How to Create Asana Tasks from Slack with Zapier

zapier.com > Create > Zaps > Trigger > Search Apps

Create a new Zap and connect Slack

Go to zapier.com and click the orange 'Create' button, then select 'Zaps'. In the trigger search box, type 'Slack' and select it from the list. You'll be prompted to choose a trigger event — this is where you define what Slack activity kicks off the Zap. Zapier uses Slack's Events API (webhook-based), so your trigger fires within seconds of a message being posted.

1. 1Click the orange 'Create' button at the top left of your Zapier dashboard
2. 2Select 'Zaps' from the dropdown
3. 3In the trigger panel, click the app search field and type 'Slack'
4. 4Select 'Slack' from the results list

Zap Editor > Trigger > Trigger Event > New Message Posted to Channel

Choose the trigger event and channel

In the 'Trigger Event' dropdown, select 'New Message Posted to Channel'. This event fires every time a message lands in a specific channel. After selecting it, you'll connect your Slack account via OAuth — click 'Sign in to Slack', approve the permissions, and return to the editor. Then use the 'Channel' dropdown to select the client Slack channel you want to monitor.

1. 1In the 'Trigger Event' dropdown, select 'New Message Posted to Channel'
2. 2Click 'Sign in to Slack' and complete the OAuth flow in the popup window
3. 3Return to the Zap editor and click the 'Channel' dropdown
4. 4Select the specific client channel (e.g., #client-acme) from the list

Zap Editor > Trigger > Test Trigger

Test the Slack trigger

Click 'Test trigger' at the bottom of the trigger panel. Zapier pulls the three most recent messages from the channel you selected. Review the sample data carefully — you'll see fields like 'Text', 'User', 'Timestamp', 'Channel', and 'Permalink'. These are the values you'll map into Asana. If the channel is new and has no messages, post a test message in Slack first, then click 'Test trigger' again.

1. 1Click the 'Test trigger' button at the bottom of the trigger configuration panel
2. 2Wait for Zapier to fetch sample messages from your channel
3. 3Click through each sample record to review the available fields
4. 4Confirm you can see 'Text', 'User Name', 'Permalink', and 'Channel Name' in the data

Zap Editor > + Icon between steps > Filter

Add a filter to catch only client messages

Click the '+' button between the trigger and your next step, then select 'Filter'. This prevents every message in the channel from becoming an Asana task. Set the filter condition on the 'Text' field — for example, 'Text Contains' one of your trigger words: 'issue', 'broken', 'urgent', 'help', 'question', or 'request'. You can add multiple OR conditions. Alternatively, filter on 'User Name Does Not Contain' your team members' names to only capture client messages.

1. 1Click the '+' icon that appears between the Slack trigger and the action area
2. 2Select 'Filter' from the options that appear
3. 3In the filter panel, set the field to 'Text' and condition to '(Text) Contains'
4. 4Type your first trigger keyword (e.g., 'urgent') in the value field
5. 5Click 'Add OR condition' to add additional keywords like 'broken', 'issue', 'help'

📬 New entry: {{1.name}}
Email: {{1.email}}
Details: {{1.description}}

Zap Editor > Action > Search Apps > Asana > Create Task

Add Asana as the action app

Click the '+' button after your filter step to add an action. Search for 'Asana' and select it. In the 'Action Event' dropdown, choose 'Create Task'. This creates a new task in a specific Asana project every time the filter passes. You'll connect your Asana account next via OAuth — Zapier requests access to your workspaces and projects.

1. 1Click the '+' icon after the filter step
2. 2Type 'Asana' in the app search box and select it
3. 3In the 'Action Event' dropdown, select 'Create Task'
4. 4Click 'Sign in to Asana' and approve the OAuth permissions
5. 5Confirm your Asana account appears in the account selector with a checkmark

Zap Editor > Asana Action > Workspace > Project

Configure the Asana workspace and project

In the Asana action panel, start with the 'Workspace' dropdown — select the workspace where your client projects live. Once selected, the 'Project' dropdown will populate with available projects. Choose the specific Asana project for this client (e.g., 'Acme Corp — Support'). If you're routing messages from multiple channels to different projects, you'll need separate Zaps per client channel, or use Make/n8n with conditional routing instead.

1. 1Click the 'Workspace' dropdown and select your client-facing Asana workspace
2. 2Wait for the 'Project' dropdown to load available projects
3. 3Select the target Asana project for this client channel
4. 4Optionally set a 'Section' within the project (e.g., 'Incoming Requests')

Zap Editor > Asana Action > Name / Notes fields

Map Slack message fields to the Asana task

Now map the Slack data into Asana fields. Click the 'Name' field and insert dynamic data: type something like 'Client issue: ' then use the insert button to add the Slack 'Text' field (first 60 characters make a good task title). In the 'Notes' field, build a block that includes the full message text, the sender's name, the channel name, and the Slack permalink. This gives whoever picks up the task full context without leaving Asana.

1. 1Click into the 'Name' field and type 'Client issue: '
2. 2Click the insert icon (lightning bolt or '+') and select 'Text' from the Slack trigger data
3. 3Click into the 'Notes' field and build a multi-line block using the insert button
4. 4Insert: 'From: [User Name]', new line, 'Channel: [Channel Name]', new line, 'Message: [Text]', new line, 'Slack link: [Permalink]'
5. 5Set the 'Assignee' field if you want tasks auto-assigned to a specific team member

📬 New entry: {{1.name}}
Email: {{1.email}}
Details: {{1.description}}

Zap Editor > Asana Action > Custom Fields

Set task priority using a custom field

If your Asana project has a custom 'Priority' field (Low / Medium / High / Urgent), you can set it here. Click the 'Custom Fields' section in the Asana action panel — Zapier pulls in all custom fields from your selected project. Map priority based on keywords: if the Slack message text contains 'urgent' or 'broken', you want 'High'. This requires a Formatter step or a simple text match — see the pro tip below for a Code by Zapier approach that reads the message and assigns priority automatically.

1. 1Scroll down in the Asana action panel to the 'Custom Fields' section
2. 2Find your 'Priority' custom field in the list
3. 3Click the field and either type a static value like 'High' or insert a dynamic value from an upstream Formatter step
4. 4If no Priority field exists, set the 'Tags' field to 'client-request' for filtering in Asana

Zap Editor > Asana Action > Due Date

Set the due date

In the 'Due Date' field, click the insert button and select 'Timestamp' from the Slack trigger data. Slack sends a Unix timestamp (e.g., '1712345678.123456') — Zapier automatically converts this to a readable date format for Asana. If you want tasks due 24 hours after the message, add a Formatter step before this action to add 86400 seconds to the timestamp and convert it to YYYY-MM-DD format.

1. 1Click into the 'Due Date' field in the Asana action panel
2. 2Click the insert button and select 'Timestamp' from the Slack trigger step
3. 3If you want a relative due date (e.g., tomorrow), add a Formatter step before this action using 'Date/Time > Format Date' to offset the timestamp

Zap Editor > Asana Action > Test Step

Test the full Zap

Click 'Test step' in the Asana action panel. Zapier uses your sample Slack message data and attempts to create a real task in Asana. This creates an actual task — go into your Asana project immediately after and verify it. Check that the task name looks right, the Notes block has all four pieces of context (sender, channel, message, permalink), the custom Priority field is set, and the Slack link is clickable.

1. 1Click the 'Test step' button at the bottom of the Asana action panel
2. 2Wait for the green success message confirming the task was created
3. 3Open your Asana project in a separate tab and find the newly created task
4. 4Click the Slack permalink in the task notes and confirm it opens the correct message thread

Zap Editor > Publish button (top right)

Turn on the Zap

Click 'Publish' in the top right of the Zap editor. The Zap status changes from Draft to On. Post a test message in your client Slack channel that matches your filter keywords and watch for the Asana task to appear within 30 seconds. Check the Zap history in your Zapier dashboard (left sidebar > Zap History) after the first real trigger fires to confirm the task data looks correct in production.

1. 1Click the 'Publish' button in the top right of the Zap editor
2. 2Confirm the Zap status badge shows 'On' in green
3. 3Post a message in your client Slack channel using one of your filter keywords
4. 4Check your Asana project within 30 seconds for the new task
5. 5Go to zapier.com > Zap History to confirm the run logged successfully

This Code by Zapier step reads the Slack message text and returns a priority level string ('High', 'Medium', or 'Low') based on keyword matching. Add it as a step between your Slack trigger and the Asana action, then map its output 'priority' to the Asana Priority custom field. Paste this code into a 'Run Python' Code by Zapier step and set the input variable 'message_text' to the Slack Text field from step 1.

# Input: message_text (mapped from Slack 'Text' field)
message = input_data.get('message_text', '').lower()
# Define keyword groups by priority level

# Input: message_text (mapped from Slack 'Text' field)
message = input_data.get('message_text', '').lower()

# Define keyword groups by priority level
high_keywords = ['urgent', 'broken', 'down', 'critical', 'asap', 'emergency', 'not working', 'outage']
medium_keywords = ['issue', 'problem', 'error', 'bug', 'incorrect', 'wrong', 'failing']
low_keywords = ['question', 'request', 'feature', 'suggestion', 'when', 'can we', 'could you']

# Check from highest to lowest priority
if any(keyword in message for keyword in high_keywords):
    priority = 'High'
elif any(keyword in message for keyword in medium_keywords):
    priority = 'Medium'
elif any(keyword in message for keyword in low_keywords):
    priority = 'Low'
else:
    priority = 'Medium'  # Default fallback

# Output available to next Zapier steps
output = {'priority': priority, 'matched_message_length': len(message)}