This article describes the triggers and actions available when you connect Asana to HappyFox Workflows, and lists the project management operations you can automate with this integration.
Applicable Plans: ✔️ Basic ✔️ Team ✔️ Pro ✔️ Enterprise
Triggers
Asana triggers allow HappyFox Workflows to start automatically when task activity occurs in Asana. Use these triggers to respond to project updates and route work back into HappyFox Help Desk without manual handoff.
| Trigger | When it fires |
|---|---|
| Task Updated | An existing task in Asana is updated — for example, when its status, assignee, due date, or a custom field changes. |
| New Task Created | A new task is created in a specified Asana project. |
| New Subtask Created | A new subtask is added to an existing Asana task. |
Trigger Details
Triggers are the starting point of a workflow — they define the Asana event that causes a workflow to run. All triggers support optional conditions; when conditions are set, the workflow only runs if the incoming event data matches.
Note on polling vs. real-time: Task Updated is event-driven — Asana sends a webhook the moment a task changes. New Task Created and New Subtask Created are scheduled — they poll Asana on a regular interval and fire for any matching tasks found since the last check. Expect a short delay between the task being created and the workflow starting for these two.
Task Updated
Fires when a field on an existing Asana task changes. Not every change fires this trigger — only changes to these tracked fields do: Name, Assignee, Followers, Due Date (due_at / due_on), Start Date (start_on / start_at), Completed, Notes (html_notes), and Custom Fields. Changes to other task fields (for example, likes or memberships) are ignored.
How to test: Update an existing Asana task's name, assignee, due date, or another tracked field, then return to the workflow builder to view the captured trigger data.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
task.gid |
The Asana GID of the changed task. |
task.name |
Task title. |
task.notes |
Task description. |
changed_field |
The name of the field that changed (for example, assignee, name, due_on, or the custom field name). |
changed_value |
The new value of the changed field. |
action |
The type of action that occurred (for example, changed). |
type / subtype |
The resource type and subtype from Asana. |
created_at |
When the change event was created. |
cf_<gid>_<name> |
Each custom field on the task, keyed by its GID and name. |
New Task Created
Fires when a new task is created in any of the Asana projects or portfolios configured in your integration. This is a scheduled trigger — it polls Asana periodically and fires once for each new task found since the last check. Duplicate tasks within the same polling window are automatically de-duplicated.
How to test: Create a new task in one of the connected Asana projects or portfolios, wait for the next polling cycle, then return to the workflow builder to view the captured trigger data.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
gid |
The Asana GID of the new task. |
name |
Task title. |
notes |
Task description. |
created_at |
When the task was created. |
assignee |
Assignee details (name, GID). |
due_on / due_at |
Due date fields. |
completed |
Whether the task is marked complete. |
cf_<gid>_<name> |
Each custom field on the task, keyed by its GID and name. |
New Subtask Created
Fires when a new subtask is created within any task that belongs to the Asana projects or portfolios configured in your integration. Like New Task Created, this is a scheduled trigger that polls Asana periodically. Only tasks with is_subtask = true are matched. Duplicates within the same polling window are de-duplicated.
How to test: Create a subtask on an existing task in one of the connected Asana projects or portfolios, wait for the next polling cycle, then return to the workflow builder to view the captured trigger data.
Data available: the same fields as New Task Created above (gid, name, notes, created_at, assignee, due date fields, completed, and cf_<gid>_<name> custom field keys).
Actions
Asana actions let you create, update, and retrieve tasks directly from a workflow step.
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Create Task | Creates a new task in a specified Asana project, with fields such as name, description, assignee, and due date. |
| Update Task | Updates the fields of an existing Asana task, such as its name, assignee, due date, or completion status. |
| Get Task Details | Retrieves the details of an Asana task for use in subsequent workflow steps. |
Use cases
Escalation to Asana on high-priority ticket: When a ticket is escalated or marked as high priority in HappyFox Help Desk, automatically create a task in the relevant Asana project — so the engineering or product team has a trackable action item without waiting for a manual handoff from support.
Bug report routing to engineering: When a ticket is tagged as a bug in HappyFox Help Desk, create an Asana task in the engineering project with the ticket subject and description pre-filled — giving developers the context they need to reproduce and fix the issue without switching to the helpdesk.
Close or update a ticket when an Asana task is completed: When the Task Updated trigger fires and the task is marked as complete in Asana, automatically update or close the linked HappyFox Help Desk ticket — so the support team knows the underlying issue has been resolved without checking Asana manually.
Create a follow-up ticket when a new Asana task is assigned: When a new task is created in a designated Asana project — such as an internal action item that requires a customer follow-up — automatically create a HappyFox Help Desk ticket so the support team has a record and can track the customer communication.
Notify support when a subtask is created for a known issue: When a new subtask is created under an Asana task linked to a known issue, automatically add a private note to the related HappyFox Help Desk ticket — keeping the support agent updated on progress without requiring them to monitor Asana directly.
Sync task details into a ticket for agent context: Use the Get Task Details action to retrieve the current status, assignee, and due date of an Asana task mid-workflow, then update the linked HappyFox Help Desk ticket with that information — giving agents a live view of project progress directly in the ticket.
Actions
Each action below lists the fields you configure, along with whether each field is required.
Validation note legend
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Required | The workflow cannot run this action if the field is blank. |
| Optional | You may leave this field empty; the action still runs. |
| Text | A plain-text value (single line or variable reference). |
| Date (Text) | A date entered as text; the action normalizes it to YYYY-MM-DD. A plain whole number is also accepted and is interpreted as that many days from today (e.g. 7 = one week from now). |
| Yes/No toggle | A boolean true/false value. |
| List (multiple entries) | One or more plain-text values (e.g. tag names, user identifiers). |
| List of objects | One or more rows, each with named sub-fields. |
| Object | A single structured item with named sub-fields. |
Create Task
Creates a new task in Asana within the specified workspace. You can set the assignee, followers, project, tags, section, custom fields, and file attachments at creation time. Users and tags are resolved by name or email — the action fails if any cannot be found. Section is only applied when a project is also provided.
| Field | Description | Validation |
|---|---|---|
| Workspace | The Asana workspace to create the task in. Select it from the workspace picker. Includes a sub-field, ID, populated automatically with the workspace's Asana GID. | Required · Object |
| Name | The task title. | Required · Text |
| Project | The project(s) to add the task to. Enter one or more project names separated by commas; each name is looked up by typeahead. The action fails if any project name is not found. | Optional · Text |
| Assignee | The person to assign the task to. Enter a user's name, email address, or Asana GID; matched case-insensitively against the workspace's user list. The action fails if no matching user is found. | Optional · Text |
| Followers | Users to add as task followers. Enter one or more user identifiers (name, email, or GID); each is looked up in the workspace user list. The action fails if any follower cannot be found. | Optional · List (multiple entries) |
| Tags | Tags to attach to the task. Enter one or more tag names exactly as they appear in your Asana account. The action fails if any tag name is not found. | Optional · List (multiple entries) |
| Section | The project section (column) to place the task in. Enter the section name exactly. Only applied when a Project is also specified — if no project is given, this field is silently ignored. | Optional · Text |
| Notes | The task description or body text. HTML is accepted. | Optional · Text |
| Due Date | The due date for the task. The action fails if the value cannot be parsed as a date. | Optional · Date (Text) |
| Start Date | The start date for the task. Same format rules as Due Date. | Optional · Date (Text) |
| Approval Status | The approval state for the task (only relevant for approval tasks). Allowed values: Pending, Changes Requested, Approved, Rejected (or their IDs: pending, changes_requested, approved, rejected). The action fails if the value is not one of these. |
Optional · Text |
| Completed | Mark the task as complete at creation time. | Optional · Yes/No toggle |
| Liked | Mark the task as liked by the current user. | Optional · Yes/No toggle |
| Parent | The GID of a parent task, making this task a subtask of it. | Optional · Text |
| Custom Fields | Custom field values to set on the task. Each row requires: ID (the Asana GID of the custom field), Type (text, date, dropdown for single-select enum, or multiple_option for multi-select enum or people field), and Value (the exact option name for dropdown; a comma-separated list of option names or user names/emails for multiple_option; a date string or number of days from today for date; any text for text). |
Optional · List of objects |
| Attachments | Files to attach to the task. Reference workflow file variables here — the action downloads and uploads each file to Asana. Attachment failures are logged but do not cause the whole action to fail. | Optional · List (multiple entries) |
Update Task
Updates an existing Asana task. Only the fields you fill in are changed — blank fields are left as-is. The task's workspace is determined automatically by looking up the task. Tags and followers provided here are added to any existing ones, not replaced.
| Field | Description | Validation |
|---|---|---|
| Task ID | The Asana GID of the task to update. | Required · Text |
| Name | New title for the task. | Optional · Text |
| Assignee | New assignee. Enter a user's name, email, or GID; matched against the workspace user list. The action fails if the user is not found. | Optional · Text |
| Followers | Users to add as followers. Enter one or more user identifiers; each is looked up in the workspace user list. The action fails if any cannot be found. Followers are added to, not replacing, the existing follower list. | Optional · List (multiple entries) |
| Tags | Tags to add to the task by name. Tags are added to, not replacing, the existing tag list; tag-add failures are logged but do not cause the action to fail. The action fails if a tag name is not found in the account. | Optional · List (multiple entries) |
| Notes | Updated task description. HTML is accepted. | Optional · Text |
| Due Date | Updated due date. The action fails if the value cannot be parsed. | Optional · Date (Text) |
| Start Date | Updated start date. Same format rules as Due Date. | Optional · Date (Text) |
| Approval Status | Updated approval state. Allowed values: Pending, Changes Requested, Approved, Rejected (or IDs: pending, changes_requested, approved, rejected). The action fails if the value is invalid. |
Optional · Text |
| Completed | Mark the task complete or incomplete. | Optional · Yes/No toggle |
| Liked | Update the liked state. | Optional · Yes/No toggle |
| Parent | New parent task GID, to move this task under a different parent. | Optional · Text |
| Custom Fields | Custom field values to update. Each row requires: ID (the Asana GID of the custom field), Type (text, date, dropdown, or multiple_option), and Value (same rules as Create Task custom fields above). |
Optional · List of objects |
| Attachments | Files to attach to the task. Attachment failures are logged but do not cause the action to fail. | Optional · List (multiple entries) |
Note: Tags and followers set through Update Task are always additive. To remove a tag or follower from a task, use HappyFox Help Desk's native Asana task view or the Asana app directly — this action cannot remove them.
Get Task Details
Fetches the full details of an existing Asana task and returns them for use in later workflow steps. The response includes standard task fields — name, assignee, projects, dates, status, followers, tags, and workspace — plus all custom fields. Each custom field is returned as a named key using the field's GID and name.
| Field | Description | Validation |
|---|---|---|
| Task ID | The Asana GID of the task to retrieve. | Required · Text |