Build a Claude skill for your Email for Trello workflow
Set up a Claude Project skill tailored to your Email for Trello workflow, and generate accurate saved reply templates with the right variables automatically built in!
Most teams use AI to write emails. Fewer teams have figured out how to give AI persistent context about their workflow: their product, their tone, their templates, and their Trello setup. That's what a Claude skill does, and it's more accessible than it sounds.
In this article, we show you how to build a Claude skill for writing Email for Trello optimized saved replies, so that Claude can generate email templates without needing to be briefed from scratch every time
What is a Claude skill?
A Claude skill is a set of instructions and context you upload to a Claude Project. Think of a Project as a shared workspace where you can give Claude persistent knowledge: your product documentation, your tone of voice, and your custom variables. Every conversation in that Project benefits from that context automatically.
Without a skill, you'd need to paste your variable syntax, explain your use case, and describe your tone every time you start a new conversation. With one, Claude already knows all of that. You just ask for what you need.
What to include in your skill
The more relevant context you give Claude, the better your outputs will be. For an Email for Trello skill, here are the most useful things to include.
Your variable set
Paste in the full list of supported variables ({%contactFirstname%}, {%referenceNumber%}, {%senderFirstname%}, and any Custom Field variables like {%Order_Number%}).
Tell Claude what each one does and when to use it. This is the single most important piece of context for generating accurate templates.
Your saved reply keywords
If your team already has saved replies set up already, include the keyword list so Claude can suggest the right @reply #keyword for your new templates and avoid duplicating keywords you're already using.
Your tone of voice
A few sentences and a few examples go a long way. Is your team formal or conversational? Do you use first names? Any phrases to avoid? Including two or three real emails your team has sent (ones you're happy with) gives Claude a concrete reference point.
Your use case
Tell Claude whether you're running a support inbox, a sales pipeline, an HR board, or something else. This shapes every template it produces. If you handle multiple use cases across different boards, mention that too.
Setting it up in Claude Projects
Open Claude and create a new Project (you'll need a Pro or Team account).
Give it a descriptive name, something like "Email for Trello — Support Team."
Add your context documents. You can upload files (PDFs, Word docs, plain text) or paste content directly into the Project instructions field.
Write a short system instruction at the top of the Project. For example:
"You help our support team write saved reply templates for Email for Trello. Always use the variable syntax in the document above. Our tone is friendly and concise. Always include a suggested @reply keyword for each template."
Once that's in place, you can ask Claude to generate templates, refine existing ones, or adapt them for a new scenario. Claude will always work within your conventions.
What makes a good saved reply template
A skill will produce better results if you know what you're aiming for. The best saved reply templates share a few traits.
They solve for a specific scenario. A template called "Follow Up" is too broad. "Follow up after demo, no response" is something your team will actually reach for. When prompting Claude, describe the exact situation rather than asking for something generic.
They use variables in the right places. {%contactFirstname%} in the greeting and {%referenceNumber%} in the subject line are natural. Cramming variables into every sentence makes the email feel robotic. Use them where personalization matters and write the rest in your team's natural voice.
They include a clear call to action. Every template should make it obvious what the recipient should do next: reply, click a link, confirm a detail, or take no action (and say so).
They're short enough to send without editing. If your team has to rewrite half the template every time, it's not saving anyone time. Aim for templates that work as-is for 80% of cases, with a sentence or two that can be tweaked for the rest.
Include these principles in your skill's system instructions and Claude will internalize them. You can also ask Claude to critique templates against these criteria before you save them.
💡 TIP For more on writing effective AI prompts for email, see our guide to prompt engineering for email.
How to load your generated templates into Email for Trello
Once you have your templates, here's how to add them as Saved Replies in Email for Trello:
Open your Trello board and click the Email for Trello Power-Up button.
Click the Saved Replies button and choose Create or Manage. This will open up the screen to manage your saved replies.
Paste in the template name, keyword, and body from your generated output.
Check that any variables are formatted correctly (e.g., {%contactFirstname%} not {contact first name}).
Save. The template is now available to your whole team.
For Custom Field variables, make sure the variable name matches your Custom Field name exactly, with spaces replaced by underscores. For example, a field called "Order Number" becomes {%Order_Number%}.
💡 TIP Once your Saved Replies are set up, you can send them directly from a Trello comment using @reply #keyword, which means you can also trigger them via Butler automation. See our guide to automating emails with the Trello comment API for ideas on how to put that to use.
More time to focus on what matters
A skill takes about ten minutes to set up, and it pays for itself the first time you generate a batch of templates without having to explain your workflow from scratch. Start with your variables and tone of voice, add more context as you go, and let Claude handle the drafting so your team can focus on the conversations that matter.
