Variables

Variables are special pieces of text enclosed in curly brackets that are replaced by a current value when a command is executed.

Variables can be used in list names, card titles, card descriptions and comments, e.g.:

every monday at 9am, create a list called "Tasks for week #{weeknumber}"

when a card is moved to "Done", post a comment "Closed by {username} on {date}"

when the red label is added to a card by anyone, rename it to "{cardname} BLOCKED"

This article contains a complete list of variables currently understood by Butler.

Time related

  • {date} e.g. October 3, 2016
  • {monthdaynumber} e.g. 3
  • {monthdaynumberlong} e.g. 03
  • {yeardaynumber} e.g. 277
  • {yeardaynumberlong} e.g. 277
  • {weekdaynumber} e.g. 1
  • {weekdayname} e.g. Monday
  • {weekdayshort} e.g. Mon
  • {dateshort} e.g. Oct 3, 2016
  • {datelong} e.g. October 3, 2016
  • {datenumber} e.g. 10/3/2016
  • {isodate} e.g. 2016-10-03

You can prepend tomorrow and yesterday to the above, e.g. {tomorrowmonthdaynumber}, {yesterdayisodate}.

You can prepend nextworkingday_ and previousworkingday_ to the above, e.g. {previousworkingday_monthdaynumber}.

  • {weeknumber} e.g. 40 (ISO week numbering -- starts on Monday)
  • {weeknumberlong} e.g. 40 (ISO week numbering, zero-padded)
  • {usweeknumber}, e.g. 41 (U.S. week numbering -- starts on Sunday)
  • {usweeknumberlong}, e.g. 41 (U.S. week numbering, zero-padded)
  • {weekyear} e.g. 2016 (year the week started, ISO week numbering)
  • {weekyearshort} e.g. 16
  • {usweekyear} e.g. 2016 (year the week started, U.S. week numbering)
  • {usweekyearshort} e.g. 16
  • {monthweeknumber} e.g. 1 (week within the month)
  • {usmonthweeknumber} e.g. 1

You can prepend last and next to the above, e.g. {lastweeknumber}, {nextusmonthweeknumber}.

  • {monthnumber} e.g. 9
  • {monthnumberlong} e.g. 09
  • {monthname} e.g. September
  • {monthshort} e.g. Sep
  • {quarternumber} e.g. 4
  • {year} e.g. 2016
  • {yearshort} e.g. 16

You can prepend last and next to the above, e.g. {nextmonthnumber}, {nextquarternumber}, {lastyearshort}.

  • {time} e.g. 9:59pm
  • {time24} e.g. 21:59
  • {timelong} e.g. 21:59:59 EDT

Note: 'long' numbers are zero-padded to be of consistent length (good for sorting)

Note: see also the related article on Arithmetic in Date Variables

Board data

  • {boardid} the id of the board
  • {boardname} the name of the board
  • {boardlink} the link to the board

After a  create board command, the above with the new prefix (e.g. {newboardlink}) refer to the new board.

After a  copy board command, the above with the copy prefix (e.g. {copyboardlink}) refer to the new copy of the board.

  • {cardboardname} (only after finding card with id) the name of the board where the card was found

Card data

Variables available generally when a card is involved:

  • {cardname} the card's name
  • {carddescription} the card's description (not always available)
  • {cardlink} a link to the current card
  • {cardlistname} the name of the list where the card is (not always available)
  • {cardid} the internal id of the card, e.g. FY2OWrnc. This is always constant.
  • {cardidlong} the internal long id of the card, e.g. 571d07b591c8b68aeb4f6acc. This is always constant.
  • {cardnumber} the internal number of the card on the board, e.g. 48. This changes when a card is moved to another board (not always available)
  • {cardlabels} the names and colors of all the named labels in the card, comma separated
  • {cardlabelnames} the names of all the named labels in the card, comma separated
  • {cardlabelcolors} the colors of all the named labels in the card, comma separated
  • {cardlabelcount} the number of labels in the card
  • {cardmemberusernames} the usernames of all the members of the card, comma separated
  • {cardmemberfullnames} the full names of all the members of the card, comma separated
  • {cardmembercount} the number of members of the card,
  • {cardfirstmemberusername}, {cardfirstmemberfullname}, {cardfirstmemberinitials} the details of the first member in the card.
  • {cardduecomplete} "true" if the due date has been marked as complete, "false" otherwise.
  • {cardcheckliststate} a formatted text with the state of all the checklists in the card, useful to add a comment with a snapshot of the state of a card's checklists.
  • {cardchecklistcount} the number of checklists on the card.
  • {cardcompletechecklistcount} the number of complete checklists on the card.
  • {cardincompletechecklistcount} the number of incomplete checklists on the card.
  • {cardduedate} the due date of the card (not always available). Also,
    {cardduedateweekdayname}, etc...
  • {cardcreationdate} the date the card was created.
  • {cardagedays} the age of a card in days, with two decimals (e.g. 1d 6h => 1.25).
  • {cardagehours} the age of a card in hours, with two decimals (e.g. 1h 40m => 1.67).
  • {cardageminutes} the age of a card in minutes, with two decimals (e.g. 1h 40m 30s => 100.5).

Note: For the last three (age), adding round at the end (e.g. {cardagedaysround}, rounds the number to the nearest integer.

When the trigger involves a card, the variables above preceded by  trigger({triggercardname}, {triggercardlink}, etc) refer to the trigger card (not all variables may be available).

After creating a card, the variables above preceded by  new({newcardname}, {newcardlink}, etc) refer to the new card (not all variables may be available).

After copying a card, the variables above preceded by  copy({copycardname}, {copycardlink}, etc) refer to the new card (not all variables may be available).

After finding a card, the variables above preceded by  found({foundcardname}, {foundcardlink}, etc) refer to the found card (not all variables may be available).

After the multiplier  for each card, the variables above preceded by multiplier ({multipliercardname}, {multipliercardlink}, etc) refer to the current card (not all variables may be available).

When the trigger contains a condition, e.g.  when a card with a due date... , the variables above preceded by condition({conditioncardduedate}, etc) refer to the card involved in the condition (typically the trigger card).

Variables available only in commands with triggers that involve a source card, such as  when a card is copied and when a checklist item is converted to a card:

  • {sourcecardname} the title of the source card
  • {sourcecardlink} a link to the source card

Card time in list

  • {carddaysinlist} the number of days a card has spent in the current list, with two decimals (e.g. 1d 6h => 1.25). Useful to track time spent on tasks.
  • {cardhoursinlist} the number of hours a card has spent in the current list, with two decimals (e.g. 1h 40m => 1.67). Useful to track time spent on tasks.
  • {cardminutesinlist} the number of minutes a card has spent in the current list, with two decimals (e.g. 1h 40m 30s => 100.5). Useful to track time spent on tasks.
  • {carddaysinpreviouslist} the number of days a card spent in the previous list.
  • {cardhoursinpreviouslist} the number of hours a card spent in the previous list.
  • {cardminutesinpreviouslist} the number of minutes a card spent in the previous list.

Note: adding round to any of the time variables above, e.g. {cardagedaysround} gives the time rounded to the nearest integer.

If the trigger involves the movement of a card to a new list:

  • {triggercardpreviouslistname} the name of the list from which the trigger card comes from

Member data

Variables available only in commands with  when triggers (i.e. not on due date or every):

  • {username} the username of the user that triggered the command
  • {fullname} the full name of the user that triggered the command
  • {initials} the initials of the user that triggered the command

Variables available only in commands with  when triggers that refer to a card that refer to a card and on due date commands:

  • {creatorusername} the username of the user that created the card
  • {creatorfullname} the full name of the user that created the card
  • {creatorinitials} the initials of the user that created the card

Variables available only in commands with triggers where a user is matched, e.g.  when someone is added to a card trigger, when someone is mentioned, etc. Also, in multipliers (for every member in the card). There's also variables for particular types of match (add, mention):

  • {matchedusername} the username of the member that matched in the command (added, mentioned, etc)
  • {matchedfullname} the full name of the user that was matched in the command (added, mentioned, etc)
  • {matchedinitials} the initials of the user that was matched in the command (added, mentioned, etc)
  • {addedusername} the username of the member that was added to the card
  • {addedfullname} the full name of the user that was added to the card
  • {addedinitials} the initials of the user that was added to the card
  • {removedusername} the username of the member that was removed from the card
  • {removedfullname} the full name of the user that was removed from the card
  • {removedinitials} the initials of the user that was removed from the card
  • {mentionedusername} the username of the member that was mentioned to the card
  • {mentionedfullname} the full name of the user that was mentioned to the card
  • {mentionedinitials} the initials of the user that was mentioned to the card

Other

Variables available for commands with certain triggers, such as  when a list is created:

  • {listname} the name of the list

Variables available for the  when a due date is added trigger:

  • Date variables for the due date: {cardduedate}, {cardduedateweeknumber}, {cardduedatemonthdaynumber} etc

Variables available for the  when a comment is posted trigger:

  • {commenttext} the text of the comment
  • {commentlink} a link to the comment

Variables available only in commands with mentioning triggers such as  when a card is mentioned and when a member is mentioned (also after the find the mentioned card action):

  • {mentionbacklink} a link to the card where the mention occurred
  • {mentiontext} the text (comment, card description, checklist item) that includes the mention
  • {linklessmentiontext} the text (comment, card description, checklist item) that includes the mention, with all card mentions (links) removed
  • {usernamelessmentiontext} the text (comment, card description, checklist item) that includes the mention, with all user mentions (@username) removed
  • {mentionlessmentiontext} the text (comment, card description, checklist item) that includes the mention, with all user or card mentions removed

Variables available only in  when triggers involving a checklist, such as when a checklist is added:

  • {checklistname} the name of the checklist

Variables available only in commands with triggers such as  when a checklist item is checked/unchecked:

  • {checklistitemname} the name of the checklist item
  • {checklistitemstate} the word "complete" or "incomplete"

Variables available only in triggers such as  when a green label is added:

  • {labelname} the name of the label
  • {labelcolor} the color of the label

Variables available only in commands with triggers such as  when the name of a card starts with and trigger conditions such as when a card with a name containing:

  • {matchedtext} the text that matched the condition, typically used with a condition including a {*} wildcard.
  • {textbeforematch} the text before the matched text.
  • {textaftermatch} the text after the matched text.

Variables available only in commands with triggers such as  when the name of a card contains a date:

  • {matcheddate} the date interpreted by Butler.

Variables available only in commands with triggers such as  when an attachment is added to a card:

  • {attachmentlink} the link to the attachment.
  • {attachmentname} the name of the attachment.

Variables only available in commands with triggers like  when the name or the description of a card starts with:

  • {changedfield} the name of the field changed (name or description).
  • {textbefore} the text of the name or description before the update.
  • {textafter} the text of the name or description after the update.

Variables available after an HTTP request:

  • {httpresponse} the body of the response.

Variables available after a   count cards command:

  • {cardcountresult}

[LEGACY BOT] You can see the current value of most variables by entering the action:

print variables

 e.g.:

when a label is added to a card, print variables

After you add a label to a card, go to the rule log to see the values.

If you need a variable and it's not here, let us know and we'll do our best to make it available.