Will this flow pick up messages posted before the flow was turned on?

No. The Slack trigger in Power Automate is event-driven and only fires on new messages posted after the flow is active. It does not backfill historical messages. If you need to capture older messages, you would need to manually create Asana tasks for them.

Can one flow monitor multiple client Slack channels?

The Slack trigger in Power Automate watches one channel per flow. To monitor 10 client channels, you need 10 flows. Use the 'Save as' feature to clone the flow and just change the channel and Asana project for each copy — takes about 2 minutes per channel.

What happens if the Asana API is down when the flow runs?

Power Automate retries failed actions automatically up to 8 times with exponential backoff over roughly 24 hours. If Asana recovers within that window, the task will still be created. The error-handling Scope from Step 9 will also fire a Slack alert so your team knows something failed.

Can I set the Asana task assignee based on who posted the Slack message?

Yes, but it requires a lookup table. Build a SharePoint list that maps Slack user IDs to Asana user emails. Add a 'Get item' action that queries the list using the Slack 'User' token as the key, then pass the returned Asana email to the Assignee field. There is no automatic cross-platform identity resolution.

Does this flow create tasks for Slack bot messages and automated notifications?

By default, yes — unless you add the bot-filtering Condition described in the troubleshooting section. Without that filter, every Jira notification, GitHub alert, or PagerDuty message in a client channel will generate an Asana task. Add the Sub Type check before going live.

Intermediate~15 min setupCommunication & Project ManagementVerified April 2026

How to Create Asana Tasks from Slack with Power Automate

When a message is posted in a client Slack channel, Power Automate instantly creates an Asana task with the message text, sender name, channel, and a priority label derived from keywords in the message.

Steps and UI details are based on platform versions at time of writing — check each platform for the latest interface.

Power Automate

Also on:Make Zapier N8n Pipedream

Best for

Client-facing teams already in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem who need client Slack messages turned into trackable Asana tasks without manual copy-paste.

Not ideal for

Teams outside Microsoft 365 — Make or Zapier will get you to the same result faster with less licensing overhead.

Sync type

real-time

Use case type

routing

Real-World Example

💡

A 22-person digital agency shares dedicated Slack channels with each retainer client. Before this flow, account managers screenshotted client messages and manually created Asana tasks — a step that got skipped under deadline pressure. After setup, every message in a #client- prefixed channel becomes an Asana task in under 90 seconds, tagged with the client name and flagged urgent if the word 'broken' or 'down' appears.

What Will This Cost?

Drag the slider to your expected monthly volume.

Monthly workflow runs

/mo

505005K50K

Each platform counts differently — Zapier: 1 task per trigger. Make: 1 operation per module per record. n8n: 1 execution per run.

cheapest

n8n

Self-Hosted plan

Power Automatethis guide

Prices shown for annual billing. Based on published pricing as of April 2026.

Estimated ROI

1000

min saved/mo

$583

labor value/mo

Free

no platform cost

Based on ~2 min manual effort per operation at $35/hr fully loaded labor cost.

Implementation

Skip the setup

Import this workflow directly into Power Automate

Copy the pre-built Power Automate blueprint and paste it straight into Power Automate. All modules, filters, and field mappings are already configured — you just need to connect your accounts.

Before You Start

Make sure you have everything ready.

Power Automate account with a Microsoft 365 Business Basic or higher plan — the Slack and Asana connectors are standard (non-premium) connectors, so no Power Automate Premium license is required

Slack account with membership in all client channels you want to monitor, plus permission to authorize OAuth apps in your Slack workspace (workspace admin may need to approve the Power Automate app)

Asana account with Editor or higher access on the target project where tasks will be created

The Asana project must already exist and be associated with the correct client — Power Automate cannot create Asana projects, only tasks within existing ones

If monitoring private Slack channels, the authorizing Microsoft account's linked Slack user must be a member of those channels before setup begins

Field Mapping

Map these fields between your apps.

Field	API Name	Description
Required
Task Name	`name`	The title of the Asana task. Should include priority prefix and a trimmed version of the Slack message for immediate context at a glance.
Project	`projects`	The Asana project where the task is created. Should map to the specific client project to keep work organized by client.
Notes / Description	`notes`	Full context block including Slack sender display name, channel name, message timestamp, and full message text. Built in the Compose action.
Slack Sender Display Name		Human-readable name of who posted the message. Retrieved via the Slack 'Get user info' action — not the raw user ID from the trigger.

5 optional fields▸ show

Due Date	`due_on`	Automatically set based on priority: next-day for urgent messages, 3 days out for standard. Keeps tasks from sitting with no deadline.
Assignee	`assignee`	The Asana user responsible for the task. Can be hardcoded to the account manager or left unassigned for the team to pick up.
Slack Message Timestamp		Logged in the Asana task notes as a unique identifier. Used for deduplication checks to prevent duplicate task creation on retries.
Slack Channel Name		Included in task notes so anyone reading the Asana task knows exactly which client channel the request came from.
Priority Custom Field	`custom_fields`	An Asana custom field (if configured on your project) that gets set to 'High' for urgent messages and 'Normal' for standard ones, based on keyword detection.

Step-by-Step Setup

make.powerautomate.com > Create > Automated cloud flow

Sign in to Power Automate and start a new Automated flow

Go to make.powerautomate.com and sign in with your Microsoft 365 account. Click 'Create' in the left sidebar, then select 'Automated cloud flow' — this is the event-triggered flow type, not scheduled. Give your flow a name like 'Slack Client Issue → Asana Task'. You will be prompted to choose a trigger immediately in this dialog before the canvas loads.

1Click 'Create' in the left sidebar
2Select 'Automated cloud flow' from the options
3Type a flow name: 'Slack Client Issue → Asana Task'
4In the trigger search box, type 'Slack' and select 'When a new message is posted to a channel' from the Slack connector
5Click 'Create'

✓ What you should see: The flow canvas opens with the Slack trigger card at the top. You should see a prompt to connect your Slack account if no connection exists yet.

⚠

Common mistake — The Slack connector in Power Automate uses OAuth and requires the flow to be authorized by a Slack account that has access to the target channels. A personal Slack account works, but a service account or bot user is safer for production — individual OAuth tokens expire when the user's password changes.

Flow canvas > When a new message is posted to a channel > Channel Name dropdown

Connect your Slack account and configure the trigger channel

Click 'Sign in' inside the trigger card to authorize the Slack connection. Power Automate will open a Slack OAuth popup — approve the requested permissions. Once connected, a 'Channel Name' dropdown appears. Select the specific client channel you want to monitor (e.g. #client-acmecorp). If you manage multiple client channels, note that this single trigger watches one channel; you will handle multiple channels in a later step.

1Click 'Sign in' inside the Slack trigger card
2Approve the OAuth permissions in the Slack popup
3Wait for the 'Channel Name' dropdown to populate
4Select your target client channel (e.g. #client-acmecorp)
5Leave all other trigger fields at their defaults

✓ What you should see: The trigger card shows your Slack workspace name and the selected channel name. No red error banners visible.

⚠

Common mistake — Private Slack channels require the authorizing account to be a member of that channel before the channel appears in the dropdown. If your target channel is missing, add the account to the channel in Slack first, then reload the dropdown.

Power Automate settings

Connection

Choose a connection…Add

click Add

Slack

Authorize Power Automate

popup window

✓

Connected

green checkmark

Flow canvas > + New step > Data Operation > Compose

Add a Compose action to extract and format message context

Click the '+ New step' button below the trigger. Search for 'Compose' and select the 'Compose' action from the Data Operation connector. This action will build the task description string you will pass to Asana. In the Inputs field, construct a string that combines the Slack sender name, timestamp, channel, and message text using dynamic content tokens. This avoids dumping a raw JSON object into the Asana task description.

1Click '+ New step'
2Search 'Compose' and select 'Compose' under Data Operation
3Click inside the 'Inputs' field
4Click 'Add dynamic content' and insert: 'From: [User Name] | Channel: [Channel Name] | Time: [Message Timestamp]\n\n[Text]'
5Replace bracketed labels with the corresponding dynamic content tokens from the Slack trigger

✓ What you should see: The Compose card shows a template string with the Slack dynamic tokens highlighted in blue pill shapes. No yellow warning triangles.

⚠

Common mistake — Map fields using the variable picker — don't type field names manually. Hand-typed variable names often have invisible spacing errors that produce blank output.

message template

🔔 New Record: {{text}} {{user}}
channel: {{channel}}
ts: {{ts}}

#sales

🔔 New Record: Jane Smith

Email: [email protected]

Company: Acme Corp

Flow canvas > + New step > Control > Condition

Add a Condition to detect priority keywords

Click '+ New step' and search for 'Condition'. Add a Condition control action. This checks the Slack message text for urgent keywords like 'broken', 'down', 'urgent', or 'critical'. Set the left side of the condition to the dynamic content token 'Text' from the Slack trigger. Set the operator to 'contains'. Set the right side to 'urgent'. You will add additional keyword checks using 'Add row' with OR logic.

1Click '+ New step' and select 'Control > Condition'
2In the left field, insert the dynamic content token 'Text' from the Slack trigger
3Set the operator dropdown to 'contains'
4Type 'urgent' in the right field
5Click 'Add row' and repeat for 'broken', 'down', and 'critical' — set each new row to OR

✓ What you should see: The Condition card shows four OR-linked rows. The 'If yes' and 'If no' branches are both visible below.

⚠

Common mistake — Power Automate's 'contains' operator on strings is case-sensitive by default. Wrap the 'Text' token inside a toLower() expression — toLower(triggerOutputs()?['body/text']) — to catch 'URGENT', 'Urgent', and 'urgent' alike.

Slack

trigger

filter

Priority

matches criteria?

yes — passes through

no — skipped

Asana

notified

Flow canvas > Condition > If yes > + Add an action > Asana > Create a task

Connect your Asana account

Inside the 'If yes' branch, click '+ Add an action'. Search 'Asana' and select 'Create a task' from the Asana connector. Click 'Sign in' inside the Asana action card. Power Automate opens an Asana OAuth popup — approve it. The connection is saved globally in your Power Automate Connections and reused by the 'If no' branch automatically. You do not need to re-authenticate for the second branch.

1Inside 'If yes', click '+ Add an action'
2Search 'Asana' and select 'Create a task'
3Click 'Sign in' in the Asana action card
4Approve the Asana OAuth permissions in the popup
5Confirm the connection name appears in the card header

✓ What you should see: The Asana 'Create a task' card loads with empty field inputs and shows your Asana connection name (e.g. '[email protected]') in the top-left of the card.

⚠

Common mistake — The Asana connector in Power Automate requires the authorizing account to have 'Editor' or higher access on the target Asana project. 'Commenter'-level accounts can read tasks but cannot create them — the flow will fail silently at runtime if the permission is too low.

Flow canvas > Condition > If yes > Asana: Create a task

Map fields for the high-priority Asana task (If yes branch)

Inside the 'If yes' Asana 'Create a task' action, fill in the task fields. Set 'Task Name' to a combined string like '[URGENT] ' followed by the first 80 characters of the Slack message text. Set 'Project' to your client project ID (selected from the dropdown). Set 'Notes' to the Outputs token from your Compose action in Step 3. Set 'Due Date' to the expression addDays(utcNow(), 1) for a next-day deadline. Add a tag or custom field for priority if your Asana workspace has one configured.

1In 'Task Name', type '[URGENT] ' then insert the dynamic content token 'Text' (trim to 80 chars using substring())
2In 'Project', select your client Asana project from the dropdown
3In 'Notes', insert the 'Outputs' token from the Compose action
4In 'Due Date', switch to expression mode and enter: addDays(utcNow(), 1)
5If available, set a 'Priority' custom field to 'High'

✓ What you should see: All required Asana fields are filled. The task name preview shows '[URGENT]' prefix with a blue dynamic token for the message text. No red required-field warnings.

⚠

Common mistake — Asana project IDs in the dropdown are workspace-scoped. If you have multiple Asana workspaces connected, the dropdown may show projects from the wrong workspace. Check the workspace name shown in the Asana connector header before selecting a project.

Slack fields

text

user

channel

thread_ts

available as variables:

1.props.text

1.props.user

1.props.channel

1.props.ts

1.props.thread_ts

Flow canvas > Condition > If no > + Add an action > Asana > Create a task

Map fields for the standard Asana task (If no branch)

Click inside the 'If no' branch and add another Asana 'Create a task' action. It will automatically use the same Asana connection. Configure it identically to Step 6 but without the '[URGENT]' prefix and with a due date of addDays(utcNow(), 3) for a 3-day window. Set the priority custom field to 'Normal' if applicable. This branch handles all messages that do not match your priority keywords.

1Inside 'If no', click '+ Add an action' and select Asana 'Create a task'
2In 'Task Name', insert the Slack 'Text' token directly (no prefix)
3In 'Project', select the same client Asana project
4In 'Notes', insert the Compose 'Outputs' token
5In 'Due Date', enter expression: addDays(utcNow(), 3)

✓ What you should see: Both branches now have a fully configured Asana 'Create a task' action. The canvas shows a symmetrical split at the Condition step.

Flow canvas > Between Trigger and Compose > + Insert a step > Slack > Get user info

Add a Parse JSON action to extract the Slack user display name

The Slack trigger returns the message author as a user ID (e.g. U04XXXXXX), not a display name. To get a readable name for the Asana task notes, add a 'Parse JSON' action before the Compose step. Use the Slack 'Get user info' action instead — search 'Slack' in the action picker and add 'Get user info', passing the 'User' token from the trigger. Then reference the display name output in your Compose string from Step 3 by going back and updating it.

1Hover between the Slack trigger and the Compose action to reveal '+ Insert a step'
2Click '+ Insert a step' and add a new action
3Search 'Slack' and select 'Get user info'
4In the 'User' field, insert the dynamic content token 'User' from the Slack trigger
5Go back to the Compose action and replace the 'User Name' token with 'Display Name' from the Get user info action

✓ What you should see: The Compose action now references 'Display Name' from the Slack 'Get user info' step. The dynamic token pill changes label from 'User' to 'Display Name'.

⚠

Common mistake — The Slack 'Get user info' action counts as a separate API call and adds ~1-2 seconds of latency per run. At high message volumes (100+ messages/hour), this may push you toward Slack API rate limits (Tier 3: 50 requests/minute). If volume is high, consider caching user names in a SharePoint list instead.

Flow canvas > Select all actions > Right-click > Add Scope > + New step after Scope > Configure run after

Add error handling with a Scope and Configure run after

Select all actions after the Slack trigger by holding Shift and clicking each one, then right-click and select 'Add Scope'. Name the scope 'Main Logic'. After the scope, add a new action — search 'Send an email (V2)' from the Office 365 Outlook connector or a Slack 'Send message' action to alert your team when the flow fails. Click the three dots on this alert action and select 'Configure run after'. Check 'has failed' and 'has timed out' only.

1Select all actions except the trigger by clicking each while holding Shift
2Right-click and select 'Add Scope', name it 'Main Logic'
3Click '+ New step' after the scope
4Add a Slack 'Send a message' action targeting your internal #ops or #errors channel
5Click the three dots on the alert action, select 'Configure run after', and check 'has failed' and 'has timed out'

✓ What you should see: The canvas shows the scope box wrapping all main actions and a separate alert action below it with a red dashed connector indicating it only fires on failure.

⚠

Common mistake — If you skip this step and the Asana connection token expires, the flow will fail silently. Client messages will keep coming into Slack but zero tasks will be created — you won't know until a client escalates.

Power Automate

▶ Test flow

executed

✓

Slack

✓

Asana

🔔 notification

received

Flow canvas > Save > Test > Manually > Perform trigger action

Test the flow with a real Slack message

Click 'Save' in the top toolbar. Then click 'Test' (top right) and select 'Manually' — this lets you trigger the test by actually posting a message in your Slack channel. Open the target Slack channel and post a test message like 'The login page is broken for our users'. Return to Power Automate and watch the flow run animation. Each step shows a green check when successful or a red X with an error detail when it fails.

1Click 'Save' in the top toolbar
2Click 'Test' and select 'Manually'
3Click 'Perform trigger action'
4Open your target Slack channel and post: 'The login page is broken for our users'
5Return to Power Automate and watch the run progress in real time

✓ What you should see: All steps show green checkmarks. In Asana, a new task titled '[URGENT] The login page is broken for our users' appears in the correct project within 90 seconds of posting the Slack message.

⚠

Common mistake — Map fields using the variable picker — don't type field names manually. Hand-typed variable names often have invisible spacing errors that produce blank output.

make.powerautomate.com > My flows > [Flow Name] > Run history

Enable the flow and monitor the run history

After a successful test, the flow is already active. Confirm its status by returning to 'My flows' in the left sidebar — the flow should show a green 'On' toggle. Click the flow name to open its detail page and check 'Run history' at the bottom. Each Slack message that triggers the flow logs a run entry with a status of 'Succeeded' or 'Failed'. Bookmark this page and check it after the first full business day of live traffic.

1Click 'My flows' in the left sidebar
2Locate your flow and confirm the toggle shows 'On'
3Click the flow name to open the detail page
4Scroll to 'Run history' and verify the test run shows 'Succeeded'
5Set a reminder to review run history after 24 hours of live use

✓ What you should see: The Run history table shows at least one 'Succeeded' entry with a timestamp matching your test. The flow toggle is green and labeled 'On'.

⚠

Common mistake — Power Automate stores run history for 28 days on standard plans. If you need longer audit trails of which client messages generated which Asana tasks, log each run to a SharePoint list or Azure Log Analytics from inside the flow.

Paste this expression into the 'Task Name' field of the Asana 'Create a task' action (switch the field to Expression mode). It trims long Slack messages to 80 characters and appends an ellipsis so Asana task names stay readable in list view without truncating mid-word.

JavaScript — Code Stepif(

▸ Show code

if(
  greater(length(triggerOutputs()?['body/text']), 80),
  concat(

... expand to see full code

if(
  greater(length(triggerOutputs()?['body/text']), 80),
  concat(
    substring(triggerOutputs()?['body/text'], 0, 80),
    '...'
  ),
  triggerOutputs()?['body/text']
)

Going live

Production Checklist

Before you turn this on for real, confirm each item.

Confirm the Slack OAuth connection is authorized by a service account or shared team account — not a personal account that could leave the company

Confirm the Asana OAuth connection is authorized by an account with Editor access on every client project the flow targets

Post a test message containing 'urgent' in the target Slack channel and verify the Asana task appears with the '[URGENT]' prefix and a next-day due date

Post a test message without any priority keywords and verify the Asana task appears without a prefix and with a 3-day due date

Check run history after the first 24 hours and confirm zero 'Failed' or 'Throttled' entries — throttling means you are approaching your plan's monthly flow run limit

Verify the error-handling Slack alert (Step 9) fires correctly by temporarily disconnecting the Asana connection and triggering a test message

If monitoring more than 3 client channels, clone the flow for each channel rather than building channel-routing logic into one flow — isolated flows are easier to debug when one client channel misbehaves

Troubleshooting

Common errors and how to fix them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about this workflow.

Analysis

VerdictWhy n8n for this workflow

Use Power Automate for this if your team is already inside Microsoft 365. The Slack and Asana connectors are both standard (non-premium), meaning you pay nothing beyond your existing Microsoft 365 Business subscription. Power Automate also integrates directly with SharePoint and Teams, so if you want to log client requests to a SharePoint list or escalate via Teams in addition to Asana, you add one action — no additional platform account required. The one scenario where you pick something else: if your team has no Microsoft 365 footprint at all. Setting up a Microsoft account just to run this flow adds unnecessary overhead. Use Make or Zapier instead.

Cost

The cost math is straightforward. A Microsoft 365 Business Basic plan ($6/user/month) includes 2,000 flow runs per user per month at no additional charge. Each Slack message triggers one flow run. That covers 2,000 client messages per user per month — most agencies never get close. If you do hit the limit, Power Automate's standalone plan adds $15/month per user for 5,000 runs. By comparison, Zapier's equivalent setup (watching a Slack channel and creating an Asana task) costs $19.99/month on the Starter plan for 750 tasks — and each flow run that includes the 'Get user info' call counts as two Zap steps, cutting your effective task count in half. Power Automate is cheaper at every volume tier if you already have Microsoft 365.

Tradeoffs

Here is how the competitors compare for this specific use case. Make handles the priority keyword detection more cleanly — its Router module lets you define 5 keyword conditions in a single visual branch without nesting Condition controls. Zapier has a faster initial setup: the Slack-to-Asana Zap template is pre-built and takes 8 minutes to configure versus 35 minutes for this Power Automate flow. n8n gives you a JavaScript Function node where you can parse the entire Slack message payload, extract any field you want, and build complex routing logic in one step — no Compose workarounds needed. Pipedream lets you write async code to hit the Asana API directly, bypassing connector limitations entirely. Power Automate wins here only if you need native Microsoft 365 integration or your IT department requires everything to stay inside the Microsoft ecosystem.

Three things you will hit after setup. First, the Slack connector does not filter bot messages — every automated notification in a client channel generates an Asana task unless you add the Sub Type check. Agencies monitoring active channels with Jira or GitHub integrations find this immediately. Second, the 'Get user info' action adds a real API call per message. At 100+ messages per hour, you will start seeing Slack API Tier 3 rate limit errors (50 requests/minute). Cache user names in a SharePoint lookup list if volume is that high. Third, Power Automate's expression language for string manipulation is verbose. Trimming a message to 80 characters and adding an ellipsis requires a nested if/greater/substring/concat expression — something Make does in one formatText() call and n8n does in a single line of JavaScript. Budget time to test expressions carefully before going live.

Ideas for what to build next

→
Add Asana task URL back to Slack — After the Asana task is created, post a threaded reply in the original Slack message with the Asana task URL so the client and your team can see the request was captured. Add a Slack 'Reply to a message' action at the end of the flow using the Asana task's permalink output.
→
Route tasks to the right project by channel — Right now the flow watches one channel and targets one Asana project. Add a Switch control after the trigger that maps each #client- channel name to its corresponding Asana project ID. This turns one flow into a multi-client router without duplicating the whole flow.
→
Send a daily digest of open client tasks — Build a second Scheduled cloud flow that runs at 8am each weekday, queries Asana for incomplete tasks tagged as client-sourced, and posts a summary to your internal #account-management Slack channel. This gives account managers a daily snapshot without logging into Asana.