Integrate Trello With Google Sheets - Trello API Tutorial

How to pull Trello data into Google Sheets using the Trello API

Trello is a popular visual project and task management platform, used by companies and individuals alike. Projects and tasks are organized into boards and cards, allowing users to easily track and annotate both professional and personal assignments.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to connect the Trello REST API to Google Sheets in 5 steps:

Install the Apipheny Add-on
Create a Trello Application
Get Access Credentials
Obtain a Trello Endpoint URL
Enter the Trello API Request into Apipheny
Run the Trello API Request

Step 1.) Install and open the Apipheny add-on for Google Sheets

Apipheny is an API connector for Google Sheets. You can use Apipheny to connect your Google Sheets to unlimited API data sources, make unlimited API requests, and more. There is a 30 day free trial included.

1.) Install Apipheny by opening the following link on desktop and then clicking the Install button in the Google Marketplace: https://apipheny.io/install

2.) After you’ve installed Apipheny, open a Google Sheet and then click on the Extensions dropdown in the menu at the top.

In the dropdown list you should see Apipheny. Click Apipheny then click Import API to open the Apipheny sidebar in your Google Sheet.

Tip: you can open a new Google Sheet by entering this URL in your browser: sheet.new

Step 2.) Create a Trello Application

1. First, log in to your Trello developer account, then make sure you’re in the Reference tab.

Then click on your profile picture to access the user menu, in the top-right corner.

Then click the Create App option:

2. On the next page, complete the Name field, check the Atlassian Developer Terms checkbox and then click the Create button:

3. A page dedicated to your newly created app will be open:

Step 3.) Get Access Credentials for Your Trello Application

To access the Trello API endpoints, you will need a Developer API key and an access token. To obtain them, follow the instructions below. If you already have an API Key and an access token, you can skip this section.

1. To get your Developer API key, log into Trello and go to https://trello.com/1/appKey/generate

Check the Trello Developer Terms agreement checkbox and then click the Show API Key button:

Your 32-character Developer API Key will be listed in the first box:

Copy and paste the key somewhere safe, as you will need it in the next steps.

2. To generate an access token, click on the Token link, below the Developer API Key:

Click the Allow button to display the token.

For security reasons, after you navigate off the page, you will not be able to see the token again.

Copy and paste your access token somewhere safe because you will need it later, to make your Trello API request in Google Sheets.

Step 4.) Obtain a Trello Endpoint URL

An endpoint is the part of your API URL that tells the Trello API what information you’re requesting. If you already have your endpoint or you want to use the same example endpoint as us, skip to the next section.

If you want to choose your own API endpoint, follow these steps:

Open the Trello REST API documentation page, by going to: https://developer.atlassian.com/cloud/trello/rest/

The menu on the left contains a list of available APIs, each linking to a list of available endpoints. Clicking on an API takes you to that API’s section, containing a list of associated endpoints.

For instance, the Actions API scrolls to the list of its 16 available endpoints: Get an Action, Update an Action, Delete an Action, all the way to List Action’s summary of Reactions:

If you click on an endpoint, the endpoint’s path parameters and request parameters will be listed and described, along with relevant examples of requests and expected responses.

All endpoints are presented starting with their HTTP method, followed by their individual URL.

When making requests, the endpoint should be appended to the Trello API root URL, which is:

http://api.trello.com

Step 5.) Enter the Trello API Request into Apipheny

Go back to your Google Sheet and make sure that the Apipheny add-on is open on the Import tab open.

Method: At the top of the Apipheny add-on, select the HTTP method (GET or POST) required by the API endpoint you’ve chosen. For this example, we are using GET.

API URL: Copy the whole API URL and paste it into the API URL Path field in the Apipheny add-on. Make sure that the URL also includes any GET parameters required for your query.

In this example we are using the Get a Board endpoint, to obtain a single board’s details:

http://api.trello.com/1/boards/board_id

board_id is the ID of the board

To obtain the value of your board ID you first have to use the following URL:

https://api.trello.com/1/members/me/boards?key=yourKey&token=yourToken

Replace yourKey with your Developer API Key and yourToken with your previously generated token.

So run the second URL first, to get your board ID, and then use the board ID in the first URL to get your board details.

After making a successful request to the Trello API, try querying a different endpoint, or try using one of the more advanced features in the Apipheny add-on, such as:

Save and schedule your API request
Make a POST request (if available)
Use the custom =APIPHENY() function to call the API request inside your spreadsheet
Create an API request by referencing the value of a cell in the API URL with three curly braces eg. {{{Sheet1!A1}}}