create_task

Create a new Asana task from a PR.

Type

CreateTaskAction object

Description

The create_task action creates a new Asana task with the specified properties. This is only allowed when has_asana_tasks: false (PR description contains no Asana task URLs).

Use this for automated task creation, typically for bot PRs (Dependabot, Renovate) or other PRs that don't have associated Asana tasks.

Critical Requirement

create_task requires has_asana_tasks: false in the condition. You cannot create tasks for PRs that already have Asana links.

Syntax

yaml

then:
  create_task:
    project: '1234567890'      # Required: Project GID
    workspace: '0987654321'    # Required: Workspace GID
    section: '1111111111'      # Optional: Section GID
    title: '{{pr.title}}'      # Required: Task title (template)
    notes: 'Description here'  # Optional: Plain text notes
    html_notes: '<b>HTML</b>'  # Optional: HTML notes (mutually exclusive with notes)
    assignee: '2222222222'     # Optional: User GID or "me"
    initial_fields:            # Optional: Custom field values
      '3333333333': 'Value'

Required Fields

Field	Type	Description
`project`	string	Project GID (numeric, quoted)
`workspace`	string	Workspace GID (numeric, quoted)
`title`	string	Task title (supports templates)

Optional Fields

Field	Type	Description
`section`	string	Section GID for task placement (defaults to project's default section if omitted)
`notes`	string	Plain text description (template)
`html_notes`	string	HTML formatted description (template)
`assignee`	string	User GID, "me", or template
`initial_fields`	object	Map of field GID → value (template)

Examples

Basic Task Creation

Create task for Dependabot PR:

yaml

rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: opened
      has_asana_tasks: false
      author: 'dependabot[bot]'
    then:
      create_task:
        project: '1234567890'
        workspace: '0987654321'
        title: '{{clean_title pr.title}}'

With Section

Place task in specific section:

yaml

rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: opened
      has_asana_tasks: false
      author: 'renovate[bot]'
    then:
      create_task:
        project: '1234567890'
        workspace: '0987654321'
        section: '1111111111'  # "Dependencies" section
        title: '{{clean_title pr.title}}'

With HTML Description

Create rich task with PR link:

yaml

rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: opened
      has_asana_tasks: false
      author: 'dependabot[bot]'
    then:
      create_task:
        project: '1234567890'
        workspace: '0987654321'
        title: '{{clean_title pr.title}}'
        html_notes: |
          <strong>Dependency Update</strong>
          <br><br>
          PR: <a href="{{pr.url}}">{{pr.title}}</a>
          <br>
          Author: {{pr.author}}

With User Mapping

Assign to mapped user:

yaml

# In workflow inputs:
user_mappings: |
  octocat: 1234567890
  dependabot[bot]: 0987654321

rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: opened
      has_asana_tasks: false
    then:
      create_task:
        project: '1234567890'
        workspace: '0987654321'
        title: '{{pr.title}}'
        assignee: '{{map_github_to_asana pr.author}}'

With Initial Custom Fields

Set field values on creation:

yaml

rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: opened
      has_asana_tasks: false
      author: 'dependabot[bot]'
    then:
      create_task:
        project: '1234567890'
        workspace: '0987654321'
        title: '{{pr.title}}'
        initial_fields:
          '1111111111': '2222222222'  # Status → "To Do"
          '3333333333': 'Dependencies'  # Category

Complete Example

Full featured task creation:

yaml

rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: opened
      has_asana_tasks: false
      author: ['dependabot[bot]', 'renovate[bot]']
    then:
      create_task:
        project: '1234567890'
        workspace: '0987654321'
        section: '1111111111'
        title: '{{clean_title pr.title}}'
        html_notes: |
          <strong>Automated Dependency Update</strong>
          <br><br>
          <a href="{{pr.url}}">View PR #{{pr.number}}</a>
          <br><br>
          {{sanitize_markdown pr.body}}
        assignee: '{{map_github_to_asana pr.author}}'
        initial_fields:
          '2222222222': '3333333333'  # Status → "Review Needed"
          '4444444444': 'Bot PR'       # Type

Important Notes

Automatic Follower Removal

TIP

The integration user ('me') is automatically removed as a follower after task creation. You don't need to configure this.

PR Body Modification and Event Loops

Important

When a task is created, the action appends the Asana task link to the PR body. This triggers a pull_request.edited event in GitHub.

This can create infinite loops if you're not careful:

yaml

# ❌ DANGEROUS - Creates infinite loop!
rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: edited  # This fires after task creation!
      has_asana_tasks: false
    then:
      create_task:
        # Creates task → appends link → triggers edited → creates task → ...

Safe patterns:

yaml

# ✅ Safe - Only creates on 'opened'
rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: opened
      has_asana_tasks: false
    then:
      create_task:
        # ...

# ✅ Safe - 'edited' only updates existing tasks
rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: edited
      has_asana_tasks: true
    then:
      update_fields:
        # ...

Key insight: Use has_asana_tasks: false only with actions like opened, labeled, or ready_for_review — never with edited.

Notes vs HTML Notes

You can only use one of:

notes - Plain text description
html_notes - HTML formatted description

Using both will cause a validation error.

GID Format

All GIDs must be:

✅ Numeric strings: '1234567890'
❌ Not numbers: 1234567890 (will fail validation)
❌ Not non-numeric: 'abc123' (will fail validation)

Template Evaluation

All string fields support Handlebars templates:

title: '\{\{clean_title pr.title\}\}'
notes/html_notes: '\{\{sanitize_markdown pr.body\}\}'
assignee: '\{\{map_github_to_asana pr.author\}\}'
initial_fields values: '\{\{extract_from_body "Version: ([\\d.]+)"\}\}'

Section Placement

The section field controls where tasks appear in your Asana project.

When section is specified:

Task is placed in the specified section
Section must exist in the project
Section GID must be valid (numeric string)

When section is omitted:

Task is placed in the project's default section
For list projects: typically the first section or "Untitled section"
For board projects: typically the first column

Finding Section GIDs

Use the Asana API or browser DevTools to find section GIDs:

bash

curl "https://app.asana.com/api/1.0/projects/{project}/sections" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Each section has a gid field in the response.

Example with section:

yaml

create_task:
  project: '1234567890'
  workspace: '0987654321'
  section: '1111111111'  # "Dependencies" section
  title: '{{pr.title}}'

Example without section (uses project default):

yaml

create_task:
  project: '1234567890'
  workspace: '0987654321'
  # No section specified - goes to project's default
  title: '{{pr.title}}'

Common Patterns

Bot Task Automation

Standard pattern for dependency bots:

yaml

rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: opened
      has_asana_tasks: false
      author: ['dependabot[bot]', 'renovate[bot]']
    then:
      create_task:
        project: '1234567890'
        workspace: '0987654321'
        section: '1111111111'
        title: '{{clean_title pr.title}}'
        html_notes: '<a href="{{pr.url}}">{{pr.title}}</a>'

Extract Version Numbers

Use helpers to extract metadata:

yaml

rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: opened
      has_asana_tasks: false
      author: 'dependabot[bot]'
    then:
      create_task:
        project: '1234567890'
        workspace: '0987654321'
        title: '{{pr.title}}'
        initial_fields:
          '1111111111': '{{extract_from_title "to ([\\d.]+)"}}'  # Version

Validation Rules

Requires: has_asana_tasks: false in condition
Required fields: project, workspace, title
GID format: Must be numeric strings (e.g., '1234567890')
Mutual exclusivity: Cannot use both notes and html_notes
Empty fields: title cannot be empty string
initial_fields: Field GIDs must be numeric

Common Errors

Using without has_asana_tasks: false

yaml

# ❌ Wrong - requires has_asana_tasks: false
when:
  event: pull_request
  action: opened
  # has_asana_tasks: true (default)
then:
  create_task:
    # Error: create_task requires has_asana_tasks: false

# ✅ Correct
when:
  event: pull_request
  action: opened
  has_asana_tasks: false
then:
  create_task:
    # ...

Missing required fields

yaml

# ❌ Wrong - missing workspace and title
then:
  create_task:
    project: '1234567890'

# ✅ Correct - all required fields
then:
  create_task:
    project: '1234567890'
    workspace: '0987654321'
    title: '{{pr.title}}'

Non-numeric GIDs

yaml

# ❌ Wrong - GIDs must be quoted strings
then:
  create_task:
    project: 1234567890
    workspace: 0987654321

# ✅ Correct - quote the GIDs
then:
  create_task:
    project: '1234567890'
    workspace: '0987654321'

Both notes and html_notes

yaml

# ❌ Wrong - mutually exclusive
then:
  create_task:
    project: '1234567890'
    workspace: '0987654321'
    title: '{{pr.title}}'
    notes: 'Plain text'
    html_notes: '<b>HTML</b>'

# ✅ Correct - use only one
then:
  create_task:
    project: '1234567890'
    workspace: '0987654321'
    title: '{{pr.title}}'
    html_notes: '<b>HTML</b>'

Invalid field GIDs

yaml

# ❌ Wrong - field GID must be numeric
then:
  create_task:
    project: '1234567890'
    workspace: '0987654321'
    title: '{{pr.title}}'
    initial_fields:
      'status': 'To Do'  # Not a valid GID

# ✅ Correct - use numeric GID
then:
  create_task:
    project: '1234567890'
    workspace: '0987654321'
    title: '{{pr.title}}'
    initial_fields:
      '1111111111': 'To Do'

Finding GIDs

Project and Workspace GIDs

From Asana URL:

https://app.asana.com/0/{workspace}/{project}
                         ^^^^^^^^^^^  ^^^^^^^

Section GID

Use Asana API or browser DevTools:

bash

curl https://app.asana.com/api/1.0/projects/{project}/sections \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Field GIDs

Get project custom fields:

bash

curl "https://app.asana.com/api/1.0/projects/{project}?opt_fields=custom_field_settings.custom_field.gid" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

For enum fields, you need the option GID, not the field GID.

create_task ​

Type ​

Description ​

Syntax ​

Required Fields ​

Optional Fields ​

Examples ​

Basic Task Creation ​

With Section ​

With HTML Description ​

With User Mapping ​

With Initial Custom Fields ​

Complete Example ​

Important Notes ​

Automatic Follower Removal ​

PR Body Modification and Event Loops ​

Notes vs HTML Notes ​

GID Format ​

Template Evaluation ​

Section Placement ​

Common Patterns ​

Bot Task Automation ​

Extract Version Numbers ​

Validation Rules ​

Common Errors ​

Using without has_asana_tasks: false ​

Missing required fields ​

Non-numeric GIDs ​

Both notes and html_notes ​

Invalid field GIDs ​

Finding GIDs ​

Project and Workspace GIDs ​

Section GID ​

Field GIDs ​

See Also ​

create_task

Type

Description

Syntax

Required Fields

Optional Fields

Examples

Basic Task Creation

With Section

With HTML Description

With User Mapping

With Initial Custom Fields

Complete Example

Important Notes

Automatic Follower Removal

PR Body Modification and Event Loops

Notes vs HTML Notes

GID Format

Template Evaluation

Section Placement

Common Patterns

Bot Task Automation

Extract Version Numbers

Validation Rules

Common Errors

Using without has_asana_tasks: false

Missing required fields

Non-numeric GIDs

Both notes and html_notes

Invalid field GIDs

Finding GIDs

Project and Workspace GIDs

Section GID

Field GIDs

See Also