Automate tasks in Trello
15 min
Beginner
By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to:
- Describe what you can automate in Trello
- Set up an automation
What can you automate in Trello?
Automation is Trello's built-in tool that automates tasks and workflows on your boards without using any code. It lets you automate a series of actions on a schedule, when a specific action occurs in Trello, or at the click of a button. When you create an automation, it reacts to board changes and performs simple tasks automatically. You can even share your automations with everyone on your team so they supercharge their own workflows with time-saving automated tasks.
You can create and manage all your automations from the Automation directory’s automation builder, which you can access from the Automation button (indicated by a lightning bolt icon) in the top-right corner of your Trello board or from the board menu.
👇 Create and manage your automations from the Automation directory.
Within the Automation directory, you can create different types of automations, which are categorized within tabs:
- Automations: Includes rules, scheduled automations, and due date automations
- Custom buttons: Includes card buttons and board buttons
- App automations: Use Jira, Bitbucket, or Slack in your Trello automations
Automation is included with all Trello accounts. Depending on your plan, there are quotas and limits on automation.
You can create automation rules that perform tasks based on specific board changes, schedules, or due dates. Rules automatically perform one or more actions on your board in response to something happening in Trello. Rules have a simple format: when this happens, do this thing. To create a rule, you need to configure two things:
- Trigger: Something that happens on your board that initiates a task, such as a card being moved or changed.
- Action: A specific task or operation that is performed automatically in response to the trigger, such as creating or moving a card, sorting a list, or adding a member or field value.
👉 Here’s an example rule: When a card is created in the list “To Do,” automatically add the “Steps” checklist to the card.
👉 Another example: When a card is moved to the list “Done” by anyone, add the green label to the card, mark the due date as complete, and remove all members from the card.
👇 In this example, the trigger is “when a card is added to list ‘Done’,” and the action is “archive the card."
Scheduled automations and due date automations behave very similarly to automation rules.
- Scheduled automations make things automatically happen on your board based on a schedule. The trigger could be things like a specific time of day, every two weeks on Thursdays, the first of the month, or every year on a specific date.
- Due date automations make things happen automatically based on a card’s due date. The action can be triggered on the due date or in a specified timeframe before or after it.
👇 Click the tabs below to see examples of how scheduled automations and due date automations can be used.
👉 For example:
- Every day at 8:55am, sort the list "Backlog" by due date.
- Every first Wednesday of the month, create a card called "Planning Meeting" to the list "To Do" and add member @JohnSmith to the card.
- Every year on the 14th of February, create a list called "Valentine's Day Ideas."
Create automations
You can create every type of automation in Trello from the Automation directory’s automation builder. Some types, including Rules and Scheduled automations, can also be created directly from your Trello board. All rules you create can be viewed and managed from the tabs in the Automation directory.
You can also add Advanced filters to your triggers for Rules and Due Date automations to create more elaborate workflows, such as adding trigger filters for only cards from a specific list or assigned to a specific member.
👉 An example rule: When a due date is set within the next 48 hours on a card labeled “Urgent”, move the card to the top of the “In Progress” list. In this example rule, the advanced filters (48 hours and “Urgent”) specify the action take place only when specific conditions are met for the due date and label.
👇 Click the boxes below to see how to create rules using both methods.
All rule types can be created from the Automation directory. Rules and Scheduled automations can be created from the board. Due Date automations must be created from the Automation directory.
Create card and board buttons
In addition to rules, you can create custom buttons that perform pre-defined tasks. Where rules are triggered automatically when something happens on the board, button actions are triggered by clicking on the button whenever you need it. You can create two types of buttons:
- Card buttons automate workflows on a card level, such as adding a label or joining a card. They appear as buttons on the back of every card on the board.
- Board buttons automate workflows on a board level, like reordering cards in lists or creating new lists. They appear as buttons above the board.
👇 In this example, the card button “Move Card to To Do” moves a card to the top of the list “To Do”.
With buttons, the trigger is clicking on the button, so you only need to specify the button’s icon, title, and the action you want it to perform.
👇 Click the tabs below to see examples of how card and board buttons can be used.
👉 For example:
- Assign Me: Join the card, add the yellow “In Progress” label, and an empty checklist named “To Do” to the card.
- Completed: Move the card to the list “Done” and remove the card's due date.
- Send to Reviewer: Add member @JohnSmith to the card, set the field “Phase” to “In Review,” and post a comment that says “Ready for review!”
👇 The card button “Move Card to To Do” moves a card to the top of the list “To Do”.
You can create both types of custom buttons in Trello from the Automation directory’s automation builder. Card buttons can also be created directly from the back of a card. All buttons you create can be viewed and managed from the tabs in the Automation directory.
👇 Click the boxes below to see how to create buttons using both methods.
Both card and board buttons can be created from the Automation directory. Only card buttons can be created from the card back, whereas board buttons must be created from the Automation directory.
Create app automations
You can use Automation beyond the boundaries of Trello to perform actions in Jira, Slack, or Bitbucket. Once these apps are connected, you can choose actions in those apps when creating any type of automation or button.
👇 Click the tabs below to see examples of how app automations can be used.
- Create or update tickets
- Post comments on existing tickets
To use the Jira, Slack, and Bitbucket actions in your automations, you first need to connect and authorize the applications with Automation.
To add Jira, Slack, and Bitbucket integrations:
- From the Automation directory, click View apps under App automations in the left-hand menu.
- Select the application you want to connect and follow the prompts to connect your Bitbucket account, or one or more Jira instances or Slack workspaces.
Once you connect your applications in Trello, you can select and customize actions for your automation rule or button in the Jira, Slack, or Bitbucket tabs of the action screen.
👇 Select automation actions from the Jira, Bitbucket, or Slack tabs.
Try it yourself
Open Trello and follow the steps below.
You may wish to use a private board for this activity in order to practice without impacting others.
👇 Click the tabs below and follow the instructions to practice what you’ve learned in this lesson.
- Open the Automation directory: Click the lightning bolt Automation icon in the top-right of your board, then select Rules. Select the Rules tab on the left.
- Add a trigger: Click the Create automation button in the top-right corner. Click Add Trigger. Select and customize a trigger to initiate your automated task.
- Add an action: Select and customize an action. If you’d like to add more, click Add another action. When you’re done, click Save.
Let's review!
Review these questions and see if you understood the key concepts in this lesson:
- Consider the different automations available to you. Can you think of an automation that would help you stay on top of deadlines?
- What are the two key components of Trello automation rules?
- What is the purpose of card buttons vs. board buttons?
How was this lesson?
next lesson
Manage automations in Trello
- Manage your automations
- Organize automations using tags
- Share your automations and buttons
- Inspect automation activity and errors