The Scenario
An agency operations manager sets up a new client engagement every two weeks. The process is always the same: create a Trello board, add six standard lists, populate 30 templated cards. The template lives in Google Sheets. Every setup takes 45 minutes of manual board configuration that looks identical to the last one. The manager is the one who does it because nobody else knows the template — but the manager is also supposed to be running the engagement, not clicking through Trello setup.
The bad version:
- Create the board manually, name it, add the organization
- Add list one, add list two, continue through list six
- Start creating cards under the first list, copying names from the sheet one at a time
Identical work, repeated every two weeks, performed by someone who should have other things to do with that hour.
The Easy Way: One Prompt in SheetXAI
SheetXAI is an AI agent that lives inside your Google Sheet. It reads your board template from the sheet — list names, card names, everything — and creates the entire board structure from a single prompt. New client, one run, done.
The prompt to run:
For each project name in column A of this sheet, create a new Trello board by copying the template board ID in cell B1. Write the new board ID and URL into columns B and C of this sheet.
What You Get
- One new Trello board per project name in column A
- Each board cloned from the template board in cell B1 (inheriting its list structure and cards)
- Column B: new board ID
- Column C: new board URL — ready to share with the client immediately
What If the Data Is Not Quite Ready
You want to build from a sheet definition rather than clone a board
Read this sheet where column A is the list name and column B is a card name in that list. Create a new Trello board called the value in cell D1, add a list for each unique value in column A in the order they appear, then add all cards under their respective lists. Write the new board URL into cell E1.
You need to assign each new board to a specific Trello organization
For each project name in column A and organization ID in column B of this sheet, create a new Trello board by copying the template board in cell D1, assign it to the organization in column B, and write the new board ID and URL into columns C and D.
Some lists should have different cards based on the project type
Read this sheet: column A is a project name, column B is the project type ('Retainer' or 'Fixed Fee'). For Retainer projects, clone template board ID in cell D1. For Fixed Fee projects, clone template board ID in cell E1. Write the new board URLs into column C.
Full onboarding setup: board + first card with client brief
For each project name in column A, create a new Trello board by copying the template in cell B1. Then add a card at the top of the first list named 'Client Brief' with the description from the corresponding row in column C. Write the new board URL and the brief card ID into columns D and E.
One prompt creates the board, inherits the template, and seeds it with the client-specific brief — so the engagement starts organized from day one.
Try It
Get the 7-day free trial of SheetXAI and open the Google Sheet where you maintain your project template. Put your new project names in column A and the template board ID in cell B1, then run the prompt. Also see how to generate a board from a spreadsheet template and the Trello hub.