Creating and managing automations

Creating Automations

There are two ways to create automations: 

• You can create and manage all your automations from the Automation directory's automation builder. To open the automation builder, select the Automation button at the top of your Trello board, open a particular automation tab in the Automation directory—Rules, Card Button, Board Button, Scheduled automation, or Due Date automation—and then select Create the upper-right corner of your automation list.

• You can create Rules, Card Buttons, and Scheduled automations directly from your Trello board. Not all automations and automation actions are available on the board. If you want to create more complex workflows and view all the available actions, visit the automation builder. 

You can create automations from scratch or by using Automation tips—Card Button and Board Button suggestions, which are based on the most frequent actions you perform on your board. Automation creates the tips by analyzing your board's action history. For example, if you regularly create new cards, Automation will suggest that you add a Board Button to create a new card. 

After you create an automation, it will appear at the bottom of the automation list in its respective automation tab. 

Rules

Rules automatically execute actions on your board in response to changes (rules' triggers) that happen in Trello. For example, when a card in list "In progress" is moved into list "Done", archive the card.

To create a Rule, you need to configure a trigger and action for your automation. To view the created rule, go to the Automation directory and open the Rules tab. 

Create rules from the board

From your board, you can create rules for your lists using the list rule template When a card is added to the list. To create the rule:

1. On your Trello board, go to a particular list, and open the list menu

2. In the Automation section, select When a card is added to the list.

3. Customize a trigger for your automation and add action, if needed.

4. Select Add new rule to save your automation. You can view the created Rule immediately after creation by selecting the View my rule button in the confirmation window. 

Create rules in the Automation directory

1. Open the Automation directory by selecting the Automation button at the top of your board or from the board menu.

2. Go to the Rules tab and select Create a new rule > Add Trigger.

3. Customize the trigger and actions for your automation. You can also turn on the Advanced toggle to add filters to your trigger (see Add advanced filters to automation triggers for details).

4. Save the created rule.

Failed Rules

When a rule fails to run for whatsoever reason, you can see the same in the rule’s Automation Log. An email will also be sent to the creator of the rule.

Card Buttons

Card Buttons are accessible at the card back and allow you to create a series of card-level actions, such as adding a label to a card or joining a card. You can create Card Button automations to perform some basic tasks such as setting a card to be due in one week or develop more robust workflows that perform several actions in sequence, all from a single click. There are also some Card Button actions that allow you to automate board-level processes, like filtering lists. 

A Card Button is triggered when you click the button. You can view the Button from any card on a board; selecting a Card Button will perform its actions only on that particular card.

To create the automation, you need to configure an action. To view the created automation, go to the Automation directory and open the Card Button tab. 

Create a Card Button on the card back 

On the card back, you can create Card Buttons from several templates that represent the most common actions used for Card Buttons. To create a Card Button from a template:

1. Open a card, go to the Automation section, and select Add button. For each automation, you can select one of the following actions that Automation will perform when you click the Card Button:

   • Move card to (top/bottom of a list)

   • Copy card to (top/bottom of a list)

   • Add label (add a custom label)

   • Join card (assign yourself to the card)

   • Mark due date (complete/incomplete)

   • Set due date (set a custom due date)

   • Remove (labels, all labels, due dates, members, stickers, cover)

   • Sort list (by age, due date, label, time in list, title, votes in ascending/descending order)

2. Give your button a name and add an icon, if you want to. 

3. Save the created automation. 

Delete a Card Button on the card back 

On the back of the card, you can delete the Card Button using the quick edit (pencil) icon.  Important note! This will permanently delete the button from all boards where the button is enabled. Only do this if you want to totally delete the button from all boards. Alternatively, in the Automation directory, you can disable the card button from the board(s) without deleting the button.

To permanently delete a Card Button from the back of the card:

1. Open a card, go to the Automation section, and click the pencil icon next to the button you want to delete. Double-check to make sure you’re deleting the correct button, as there’s no undo!

2. Select the Delete option.

3. The button is now deleted from all boards where it was enabled.

Create a Card Button in the Automation directory 

1. Open the Automation directory by selecting the Automation button at the top of your board or from the board menu.

2. Go to the Card Buttons tab and select Create Button > Add Action.

3. Customize actions for your automation.

4. Give your Button a name and add an icon, if you want to.

5. Save the created automation.

Delete a Card Button in the Automation directory 

You can delete card buttons and they’ll be permanently removed from all boards where they’re enabled. If you don’t want to delete the card button, use the Automation directory to disable it from boards.

To permanently delete a Card button from the Automation directory:

1. Open the Automation directory by selecting the Automation button at the top of your board or from the board menu.

2. Go to the Card Buttons tab.

3. Locate the button you want to delete and click the trash bin icon.

4. Read the prompt to confirm you really want to permanently delete the card button, and click the red Remove option.

If you’d like to remove the card button from the board(s) instead of deleting it permanently, uncheck the box next to “Enabled on this board” in the Automation directory.

Board Buttons

Board Buttons are accessible at the top of your Trello board and allow you to perform a series of board-level actions such as sorting lists, moving cards around, or creating reports. 

A Board Button is triggered when you click the button. It works likewise the Card Button automation but has a different set of actions. 

To create the automation, you need to specify an action. To view the created automation, go to the Automation directory and open the Board Button tab. 

Create a Board Button in the Automation directory

1. Select the Automation button at the top of your Trello board or from the board menu.

2. Go to the Board Button tab and select Create Button > Add Action.

3. Customize actions for your automation.

4. Give your button a name and add an icon, if you want to.

5. Save the created automation.

Scheduled automations

Scheduled automations perform actions at a given trigger such as every day at a specific time or every week on a particular day. Scheduled automations have the same set of actions as Board Buttons but run automatically on your behalf.

To create the Scheduled automation, you need to specify the trigger and action. To view the created automation, go to the Automation directory and open the Scheduled tab. 

Create a Scheduled automation from the board 

You can add a Scheduled automation to a list directly from your board by using the available sort list templates. 

To create the Scheduled automation:

1. On your Trello board, go to a particular list and open the list menu.

2. In the Automation section, select one of the following templates:

   • Every day, sort list by

   • Every Monday, sort list by

3. Customize the time and action for your automation.

4. Select Add new rule to save your automation. You can view the created Rule immediately after creation by selecting the View my rule button in the confirmation window. 

Create a Scheduled automation in the Automation directory 

1. Select the Automation button at the top of your Trello board or from the board menu

2. Go to the Scheduled tab and select Create Automation > Add Trigger 

3. Configure a trigger/schedule for your automation 

4. Save the created automation

Multi-day select for scheduled commands

Create scheduled automations to run on your schedule, it includes multiple selected day(s) per week. You can now select whether to run your scheduled automation every day, every weekday, or on selected day(s) like every Monday/Wednesday/Friday!

Scheduled repeating cards

After setting the trigger, it can be combined with the “find card and copy it” action to help you create scheduled repeating cards. Repeated cards are copies of an original card that reside on the same board.

Due Date automations

Due Date automations trigger actions in response to the due dates you have on the cards on your board. A Due Date automation is triggered on a card when the card's due date matches the automation’s trigger. This automation has the same set of actions as a Card Button but runs automatically on your behalf. 

To create the automation, you need to select a due date trigger (Due Date triggers are not retroactive) and action. To view the created automation, go to the Automation directory and open the Due Date tab. 

Create a Due Date automation in the Automation directory 

1. Select the Automation button at the top of your Trello board or from the board menu.

2. Go to the Due Date tab and select Create Automation > Add Trigger.

3. Customize the trigger and action for your automation. You can also turn on the Advanced toggle and add filters to your trigger (see Add advanced filters to automation triggers for details). 

4. Save the created automation.

Managing Automations

Automation allows you to perform the following actions on your automations:

• Add automation tags: apply tags to automations to create Automation Libraries

• Edit automations: add and modify actions or change triggers in your automations

• Copy automations: duplicate your automations and reuse copied triggers or actions to create new automations

• Inspect automation activity: view the Automation Log of a particular automation

• Remove automations: delete your automations

Scheduled automations also have the Run Now option, which allows you to immediately execute a Scheduled automation on your board. 

Add advanced filters to automation triggers

You can add filters to automation triggers to create more elaborate workflows. Automation allows you to add filters to Rules and Due Date automations. You can apply filters to triggers when creating a new automation: simply turn on the Advanced toggle when configuring a trigger.

Check this video for more information.

You can also add filters to the card involved in triggering your automation. For instance, the card involved in the Rule when a card is added to the board would be the card added to the board. For a Due Date, the card involved is the card that has become due. 

To add filters to an existing automation, you need to remove the trigger first, and then recreate the trigger with filters. 

Share Automation buttons

Your Automation buttons can be visible only for you or shared with other people who belong to your board or Workspace. You can configure the visibility of your automations by enabling/disabling the following options in the respective button tabs.

• Available for all automations:

  • Enabled on this board: make the automation available or run automatically on the board only for you. By default, this option is enabled after you create an automation.

• Card Buttons and Board Buttons only: 

  • Enabled on all boards on this workspace: make the automation available on all boards within your workspace. Who can see the automation depends on the Shared with workspace toggle.
    If this toggle and Shared with Workspace are both turned on, buttons will be visible to workspace members only, not guests. Disabling this toggle only will allow guest sharing.

  • Shared with Workspace: allow other members to see the automation. If the toggle is turned off, then only you will see the button. Otherwise, anyone in the Workspace will see the button.

Sharing of Card Buttons and Board Buttons is available for all Trello plans. Rules, Scheduled automations, and Due Date automations can only be shared with Automation Libraries—Automation Library sharing is only available on paid Trello plans.