Mark Complete on Merge

Update status and mark tasks complete when PRs merge.

Use Case

Automatically complete work in Asana when code ships. When a PR merges:

1. Update Status to "Shipped"
2. Mark the task complete

This is a progressive example building on Basic Status Update by adding a second rule for PR merges.

Complete Workflow

name: Asana Sync
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, closed]  # Listen for both open and close events

jobs:
  sync:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: planningcenter/asana-github-sync@main
        with:
          asana_token: ${{ secrets.ASANA_TOKEN }}
          github_token: ${{ github.token }}
          rules: |
            rules:
              # Rule 1: When PR opens → In Review
              - when:
                  event: pull_request
                  action: opened
                then:
                  update_fields:
                    '1234567890': '0987654321'  # Status → "In Review"

              # Rule 2: When PR merges → Shipped + Complete
              - when:
                  event: pull_request
                  action: closed
                  merged: true  # Only when actually merged (not just closed)
                then:
                  update_fields:
                    '1234567890': '1111111111'  # Status → "Shipped"
                  mark_complete: true

How It Works

When PR Opens

1. First rule matches (action: opened)
2. Status updates to "In Review"

When PR Merges

1. Second rule matches (action: closed + merged: true)
2. Status updates to "Shipped"
3. Task is marked complete

When PR Closes (Without Merge)

No rules match - tasks remain in their current state.

The merged Condition

The merged condition is critical for distinguishing between merged and abandoned PRs:

# ✅ Correct - only mark complete when merged
when:
  action: closed
  merged: true

# ❌ Wrong - marks complete even for abandoned PRs
when:
  action: closed
  # No merged check!

Expected Behavior

When PR Opens:

• Asana Task Status: "To Do" → "In Review"

When PR Merges:

• Asana Task Status: "In Review" → "Shipped"
• Asana Task: Marked complete ✅

When PR Closes Without Merge:

• Asana Task: No change (still "In Review")

Variations

With PR Comment

Notify the team when work completes:

- when:
    event: pull_request
    action: closed
    merged: true
  then:
    update_fields:
      '1234567890': '1111111111'
    mark_complete: true
    post_pr_comment: |
      ✅ PR merged! Asana task marked complete and shipped.

Handle Abandoned PRs

Add a third rule for closed-without-merge:

rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: opened
    then:
      update_fields:
        '1234567890': '0987654321'  # "In Review"

  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: closed
      merged: true
    then:
      update_fields:
        '1234567890': '1111111111'  # "Shipped"
      mark_complete: true

  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: closed
      merged: false  # Explicitly check for not merged
    then:
      update_fields:
        '1234567890': '2222222222'  # "Cancelled"

Match Draft PRs

Complete draft PRs when merged:

- when:
    event: pull_request
    action: closed
    merged: true
    draft: true  # Match draft PRs
  then:
    mark_complete: true

TIP

By default (omitting draft), rules match both draft and non-draft PRs. To skip draft PRs, explicitly add draft: false to your conditions.

Common Issues

Tasks Completing for Closed (Not Merged) PRs

Problem: Missing merged: true condition

Solution:

# ❌ Wrong
when:
  event: pull_request
  action: closed

# ✅ Correct
when:
  event: pull_request
  action: closed
  merged: true

Workflow Not Triggering on Close

Problem: Workflow types don't include closed

Solution:

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, closed]  # ← Must include 'closed'

Field Update Works But Task Not Completing

Problem: Task doesn't have Asana URL in PR description

Solution: Both actions require has_asana_tasks: true (the default). Verify PR description contains Asana task link.

Multiple Tasks

If a PR links to multiple Asana tasks, all of them will be updated and marked complete:

PR Description:
Fixes https://app.asana.com/0/111/222
Fixes https://app.asana.com/0/111/333

Both tasks 222 and 333 will be completed when the PR merges.

Next Steps

• Bot Task Creation - Auto-create tasks for bot PRs
• Build Label Automation - React to build labels
• merged Condition - Complete reference
• mark_complete Action - Complete reference