Text Processing Helpers

Clean and format text for Asana tasks.

Overview

Text processing helpers transform PR content to make it suitable for Asana. This includes removing conventional commit prefixes and cleaning markdown that doesn't render well in Asana.

Helpers

clean_title

Remove conventional commit prefixes from PR titles.

Syntax:

{{clean_title text}}

Parameters:

• text - The title string to clean

Returns: Title with commit prefix removed

Removes these prefixes:

• feat:, fix:, chore:, docs:, style:, refactor:, perf:, test:
• Scoped variants: feat(api):, fix(ui):, etc.

Example:

create_task:
  title: '{{clean_title pr.title}}'

sanitize_markdown

Clean markdown for Asana's text rendering.

Syntax:

{{sanitize_markdown text}}

Parameters:

• text - The markdown text to sanitize

Returns: Cleaned text suitable for Asana

Removes/Cleans:

• Markdown images (![alt](url))
• Linked images ([![alt](url)](link))
• HTML comments ([//]: # (comment))
• <details> tags and content
• Normalizes line endings and whitespace

Example:

create_task:
  notes: '{{sanitize_markdown pr.body}}'

Examples

clean_title

Basic Prefixes

Input:  "feat: Add user authentication"
Output: "Add user authentication"

Input:  "fix: Resolve login bug"
Output: "Resolve login bug"

Input:  "chore: Update dependencies"
Output: "Update dependencies"

Scoped Prefixes

Input:  "feat(api): Add user endpoint"
Output: "Add user endpoint"

Input:  "fix(ui): Fix button alignment"
Output: "Fix button alignment"

No Prefix

Input:  "Update README"
Output: "Update README"

sanitize_markdown

Remove Images

Input:  "Check this ![screenshot](url.png)"
Output: "Check this"

Input:  "[![badge](badge.png)](link)"
Output: ""

Clean HTML

Input:  "Line 1<br>Line 2"
Output: "Line 1\nLine 2"

Input:  "<details>Hidden content</details>"
Output: ""

Normalize Whitespace

Input:  "Too    many     spaces"
Output: "Too many spaces"

Input:  "Line\r\nWindows\rMac\nUnix"
Output: "Line\nWindows\nMac\nUnix"

Common Use Cases

Clean Task Titles

Create readable task titles from PR titles:

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}}'

Result:

• PR Title: chore(deps): bump lodash from 4.17.19 to 4.17.21
• Task Title: bump lodash from 4.17.19 to 4.17.21

Combine Both Helpers

Clean title and description together:

rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: opened
      has_asana_tasks: false
    then:
      create_task:
        project: '1234567890'
        workspace: '0987654321'
        title: '{{clean_title pr.title}}'
        notes: |
          {{sanitize_markdown pr.body}}

          PR: {{pr.url}}

Use in PR Comments

rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: opened
    then:
      post_pr_comment: |
        Task created: {{clean_title pr.title}}

Preserve Original in HTML Notes

Keep full formatting in HTML:

create_task:
  title: '{{clean_title pr.title}}'
  html_notes: |
    <strong>{{pr.title}}</strong>
    <br><br>
    {{sanitize_markdown pr.body}}

Why Use These Helpers?

clean_title Benefits

Without clean_title:

Task: "feat(api): Add user authentication endpoint"

With clean_title:

Task: "Add user authentication endpoint"

Asana tasks look cleaner without git-specific prefixes.

sanitize_markdown Benefits

Markdown issues in Asana:

• Images don't render (show as broken links)
• <details> tags don't work (show raw HTML)
• Inconsistent line endings cause formatting issues
• Extra whitespace looks unprofessional

After sanitization:

• Clean text without broken image references
• Proper line breaks
• Consistent formatting
• Professional appearance

Combining with Other Helpers

With Extraction

title: '{{clean_title pr.title}}'
notes: |
  {{sanitize_markdown pr.body}}

  Version: {{extract_from_body "Version: ([\\d.]+)"}}

With OR

title: '{{or (clean_title pr.title) "Untitled PR"}}'

With User Mapping

create_task:
  title: '{{clean_title pr.title}}'
  notes: '{{sanitize_markdown pr.body}}'
  assignee: '{{map_github_to_asana pr.author}}'

Edge Cases

Empty Input

Both helpers handle empty input gracefully:

{{clean_title ""}}        # Returns: ""
{{sanitize_markdown ""}}  # Returns: ""

Already Clean

If text doesn't need cleaning, it's returned unchanged:

{{clean_title "No prefix here"}}  # Returns: "No prefix here"

Multiple Prefixes

Only the first prefix is removed:

Input:  "feat: fix: Something"
Output: "fix: Something"

HTML Notes Alternative

For rich formatting, use html_notes instead of notes:

create_task:
  title: '{{clean_title pr.title}}'
  html_notes: |
    <strong>PR Description</strong>
    <br><br>
    {{sanitize_markdown pr.body}}
    <br><br>
    <a href="{{pr.url}}">View PR #{{pr.number}}</a>

This gives you more control over formatting while still cleaning the markdown.

Performance

Both helpers are fast:

• clean_title: Simple regex replacement
• sanitize_markdown: Multiple regex passes, but optimized

No noticeable performance impact even with large PR descriptions.

See Also

• extract_from_body - Extract specific content
• create_task - Where to use these helpers
• Context Variables - PR title and body variables
• Template System - Handlebars overview