How to Automate Daily Standups from Asana to Slack with Pipedream

pipedream.com > Workflows > New Workflow

Create a new Pipedream workflow

Go to pipedream.com and log in. Click 'Workflows' in the left sidebar, then click the blue 'New Workflow' button in the top right. You'll land on a blank canvas with a trigger slot at the top and a '+ Add a step' button below it. Give your workflow a name immediately — something like 'Daily Asana Standup to Slack' — by clicking the pencil icon next to 'Untitled Workflow' at the top.

1. 1Log in at pipedream.com
2. 2Click 'Workflows' in the left sidebar
3. 3Click the blue 'New Workflow' button
4. 4Click the pencil icon next to 'Untitled Workflow' and type your workflow name
5. 5Press Enter to save the name

Workflow Canvas > Add a trigger > Schedule > Cron Expression

Set a daily schedule trigger

Click the 'Add a trigger' slot. In the trigger selector panel that opens on the right, type 'Schedule' in the search box and select the 'Schedule' source. Choose 'Cron expression' from the interval options so you have exact control. Enter a cron expression for your target time — for 8:50 AM Monday through Friday UTC, use '50 8 * * 1-5'. Pipedream runs cron in UTC, so adjust for your team's timezone before saving.

1. 1Click the 'Add a trigger' slot on the canvas
2. 2Type 'Schedule' in the search field in the right panel
3. 3Select 'Schedule' from the results
4. 4Click 'Cron expression' as the trigger type
5. 5Enter your cron string (e.g. '50 8 * * 1-5' for 8:50 AM UTC weekdays)
6. 6Click 'Save and continue'

Workflow Canvas > + Add a step > Run Node.js code

Connect Asana and fetch completed tasks

Click '+ Add a step' below the trigger and select 'Run Node.js code'. This step will call the Asana API directly to pull tasks completed in the last 24 hours. You'll use Asana's search endpoint with a 'completed_since' filter set to yesterday's ISO timestamp. Pipedream's Node.js steps support async/await natively, so you can use fetch or the axios package that's pre-installed.

1. 1Click '+ Add a step' on the canvas
2. 2Select 'Run Node.js code' from the step options
3. 3Click the step title and rename it to 'Fetch Completed Tasks'
4. 4Paste your Asana API code into the code editor (see pro tip below)
5. 5Click 'Test' to run the step and verify the output

Step Panel > Connected Accounts tab > + Add account > Asana

Add your Asana Connected Account

Inside the code step, you referenced a personal access token. The cleaner approach is to use Pipedream's Connected Accounts so the token is stored securely and not hardcoded. Click the 'Connected Accounts' tab at the top of the step panel, then click '+ Add account' and select Asana. Pipedream will open an OAuth flow — click 'Allow' to grant access. After connecting, Pipedream injects your credentials as environment variables you can reference in the code.

1. 1Click the 'Connected Accounts' tab inside your Node.js step
2. 2Click '+ Add account'
3. 3Search for and select 'Asana'
4. 4Complete the OAuth prompt in the popup window by clicking 'Allow'
5. 5Confirm the account appears with a green connected badge in the step

Workflow Canvas > + Add a step > Run Node.js code

Fetch upcoming tasks due today

Add a second Node.js code step to fetch tasks due today from Asana. This is a separate API call using the tasks endpoint filtered by due_on equal to today's date in YYYY-MM-DD format. Keep this as a separate step rather than combining it with the completed tasks fetch — it makes debugging much easier when one call fails.

1. 1Click '+ Add a step' below the completed tasks step
2. 2Select 'Run Node.js code'
3. 3Rename the step to 'Fetch Due Today Tasks'
4. 4Paste the due-today API call code into the editor
5. 5Click 'Test' and verify the output contains today's due tasks

Workflow Canvas > + Add a step > Run Node.js code

Format the standup message

Add a third Node.js code step to combine the completed and due-today arrays into a formatted Slack Block Kit message. Reference the previous steps' outputs using steps['Fetch Completed Tasks'].$return_value and steps['Fetch Due Today Tasks'].$return_value. Group tasks by assignee name and build a blocks array with header, divider, and section blocks. Slack's Block Kit renderer handles markdown in mrkdwn fields — use *bold* for names and bullet points for task lists.

1. 1Click '+ Add a step'
2. 2Select 'Run Node.js code'
3. 3Rename the step to 'Format Standup Message'
4. 4Reference previous step outputs using steps['step-name'].$return_value
5. 5Build and return a Slack blocks array from the task data
6. 6Click 'Test' and inspect the blocks output in the return value panel

Workflow Canvas > + Add a step > Slack > Send a Message

Connect Slack and post the message

Add a new step and this time search for 'Slack' in the app list instead of using a code step. Select the 'Send a Message' action. Pipedream will prompt you to connect your Slack workspace via OAuth — click 'Connect Slack Account' and authorize the app. Once connected, set the Channel field to your standup channel (e.g. #product-standup), set Blocks to reference your formatted blocks from the previous step, and add a fallback Text field for notification previews.

1. 1Click '+ Add a step'
2. 2Search for 'Slack' in the app selector
3. 3Select 'Slack' and then choose 'Send a Message' action
4. 4Click 'Connect Slack Account' and complete the OAuth flow
5. 5Set Channel to your standup Slack channel ID or name
6. 6Set Blocks to {{steps['Format Standup Message'].$return_value.blocks}}
7. 7Set Text to a fallback string like 'Daily standup report'
8. 8Click 'Test' to post a test message to Slack

Workflow Canvas > + Add a step > Run Node.js code

Add error handling for empty task lists

Add a Node.js code step between the formatting step and the Slack step to check whether both task arrays are empty. If no tasks were completed yesterday and nothing is due today — common on Mondays after a holiday — you can either skip posting or send a short 'No updates today' message. Use $.flow.exit() to halt the workflow gracefully without triggering an error alert.

1. 1Click '+ Add a step' between the format step and the Slack step
2. 2Select 'Run Node.js code'
3. 3Rename it to 'Guard: Skip if No Tasks'
4. 4Add a check: if both arrays are empty, call $.flow.exit('No tasks to report')
5. 5Click 'Test' with empty mock data to confirm the exit fires correctly

Workflow Canvas > Run Now button (top right)

Test the full workflow end-to-end

Click 'Run Now' at the top of the workflow canvas to trigger an immediate test run outside the schedule. Watch each step execute in sequence in the event inspector at the bottom of the screen. Click on each step to expand its input and output. Verify that the Asana task data flows correctly into the formatter and that the Slack message in your channel looks exactly as expected with correct names and task links.

1. 1Click 'Run Now' in the top right of the workflow canvas
2. 2Watch the step execution progress in the event inspector at the bottom
3. 3Click each step row to expand and inspect its input/output
4. 4Check your Slack channel to confirm the message posted correctly
5. 5Verify assignee names, task links, and date groupings are accurate

Workflow Canvas > Deploy button > Logs tab

Deploy and monitor the workflow

Click the 'Deploy' button in the top right of the workflow canvas. Pipedream will activate the cron schedule and the workflow will run automatically at your specified time. Navigate to the 'Logs' tab to monitor future runs. Pipedream retains logs for 30 days on the free tier and shows you the exact error if any step fails. Set up an email or Slack error notification under Settings > Notifications so you know immediately if a run fails.

1. 1Click 'Deploy' in the top right corner
2. 2Confirm the workflow status shows 'Active' with your cron schedule listed
3. 3Click the 'Logs' tab to see the event history
4. 4Go to Settings > Notifications and add an email or Slack alert for workflow errors
5. 5Check back the next morning to confirm the first scheduled run succeeded

Paste this code into two separate Node.js steps — 'Fetch Completed Tasks' and 'Fetch Due Today Tasks' — then paste the formatting function into a third step called 'Format Standup Message'. The final export.default in the formatting step returns the complete Slack blocks payload ready to pass directly into the Slack Send Message action.

// ── Step 1: Fetch Completed Tasks (paste into 'Fetch Completed Tasks' step) ──
export default async function({ steps, auths, $ }) {
  const token = auths.asana.oauth_access_token;

// ── Step 1: Fetch Completed Tasks (paste into 'Fetch Completed Tasks' step) ──
export default async function({ steps, auths, $ }) {
  const token = auths.asana.oauth_access_token;
  const projectGid = process.env.ASANA_PROJECT_GID;
  const since = new Date(Date.now() - 86400000).toISOString(); // 24h ago UTC

  const url = `https://app.asana.com/api/1.0/projects/${projectGid}/tasks` +
    `?completed_since=${encodeURIComponent(since)}` +
    `&opt_fields=name,assignee.name,completed_at,permalink_url,memberships.project.name` +
    `&limit=50`;

  const res = await fetch(url, {
    headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` }
  });

  if (!res.ok) {
    const err = await res.text();
    throw new Error(`Asana API error ${res.status}: ${err}`);
  }

  const { data } = await res.json();
  const completed = data.filter(t => t.completed_at !== null);
  return completed;
}

// ── Step 2: Fetch Due Today Tasks (paste into 'Fetch Due Today Tasks' step) ──
export default async function({ steps, auths, $ }) {
  const token = auths.asana.oauth_access_token;
  const projectGid = process.env.ASANA_PROJECT_GID;
  const today = new Date().toISOString().split('T')[0]; // YYYY-MM-DD

  const url = `https://app.asana.com/api/1.0/projects/${projectGid}/tasks` +
    `?opt_fields=name,assignee.name,due_on,permalink_url,memberships.project.name` +
    `&limit=50`;

  const res = await fetch(url, {
    headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` }
  });

  if (!res.ok) {
    const err = await res.text();
    throw new Error(`Asana API error ${res.status}: ${err}`);
  }

  const { data } = await res.json();
  const dueToday = data.filter(t => t.due_on === today && !t.completed_at);
  return dueToday;
}

// ── Step 3: Format Standup Message (paste into 'Format Standup Message' step) ──
export default async function({ steps, $ }) {
  const completed = steps['Fetch Completed Tasks'].$return_value || [];
  const dueToday = steps['Fetch Due Today Tasks'].$return_value || [];

  if (completed.length === 0 && dueToday.length === 0) {
    $.flow.exit('No tasks to report today');
  }

  // Group by assignee
  const groupByAssignee = (tasks) => tasks.reduce((acc, task) => {
    const name = task.assignee?.name || 'Unassigned';
    if (!acc[name]) acc[name] = [];
    acc[name].push(task);
    return acc;
  }, {});

  const completedByPerson = groupByAssignee(completed);
  const dueByPerson = groupByAssignee(dueToday);
  const today = new Date().toLocaleDateString('en-US', { weekday: 'long', month: 'long', day: 'numeric' });

  const blocks = [
    {
      type: 'header',
      text: { type: 'plain_text', text: `🗓 Daily Standup — ${today}`, emoji: true }
    },
    { type: 'divider' }
  ];

  if (completed.length > 0) {
    blocks.push({
      type: 'section',
      text: { type: 'mrkdwn', text: '*✅ Completed in the last 24 hours*' }
    });
    for (const [person, tasks] of Object.entries(completedByPerson)) {
      const lines = tasks.map(t => {
        const project = t.memberships?.[0]?.project?.name || '';
        return `• <${t.permalink_url}|${t.name}>${project ? ` — _${project}_` : ''}`;
      }).join('\n');
      blocks.push({
        type: 'section',
        text: { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*${person}*\n${lines}` }
      });
    }
    blocks.push({ type: 'divider' });
  }

  if (dueToday.length > 0) {
    blocks.push({
      type: 'section',
      text: { type: 'mrkdwn', text: '*📅 Due today*' }
    });
    for (const [person, tasks] of Object.entries(dueByPerson)) {
      const lines = tasks.map(t => {
        const project = t.memberships?.[0]?.project?.name || '';
        return `• <${t.permalink_url}|${t.name}>${project ? ` — _${project}_` : ''}`;
      }).join('\n');
      blocks.push({
        type: 'section',
        text: { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*${person}*\n${lines}` }
      });
    }
  }

  return { blocks };
}