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.

[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.