Email-to-board: Can checklists be added?

[aalcantaraayala]

I see that with the 'email to board' feature you can add the following information to a card (list below), however, I'm not sure if you can add a checklist. We add a couple of standard checklists to most of our cards and it would be fantastic if we could automate this process for the cards that are created from an email. Thanks!

- Title

- Description

- Comments

- Members

- Labels

[DiMaggio Tucci · Accepted solution]

To add, if you need different checklist items each time, you can do this.

You can use automations to add the checklist, but, using wildcards, you can eliminate the need for a checklist template, and put the checklist items directly into the email. The only caveat is that you must have either have a consistent number of checklist items OR create an automation for each number of checklist items you'd want to include. 

Here's an example of the second scenario:

When a card with a description containing "Add checklist called {?} with 4 items: {?},{?},{?},{?}" is emailed into the board

Add the "{wildcard1}" checklist to checklist {wildcard1}

Add item "{wildcard2}" to checklist {wildcard1}

Add item "{wildcard3}" to checklist {wildcard1}

Add item "{wildcard4}" to checklist {wildcard1}

Add item "{wildcard5}" to checklist {wildcard1}

In your email, you'd include

Add checklist called To Do with 4 items: First Do This, Then Do This, Also Do This, Finally Do This

I just tested this and it worked.

[Alberto Estévez]

Very useful! That opens a whole new world of possibilities. 🙌

[Alberto Estévez · Accepted solution]

Hi @aalcantaraayala Thank you for reaching out to the Atlassian Community. 

Here is a workaround you can use with automations.

1️⃣ Use Trello Automation (Butler) to Add Checklists Automatically

You can set up an automation rule that adds a checklist whenever a new card is created via email. Here’s how:

1. Go to your Trello board and click Automation (top-right).
2. Select the Rules tab and click Create Rule.
3. Set up the Trigger:
   • Choose: "When a card is added to [List Name]"
   • (Optional: If you only want it for email-created cards, you might need a label or keyword in the card title to filter them out.)
4. Add an Action:
   • Choose "Add checklist" and select an existing checklist template or create a new one.
5. Click Save Rule.

Cheers!

[aalcantaraayala]

This worked! Thank you so much!

[Alberto Estévez]

Happy to help!

[DiMaggio Tucci]

Added some functionality if needed to this answer...