How to Convert Slack Messages to Asana Tasks with Pipedream

pipedream.com > Workflows > New Workflow

Create a new Pipedream workflow

Go to pipedream.com and sign in. Click 'New Workflow' in the top right of the Workflows dashboard. You'll land on a blank canvas with a trigger placeholder at the top. This is where you'll connect Slack as the event source. Give the workflow a name like 'Slack Reaction → Asana Task' so it's easy to find later.

1. 1Sign in at pipedream.com
2. 2Click 'New Workflow' in the top-right corner
3. 3Click the trigger placeholder labeled 'Add a trigger'
4. 4Type 'Slack' in the search box and select the Slack app

Trigger panel > Select Event > New Reaction Added

Configure the Slack trigger for emoji reactions

In the Slack trigger panel, select 'New Reaction Added' as the trigger event. This fires instantly every time any user adds an emoji reaction to any message in your workspace. Connect your Slack account via 'Connect Account' — Pipedream will open an OAuth popup to authorize access. After connecting, set the 'Reaction' filter field to the specific emoji you want to use, such as 'white_check_mark' or 'pushpin' (enter the emoji name without colons).

1. 1Select 'New Reaction Added' from the trigger event dropdown
2. 2Click 'Connect Account' and authorize Slack via OAuth popup
3. 3In the 'Reaction' field, type the emoji name (e.g., pushpin) without colons
4. 4Click 'Save and continue' to lock in the trigger

Trigger panel > Generate Test Event

Test the trigger to capture a real Slack event

Click 'Generate Test Event' in the trigger panel. Pipedream will listen for an incoming reaction event from your Slack workspace. Go to any Slack channel, find a message, and add the emoji reaction you configured. Within 2-3 seconds, Pipedream will capture the event and display the raw JSON payload in the trigger output panel. Confirm that the payload includes 'item.channel', 'item.ts', 'reaction', and 'user' fields.

1. 1Click 'Generate Test Event' in the Slack trigger panel
2. 2Switch to Slack and add your configured emoji to any message
3. 3Return to Pipedream and wait 2-3 seconds for the event to appear
4. 4Click the event in the panel to expand and review the JSON payload

Workflow canvas > + Add Step > Run Node.js code

Add a Node.js step to fetch the Slack message text

Click the '+' button below the trigger to add a new step. Select 'Run Node.js code' from the step options. This step will call the Slack API's 'conversations.history' method using the channel ID and message timestamp from the trigger event to retrieve the full message text. You'll use the Slack OAuth token from your connected account, which Pipedream exposes as an environment variable you can reference in code.

1. 1Click the '+' button below the Slack trigger
2. 2Select 'Run Node.js code' from the step type list
3. 3Paste the fetch code into the code editor (see Pro Tip below)
4. 4Click 'Test' to run the step against your test event

Workflow canvas > + Add Step > Run Node.js code

Add a step to resolve the Slack user ID to a display name

The reaction event gives you a user ID like 'U04ABCD12', not a readable name. Add another Node.js step that calls 'users.info' on the Slack API with that user ID. This returns the user's real name and display name so you can include a human-readable 'Flagged by' field in the Asana task. Without this step, your task descriptions will contain raw IDs that teammates won't recognize.

1. 1Click '+' below the previous step to add another code step
2. 2Write a fetch call to 'https://slack.com/api/users.info' with the user ID from the trigger
3. 3Extract 'user.real_name' or 'user.profile.display_name' from the response
4. 4Click 'Test' to verify the name resolves correctly

This single Node.js step replaces three separate API steps by fetching the message text, user display name, and channel name in one sequential async block, then assembling the full Asana task payload. Paste this as a single 'Run Node.js code' step immediately after the Slack trigger, replacing steps 4, 5, 6, and 7 in the guide above.

import axios from 'axios';
export default defineComponent({
  async run({ steps, $ }) {

import axios from 'axios';

export default defineComponent({
  async run({ steps, $ }) {
    const token = process.env.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN;
    const channelId = steps.trigger.event.item.channel;
    const messageTs = steps.trigger.event.item.ts;
    const reactorUserId = steps.trigger.event.user;

    // Fetch message text
    const historyRes = await axios.get('https://slack.com/api/conversations.history', {
      headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` },
      params: { channel: channelId, latest: messageTs, limit: 1, inclusive: true },
    });
    if (!historyRes.data.ok) {
      throw new Error(`conversations.history failed: ${historyRes.data.error}`);
    }
    const messageText = historyRes.data.messages?.[0]?.text ?? '(no message text)';

    // Fetch reactor display name
    const userRes = await axios.get('https://slack.com/api/users.info', {
      headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` },
      params: { user: reactorUserId },
    });
    if (!userRes.data.ok) {
      throw new Error(`users.info failed: ${userRes.data.error}`);
    }
    const displayName =
      userRes.data.user?.profile?.display_name ||
      userRes.data.user?.real_name ||
      'Unknown User';

    // Fetch channel name
    const chanRes = await axios.get('https://slack.com/api/conversations.info', {
      headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` },
      params: { channel: channelId },
    });
    if (!chanRes.data.ok) {
      throw new Error(`conversations.info failed: ${chanRes.data.error}`);
    }
    const channelName = chanRes.data.channel?.name ?? channelId;

    // Build Slack permalink (remove period from timestamp)
    const tsForUrl = messageTs.replace('.', '');
    const permalink = `https://slack.com/archives/${channelId}/p${tsForUrl}`;

    // Truncate task name to 100 chars
    const taskName =
      messageText.length > 100 ? messageText.slice(0, 97) + '...' : messageText;

    // Assemble Asana task notes
    const notes = [
      `📌 Flagged by ${displayName} in #${channelName}`,
      '',
      'Full message:',
      messageText,
      '',
      `View in Slack: ${permalink}`,
    ].join('\n');

    return {
      taskName,
      notes,
      permalink,
      channelName,
      displayName,
    };
  },
});

Workflow canvas > + Add Step > Run Node.js code

Add a step to get the Slack channel name

The trigger provides a channel ID like 'C05XYZABC', not '#product-feedback'. Add a Node.js step that calls 'conversations.info' with the channel ID to retrieve the channel name. This makes the Asana task description readable — 'Flagged in #product-feedback' is far more useful than a raw channel ID for anyone triaging the task later.

1. 1Click '+' to add another Node.js code step
2. 2Fetch 'https://slack.com/api/conversations.info' with the channel ID from the trigger
3. 3Extract 'channel.name' from the response
4. 4Click 'Test' and confirm the channel name appears in the output

Workflow canvas > + Add Step > Run Node.js code

Build the Asana task payload in a code step

Add a Node.js step to assemble the Asana task object from the data collected in the previous steps. Set the task name to the first 100 characters of the Slack message. Build a description that includes the full message text, the channel name prefixed with '#', the display name of the user who reacted, and a permalink to the original Slack message. Construct the Slack message permalink using the format: 'https://[workspace].slack.com/archives/[channel_id]/p[timestamp_without_period]'.

1. 1Click '+' to add a Node.js code step
2. 2Assemble the task name by truncating message text to 100 characters
3. 3Build the description string with channel name, user name, and Slack permalink
4. 4Export the assembled payload as the step's return value using 'return { name, notes, projects }'

This single Node.js step replaces three separate API steps by fetching the message text, user display name, and channel name in one sequential async block, then assembling the full Asana task payload. Paste this as a single 'Run Node.js code' step immediately after the Slack trigger, replacing steps 4, 5, 6, and 7 in the guide above.

import axios from 'axios';
export default defineComponent({
  async run({ steps, $ }) {

import axios from 'axios';

export default defineComponent({
  async run({ steps, $ }) {
    const token = process.env.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN;
    const channelId = steps.trigger.event.item.channel;
    const messageTs = steps.trigger.event.item.ts;
    const reactorUserId = steps.trigger.event.user;

    // Fetch message text
    const historyRes = await axios.get('https://slack.com/api/conversations.history', {
      headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` },
      params: { channel: channelId, latest: messageTs, limit: 1, inclusive: true },
    });
    if (!historyRes.data.ok) {
      throw new Error(`conversations.history failed: ${historyRes.data.error}`);
    }
    const messageText = historyRes.data.messages?.[0]?.text ?? '(no message text)';

    // Fetch reactor display name
    const userRes = await axios.get('https://slack.com/api/users.info', {
      headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` },
      params: { user: reactorUserId },
    });
    if (!userRes.data.ok) {
      throw new Error(`users.info failed: ${userRes.data.error}`);
    }
    const displayName =
      userRes.data.user?.profile?.display_name ||
      userRes.data.user?.real_name ||
      'Unknown User';

    // Fetch channel name
    const chanRes = await axios.get('https://slack.com/api/conversations.info', {
      headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` },
      params: { channel: channelId },
    });
    if (!chanRes.data.ok) {
      throw new Error(`conversations.info failed: ${chanRes.data.error}`);
    }
    const channelName = chanRes.data.channel?.name ?? channelId;

    // Build Slack permalink (remove period from timestamp)
    const tsForUrl = messageTs.replace('.', '');
    const permalink = `https://slack.com/archives/${channelId}/p${tsForUrl}`;

    // Truncate task name to 100 chars
    const taskName =
      messageText.length > 100 ? messageText.slice(0, 97) + '...' : messageText;

    // Assemble Asana task notes
    const notes = [
      `📌 Flagged by ${displayName} in #${channelName}`,
      '',
      'Full message:',
      messageText,
      '',
      `View in Slack: ${permalink}`,
    ].join('\n');

    return {
      taskName,
      notes,
      permalink,
      channelName,
      displayName,
    };
  },
});

Workflow canvas > + Add Step > Asana > Create Task

Add the Asana step and connect your account

Click '+' and add a new step. Search for 'Asana' and select the 'Create Task' action. Click 'Connect Account' to link your Asana account via OAuth. Pipedream opens an Asana authorization page — approve the requested permissions. Once connected, you'll see dropdowns for Workspace, Project, and other task fields appear in the configuration panel.

1. 1Click '+' below the payload assembly step
2. 2Search for 'Asana' and select the Asana app
3. 3Select 'Create Task' as the action
4. 4Click 'Connect Account' and complete the Asana OAuth flow

Asana step panel > Task configuration fields

Map fields from previous steps to the Asana task

In the Asana 'Create Task' configuration panel, fill in each field by referencing the outputs from your earlier steps using Pipedream's double-brace syntax or the expression picker. Set 'Name' to the task name from your payload step, 'Notes' to the formatted description string, 'Projects' to your target Asana project GID (a numeric ID found in the Asana project URL), and optionally set 'Assignee' if you want to auto-assign based on a Slack-to-Asana user mapping.

1. 1Click the 'Name' field and reference your payload step's task name output
2. 2Click the 'Notes' field and reference the formatted description output
3. 3In the 'Projects' field, paste your Asana project GID (found in the project URL after '/0/')
4. 4Optionally set 'Assignee' to a specific Asana user GID or leave blank

Workflow canvas > Test workflow button

Test the full workflow end to end

Click 'Test workflow' at the top of the canvas to run all steps against your captured test event. Watch each step turn green as it executes. Check the Asana project you configured — a new task should appear within 5 seconds with the correct name, description, and context. If a step fails, click it to see the error output and the exact API response that caused the failure.

1. 1Click 'Test workflow' in the top toolbar
2. 2Watch each step indicator for green (success) or red (error) status
3. 3Open your Asana project and verify the new task appeared
4. 4Click the task in Asana to confirm the description, channel name, and Slack link are correct

Workflow canvas > Deploy > Settings > Error Notifications

Deploy the workflow and set error alerting

Click 'Deploy' in the top right to make the workflow active. Pipedream will now listen for live Slack reaction events and process them instantly. Go to your workflow settings and enable 'Error notifications' so you get an email if any step fails in production. Test one final time with a real Slack reaction to confirm the live webhook path works, not just the test event replay.

1. 1Click 'Deploy' in the top-right corner of the workflow editor
2. 2Navigate to the workflow Settings tab after deploying
3. 3Enable 'Email me on error' under the Error Notifications section
4. 4Go to Slack, add your emoji to a real message, and verify a task appears in Asana within 5 seconds