trello-mcp
Local Trello MCP with compact responses, workspace allowlists and read-only opt-in.
Install
Add this to your client's MCP configuration (Claude Desktop: claude_desktop_config.json; Cursor: .cursor/mcp.json; VS Code and others use the same "mcpServers" shape).
https://github.com/avhn/trello-mcp/releases/download/v1.0.6/trello-mcp_desktop.mcpbDocumentation
From the project's README on GitHub, refreshed weekly. Links open on GitHub.
trello-mcp
Local Trello MCP server in Go. 48 tools, compact responses, guest boards.
16 cards in one list. Response text, characters. Lower is smaller.
77% less response text than the official server for this call (summary mode). Measured 2026-10-17 on one private work board with 144 cards; characters, not tokens. Full mode: 9,112 (69% fewer). For one card's details the official server returned less: 2,662 vs 2,825. All results and method.
Install
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/avhn/trello-mcp/main/install.sh | shWindows: irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/avhn/trello-mcp/main/install.ps1 | iex. Checksum-verified.
Or give your agent:
Set up trello-mcp by following https://raw.githubusercontent.com/avhn/trello-mcp/main/docs/setup.md; ask me to run its printed absolute-path auth command myself in a private terminal, then reconnect. Never capture authentication output.Then: run the printed auth command yourself in a private terminal, register, reconnect.
Clients and Claude Desktop: docs/setup.md.
Measured comparison
Measured response text. Chars; independent zero-based row scales.
Tool definitions. Claude tokens from /context, one session. Node not measured. Lower is smaller.
Claude Code /context in one session; rows over 1k display-rounded to 0.1k. Node could not be loaded into /context. Separately, tools/list: 20,583 vs 33,766 characters (39% fewer vs Node), not tokens.
| Call | trello-mcp | Official | Node 1.8.1 | vs Official | vs Node |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boards list, per returned board (characters/board) | 150 | 622 | 8,682 | 76% fewer | 98% fewer |
| 16 cards, summary (characters) | 6,754 | 29,141 | 45,335 | 77% fewer | 85% fewer |
| 16 cards, full (characters) | 9,112 | 29,141 | 45,335 | 69% fewer | 80% fewer |
| 50 board actions (characters) | 15,494 | 55,331 | 71,008 | 72% fewer | 78% fewer |
| One card's details (characters) | 2,825 | 2,662 | 16,350 | 6% more | 83% fewer |
| Comments on that card, 2 comments (characters) | 586 | 1,089 | 3,232 | 46% fewer | 82% fewer |
| Tool definitions (Claude tokens) | 8,107 (48 tools) | 19,664 (15 tools) | Not measured | 59% fewer | n/a |
One board, one day, one account. trello-mcp at commit cb40466 (v1.0.3); Atlassian hosted https://mcp.trello.com/v1 over OAuth, results captured verbatim from a headless Claude Code session; @delorenj/mcp-server-trello 1.8.1 via npx. Board list figures are characters per returned board over different sets (16 / 15 / 29; Node includes 13 closed boards; the extra trello-mcp board is a guest board in another organization). Card details and comments use one card with two comments. The board is private, so others cannot rerun on the same data. Official results reflect its hosted version on that date. Tool definitions are Claude tokens from /context; chars/4 would give about 5,146 for trello-mcp instead of 8,107.
Aggregate data. Method and harness. Percent fewer = round(100 * (1 - ours/theirs)); per-board values are rounded totals/count.
I use Trello with AI assistants a lot, so I built trello-mcp to make it lighter and easier to use.
A thought: with AI agents, managing context may be one of the main optimizations we need to make now. Every tool definition and response a model reads takes space from the actual task, and as context grows, output quality tends to drop.
Features checked 2026-10-17.
| Feature | trello-mcp | Official | Node 1.8.1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runs | Local binary | Hosted, OAuth | Local, Node or Bun |
| Guest boards | Yes | Not reached in the owner's check, 2026-10-16 | Yes |
| Delete comments | Yes | No: list, add, edit | Yes |
| Create, update, delete labels | Yes | No: list, attach, detach | Yes |
| Attachments | Upload and download to disk, opt-in, Unix | Listing only | Any local path upload, inline base64 download |
| Per-object workspace allowlist | Yes | Per-workspace OAuth consent | Listing and some workspace operations |
| Server-side read-only mode | Yes | n/a (hosted) | Not documented |
Choose official for zero install, web and mobile, Inbox, Planner or keyword search.
Read-oriented profile
Ten read tools (placement; board_use sets the local default board):
TRELLO_TOOLS=workspace_find,board_find,board_use,list_find,card_find,card_get,comment_find,checklist_get,checklist_items,server_healthSynthetic reference
Synthetic fixtures versus raw Trello JSON for the same objects, regenerated by go test ./internal/bench -update.
| Scenario | Raw Trello JSON | this server | reduction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 boards | ~2166 | ~433 | 80.0% |
| 30 cards in a list | ~9266 | ~2968 | 68.0% |
| 20 comments | ~6739 | ~4311 | 36.0% |
| 50 board actions | ~11910 | ~4248 | 64.3% |
| 22 card actions | ~4888 | ~1368 | 72.0% |
| Card with 20 comments | ~7404 | ~4465 | 39.7% |
Synthetic raw pretty JSON is a reproducible reference, not measured output from another MCP server. Tokens use chars/4.
| Startup cost | Default (48 tools) | Read-oriented discovery (10 tools) |
|---|---|---|
| tools/list | 20694 chars (~5174 tokens) | 4400 chars (~1100 tokens) |
| Initialize instructions | 140 chars (~35 tokens) | 141 chars (~35 tokens) |
| Initialize result (including instructions) | 304 chars (~76 tokens) | 305 chars (~76 tokens) |
| Independent response | Characters | Tokens (chars/4) |
|---|---|---|
| card_find summary (30 cards) | 11873 | ~2968 |
| card_find full (30 cards) | 15023 | ~3756 |
| board_activity all (50 actions) | 16994 | ~4248 |
| board_activity commentCard | 5835 | ~1459 |
| board_activity updateCard | 5476 | ~1369 |
Docs
Setup · Configuration and security · Tools
License
GPL-3.0-or-later, copyright Mert Dede (MIT up to v0.5.0). Independent Go implementation of the delorenj/mcp-server-trello 1.8.1 (MIT) tool surface, not a runtime dependency. Trello is a trademark of Atlassian. trello-mcp is an independent project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Atlassian.
Frequently asked questions
What is trello-mcp?
Local Trello MCP with compact responses, workspace allowlists and read-only opt-in.
How do I install trello-mcp?
Follow the installation steps in its documentation, shown on this page and in its repository.
Does trello-mcp need an API key?
Its registry entry lists no required key or secret. Some features may still need an account with the service it connects to.
Is trello-mcp open source?
Yes. Its code is on GitHub under the GPL-3.0 license.
Who maintains trello-mcp?
It is published by avhn. AI.tn lists it but does not maintain or endorse it.
From the official MCP Registry. Listing is not an endorsement: review a server's code and permissions before giving it access to your data.