSON
trello board-overview <id>     # Board structure + metrics
trello board-ids <id>          # All IDs in one place
trello search-cards <id> "q"   # Find cards by text

2. Quick Workflows (5 commands)

trello quick-start <card_id>   # Move to "In Progress" + comment
trello quick-test <card_id>    # Move to "Testing" + comment
trello quick-done <card_id>    # Move to "Done" + comment
trello my-cards <board_id>     # Show all assigned cards
trello card-age <list_id>      # See how old cards are

3. Sprint Planning (4 commands)

trello sprint-start <board_id>    # Start sprint (interactive)
trello sprint-status <board_id>   # Sprint progress dashboard
trello sprint-close <board_id>    # Close sprint + cleanup
trello sprint-velocity <board_id> # Calculate team velocity

4. Bulk Operations (5 commands)

# Move multiple cards
trello bulk-move-cards <source_list> <target_list> ["filter"]

# Label multiple cards
trello bulk-add-label cards.txt "red" "Priority"

# Set due dates in bulk
trello bulk-set-due cards.txt "2025-12-31"

# Archive multiple cards
trello bulk-archive-cards <list_id> ["filter"]

# Create cards from CSV/JSON
trello bulk-create-cards <list_id> cards.csv

5. Advanced Queries (5 commands)

trello cards-by-label <board_id> "red"     # Find by label
trello cards-due-soon <board_id> [days]    # Due soon (default: 7d)
trello cards-overdue <board_id>            # Overdue cards
trello list-metrics <list_id>              # List analytics
trello board-health <board_id>             # Health check (score 0-100)

6. Board Standardization ⭐ NEW (4 commands)

trello list-templates                      # Show available templates
trello standardize-lists <id> agile        # Apply template to board
trello scrum-check <board_id>              # Validate Agile conformity
trello migrate-cards <list> <board>        # Move cards between boards

7. Basic CRUD (15+ commands)

# Boards
trello boards
trello create-board "Name"

# Lists
trello lists <board_id>
trello create-list <board_id> "Name"
trello archive-list <list_id>

# Cards
trello cards <list_id>
trello add-card <list_id> "Title" ["Description"]
trello show-card <card_id>
trello update-card <card_id> "Description"
trello move-card <card_id> <list_id>

# Enhancements
trello add-label <card_id> "color" ["name"]
trello add-checklist <card_id> "Name"
trello add-checkitem <card_id> "Checklist" "Item"
trello set-due <card_id> "YYYY-MM-DD"
trello add-comment <card_id> "Text"

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🎯 Common Use Cases

Use Case 1: Daily Workflow

# Morning: Check your cards
trello my-cards <board_id>

# Start working on a card
trello quick-start <card_id>

# Move to testing
trello quick-test <card_id>

# Mark as done
trello quick-done <card_id>

Use Case 2: Sprint Planning

# Check board health
trello scrum-check <board_id>
trello board-health <board_id>

# Start new sprint
trello sprint-start <board_id>

# Monitor progress
trello sprint-status <board_id>

# Close sprint
trello sprint-close <board_id>
trello sprint-velocity <board_id>

Use Case 3: Board Standardization

# Standardize all company boards
trello list-templates
trello standardize-lists <board_id> agile --dry-run
trello standardize-lists <board_id> agile

# Validate conformity
trello scrum-check <board_id>

Use Case 4: Bulk Cleanup

# Find overdue cards
trello cards-overdue <board_id>

# Archive old cards
trello bulk-archive-cards <list_id> "2023"

# Move stale cards to backlog
trello card-age <list_id>
trello bulk-move-cards <source> <backlog>

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📖 Documentation

Essential Docs (in root)

• README.md - This file
• CLAUDE.md - Complete Claude Code integration guide

Additional Docs (in docs/)

• docs/README.md - Documentation index
• TESTING_GUIDE.md - Pytest setup
• REPORTING_GUIDE.md - Export reports to HTML/PDF

Developer Docs

• PROJECT_SUMMARY.md - Architecture
• CONTRIBUTING.md - How to contribute
• MIGRATION.md - v1→v2 migration

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🎨 Board Templates

Three standard templates available:

1. Agile/Scrum (Full) - 12 lists

💡 Ideas → 📥 Inbox → 📋 Backlog → 📋 To Prioritize → 🔍 Refinement
→ ✅ Ready → 📐 Design → 📝 Sprint → ⚙️ In Progress → 🧪 Testing → ✅ Done → 📚 Architecture

2. Kanban (Simple) - 3 lists

📝 To Do → ⚙️ In Progress → ✅ Done

3. Basic Workflow - 4 lists

📋 Backlog → 📝 To Do → ⚙️ In Progress → ✅ Done

Apply with:

trello standardize-lists <board_id> <template>

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🔍 Scrum Conformity Checks

The scrum-check command validates:

1. ✅ Required Lists - Backlog, Ready, Sprint, In Progress, Testing, Done
2. ⚙️ WIP Limits - In Progress should have ≤3-5 cards
3. 📝 Sprint Size - Sprint should have 5-15 cards
4. 🧪 Testing Queue - Testing should have ≤3-5 cards
5. 📋 Backlog Health - Should have 10-50 cards

Score: 0-100 with recommendations

• 🟢 EXCELLENT (90-100)
• 🟡 GOOD (70-89)
• 🟠 NEEDS WORK (50-69)
• 🔴 CRITICAL (<50)

trello scrum-check <board_id>

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🛠️ Development

Project Structure

trello-cli-python/
├── trello_cli/
│   ├── commands/         # All command modules
│   │   ├── board.py
│   │   ├── list.py
│   │   ├── card.py
│   │   ├── bulk.py       # Bulk operations
│   │   ├── quick.py      # Quick shortcuts
│   │   ├── sprint.py     # Sprint planning
│   │   ├── query.py      # Advanced queries
│   │   ├── standardize.py # Board standardization
│   │   └── ...
│   ├── utils/            # Utilities
│   └── cli.py            # Main CLI entry
├── tests/                # Test suite
├── docs/                 # Documentation
└── trello                # Executable

Running Tests

pytest tests/
pytest --cov=trello_cli tests/

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🤝 Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md

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📝 Examples

Example 1: Bulk Card Creation

# cards.csv
title,description,due_date,labels
Feature A,Description A,2025-12-25,red:P0
Feature B,Description B,2025-12-30,blue:Feature

trello bulk-create-cards <list_id> cards.csv

Example 2: Automated Reports

#!/bin/bash
# Generate daily report
DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
trello scrum-check <board_id> > "reports/${DATE}_report.txt"
trello board-health <board_id> >> "reports/${DATE}_report.txt"

Example 3: Sprint Automation

# Start sprint on Monday
trello sprint-start <board_id>

# Daily standup - check status
trello sprint-status <board_id>

# Friday - close sprint
trello sprint-close <board_id>
trello sprint-velocity <board_id>

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🎓 For Claude Code

Claude Code should always start with:

trello help-json

This returns all available commands in machine-readable format.

Key commands for AI:

• board-overview - Understand board structure
• search-cards - Find cards without knowing their location
• scrum-check - Validate board health
• bulk-* commands - Process multiple items efficiently

📖 Complete Guide: CLAUDE.md

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📊 Statistics

• Total Commands: 48
• Command Categories: 7
• Board Templates: 3
• Lines of Code: ~5,000
• Test Coverage: Expanding

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🔗 Links

• GitHub: bernardurizaorozco/trello-cli-python
• Issues: Report bugs
• Trello API: Documentation

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📄 License

MIT License - See LICENSE

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👤 Author

Bernard Uriza Orozco

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🙏 Acknowledgments

• Built with py-trello
• Designed for Claude Code
• Inspired by Agile/Scrum best practices

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Version: 3.0.0 Last Updated: 2026-05-19