How to set up the Trello integration

Connect Trello so your team can link cards to the journey-map steps they affect.

An Admin connects Trello once at the account level. After that, anyone in your workspace can search Trello and link cards to planning cards on any journey map.

In this guide

1. Set up the Trello integration

2. Verify the setup

3. Use Trello in planning cards

4. Troubleshooting

Set up the Trello integration

Prerequisites

• Admin role at the account level. Only Admins can configure integrations, and the connection applies to the whole account.

• A Trello account you can sign in to.

Trello uses a single authentication method. Rather than asking for an API key, Smaply opens Trello's own authorization page for its hosted Smaply connector app. You approve read-only access, Trello hands back a token, and you paste that one token into Smaply.

Here's a quick look at the full setup before you start.

1

Open the Trello integration in Smaply

Go to Account Settings > Integrations and click Set up next to Trello. The Configure Trello page opens with a single Token field and a help block linking to Trello's authorization page.

Configure Trello, empty form

2

Authorize Smaply and copy your token

In the help block, click the link in Step 1 to open Trello's authorization page in a new tab. Sign in to Trello if prompted.

The page asks whether to give the Smaply connector access to your account. The connector requests read-only access: it can read your boards, Workspaces, and profile name, and it cannot post comments, see your email, or change anything in Trello. Approve the request, and Trello shows a token.

Trello authorization, Smaply connector

Copy the token Trello displays.

3

Paste the token and save

Back on the Configure Trello page, paste the token into the Token field and click Save Configuration.

4

Confirm the connection

Smaply tests the connection and, once it succeeds, the page shows your saved token with a green confirmation. Trello is now available to everyone in your account.

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Verify the setup

Reopen the Configure Trello page from Account Settings > Integrations. A connected integration shows a masked Token with a green Connection setup message reading "Successfully connected to Trello as ...", plus Edit Configuration and Delete Configuration actions.

Connection established

If you don't see the green confirmation, check the Troubleshooting section below.

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Use Trello in planning cards

Once Trello is connected, anyone in your workspace can add a planning card to a journey map, search Trello, and link the card it relates to. For the full flow, see How to use planning cards.

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Troubleshooting

The Configure Trello page shows the integration's current state. Pick the symptom below that matches what you're seeing.

Connection Error or the connection won't save - Connection issue

The token is wrong, incomplete, or was never authorized. Reopen Configure Trello, click Edit Configuration, and paste the token again with no extra spaces. If you no longer have it, run the authorization step again to generate a fresh token, then paste the new one and save.

No items found when adding a planning card - Search issue

The connection works but Trello returns nothing for your search. Check that the search text matches a card you can open in Trello, and that the account you authorized can see the board it lives on. The connection runs with that account's Trello access, so cards on boards it can't reach won't appear.

A connection that worked has stopped - Token expired or revoked

The connector token can be revoked from your Trello account's connected-apps settings, and a working connection breaks once it's removed. Revoking the Smaply connector in Trello, or losing access to the boards it could read, fails the same way.

Run the authorization step again to generate a new token, then reopen Configure Trello, click Edit Configuration, and paste in the new token.

Cards are missing or you can't connect at all - Permission issue

Configuring the integration needs an Admin role at the account level. If Set up or Edit Configuration isn't available, ask an account Admin to make the change.

For which Trello cards appear, the connection uses the access of the account you authorized. If a teammate can't find a card you can see, that account may not have access to the board it's on in Trello.

For questions about how the connection behaves across your account, such as disconnecting Trello or what happens when you remove it, see How to manage integrations.

Still not working? Contact support at [e-mail]

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Related topics

How to manage integrations

Change, disconnect, or reconfigure an existing integration

How to use planning cards

Search and link cards from connected tools onto a journey map

Set up your first integration

Choose an integration type and connect your first tool