User-Assigned Tasks

Create tasks with automatic assignment based on PR author.

Use Case

Building on Bot Task Creation, automatically assign created tasks to the right team member using GitHub→Asana user mappings. This ensures:

1. Tasks are created for PRs without Asana links
2. Tasks are automatically assigned to the correct person
3. Bot PRs route to specific team members

Complete Workflow

name: Asana Sync
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened]

jobs:
  sync:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: planningcenter/asana-github-sync@main
        with:
          asana_token: ${{ secrets.ASANA_TOKEN }}
          github_token: ${{ github.token }}
          # Map GitHub usernames to Asana user GIDs
          user_mappings: |
            octocat: 1234567890
            alice: 0987654321
            bob: 1111111111
            dependabot[bot]: 2222222222
            renovate[bot]: 2222222222
          rules: |
            rules:
              - when:
                  event: pull_request
                  action: opened
                  has_asana_tasks: false
                then:
                  create_task:
                    project: '1234567890'
                    workspace: '0987654321'
                    title: '{{clean_title pr.title}}'
                    html_notes: '<a href="{{pr.url}}">{{pr.title}}</a>'
                    # Try PR assignee first, fallback to author
                    assignee: '{{or (map_github_to_asana pr.assignee) (map_github_to_asana pr.author)}}'

How It Works

For PRs with Assignee

1. PR opened by octocat, assigned to alice
2. Task created and assigned to Alice (Asana GID 0987654321)

For PRs without Assignee

1. PR opened by bob, no assignee
2. Task created and assigned to Bob (Asana GID 1111111111)

For Bot PRs

1. Dependabot opens PR
2. Task created and assigned to mapped team member (GID 2222222222)

For Unmapped Users

1. PR opened by charlie (not in mappings)
2. Task created without assignee (mapping returns empty string)

Key Components

user_mappings Input

Maps GitHub usernames to Asana user GIDs:

user_mappings: |
  github_username: asana_user_gid
  octocat: 1234567890

Format:

• GitHub username (exact, case-sensitive)
• Bot usernames include [bot]
• Asana user GID (numeric)

map_github_to_asana Helper

Looks up the mapping:

{{map_github_to_asana "octocat"}}  # Returns: "1234567890"
{{map_github_to_asana "unknown"}}  # Returns: "" (empty)

or Helper

Provides fallback logic:

{{or value1 value2 value3}}
# Returns first truthy value

Assignment Priority

assignee: '{{or (map_github_to_asana pr.assignee) (map_github_to_asana pr.author)}}'

1. Try PR assignee first
2. If no assignee (or not mapped), use PR author
3. If author not mapped, no assignment (empty string)

Finding Asana User GIDs

Method 1: User Tasks URL

When viewing a user's tasks:

https://app.asana.com/0/my_tasks/1234567890/list
                                ^^^^^^^^^^
                                User GID

Method 2: Asana API

curl "https://app.asana.com/api/1.0/workspaces/YOUR_WORKSPACE/users" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ASANA_TOKEN"

Response:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "gid": "1234567890",
      "name": "Alice Smith",
      "email": "alice@example.com"
    }
  ]
}

Variations

Assign to Self

Use "me" instead of GID:

assignee: 'me'

Default Assignee

Provide fallback GID:

assignee: '{{or (map_github_to_asana pr.author) "9999999999"}}'
# If author not mapped, assign to GID 9999999999

Only Assign if Mapped

Let tasks be unassigned if no mapping:

assignee: '{{map_github_to_asana pr.author}}'
# Empty string = no assignment

Different Mappings for Bots

Route different bots to different people:

user_mappings: |
  dependabot[bot]: 1234567890  # Backend team
  renovate[bot]: 0987654321    # Frontend team
  snyk-bot: 1111111111        # Security team

Expected Behavior

PR by octocat (mapped to 1234567890):

• Task Created ✅
• Task Assigned to: User 1234567890

PR by charlie (not mapped):

• Task Created ✅
• Task Assigned to: (none)

PR by octocat, assigned to alice:

• Task Created ✅
• Task Assigned to: alice (0987654321)

Common Issues

Task Created But Not Assigned

Problem: User not in user_mappings

Solution: Add mapping:

user_mappings: |
  username: their_asana_gid

Wrong Person Assigned

Problem: GID is incorrect

Solution: Verify user GID with Asana API (see above).

Bot Username Mismatch

Problem: Bot username in mapping doesn't match GitHub

Solution: Check exact format:

# GitHub shows: dependabot[bot]
user_mappings: |
  dependabot[bot]: 1234567890  # ✅ Exact match

Case Sensitivity

Problem: Mapping uses different case than GitHub

Solution: Match GitHub's exact username:

# GitHub username: octocat (lowercase)
user_mappings: |
  octocat: 1234567890  # ✅ Correct
  Octocat: 1234567890  # ❌ Won't match

Assignment in update_fields

You can also use mapping to update assignee fields:

- when:
    event: pull_request
    action: opened
    has_asana_tasks: true
  then:
    update_fields:
      '1234567890': '{{map_github_to_asana pr.author}}'
      # If field 1234567890 is an assignee field

Though typically you'd use this in create_task.

Complete Example with Bots and Humans

user_mappings: |
  alice: 1234567890
  bob: 0987654321
  dependabot[bot]: 1111111111
  renovate[bot]: 1111111111

rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: opened
      has_asana_tasks: false
    then:
      create_task:
        project: '1234567890'
        workspace: '0987654321'
        title: '{{clean_title pr.title}}'
        notes: 'PR: {{pr.url}}'
        assignee: '{{map_github_to_asana pr.author}}'
        # Alice PRs → Alice
        # Bob PRs → Bob
        # Dependabot PRs → User 1111111111
        # Unknown users → Unassigned

Next Steps

• Build Label Automation - React to labels
• Multi-Condition Filtering - Complex conditions
• map_github_to_asana - Complete reference
• or Helper - Fallback logic