Documentation
Start typing to search…

Delete Custom Field

Definition

This action allows you to permanently delete a specified custom field within your Asana account. It is a direct way to manage and clean up the data fields associated with your projects and tasks.

Key capabilities:

  • Select the specific Asana workspace where the custom field exists.
  • Identify and target the exact custom field for deletion.

This action is essential for automating the maintenance of your Asana environment, ensuring your workspaces remain organized and free of obsolete or unnecessary fields.

Inputs

  1. Connection
    • Purpose: This field establishes a secure and authenticated link to your Asana account.
    • Practical Guidance: You must select a pre-existing Asana connection from the dropdown menu or create a new one to authorize zenphi. This is a static value that you configure once to grant zenphi permission to interact with your Asana data.
    • Use Case Context: You would use this field to give zenphi the necessary access to find and delete a custom field in your organization's Asana instance.
  2. Workspace
    • Purpose: This field's purpose is to specify the exact Asana workspace from which you want to delete a custom field.
    • Practical Guidance: After you establish a connection, zenphi will automatically display a dropdown list of your available Asana workspaces. You can select one directly as a static value. For more complex flows, if a previous step provides a Workspace ID, you can use the token picker to insert that ID dynamically.
    • Use Case Context: You would use the 'Workspace' field to ensure the deletion action targets the correct organizational area, such as the "Marketing Team" workspace.
  3. Custom Field
    • Purpose: This field is used to identify the specific custom field you wish to permanently remove.
    • Practical Guidance: Once a Workspace is selected, this field will populate with a list of all available custom fields within it, allowing you to select one as a static value. Alternatively, you can use the token picker to dynamically provide the ID of a custom field that was identified in an earlier step of your flow.
    • Use Case Context: You would use the 'Custom Field' field to select an obsolete field, like "Legacy Project ID," for removal.

Outputs

This action does not return any output values. If the deletion is successful, the flow will proceed to the next action.

Example Use Cases

  1. Automate Workspace Cleanup Periodically remove obsolete or unused custom fields from projects to maintain a clean and efficient Asana environment.
  2. Decommission Project-Specific Fields Automatically delete custom fields that were created for a specific project once that project is archived or completed.
  3. Enforce Naming Conventions Delete custom fields that do not adhere to organizational standards as part of a regular audit and compliance workflow.
  4. Streamline Data Migration Remove old custom fields after their data has been successfully migrated to a new system or consolidated into other fields.

Example

Scenario: A marketing department has recently phased out a quarterly review process that used a custom field in Asana called "Q-Review Status." To avoid confusion and keep the workspace tidy, an administrator needs to remove this now-obsolete field from the "Marketing Campaigns" workspace.

Steps to Implement:

  1. Set Up a Trigger: Begin the flow with an On-Demand Trigger to run this cleanup task manually when needed.
  2. Configure the "Delete Custom Field" Action: Add the action to the canvas and configure its settings.
    • Connection: Select the appropriate pre-configured Asana connection.
    • Workspace: Choose the "Marketing Campaigns" workspace from the dropdown list.
    • Custom Field: Select the "Q-Review Status" field from the list of available custom fields for that workspace.
  3. Add a Notification Step (Optional): Follow the deletion action with an email or chat notification to inform the administrator that the cleanup task has been successfully completed.

Outcome: By automating this process, the administrator can instantly and reliably remove the obsolete custom field without having to navigate through Asana's settings. This saves time, reduces the risk of manual error, and ensures the "Marketing Campaigns" workspace remains clean and relevant for all team members.

Best Practices

  1. Confirm Before Deleting: Deleting a custom field is a permanent action and cannot be undone. Always verify that the field and its associated data are no longer needed for active projects or historical reporting before executing the flow.
  2. Test in a Sandbox Workspace: Before running this action on a critical, live workspace, test the zenphi flow in a dedicated test or sandbox workspace to ensure it behaves as expected and targets the correct field for deletion.
  3. Use Dynamic Inputs for Bulk Deletion: For large-scale cleanup, use a preceding action like "List Custom Fields" with a filter to identify multiple obsolete fields. Then, loop through the results and use the token picker to dynamically provide the Custom Field ID to the delete action for efficient batch processing.
  4. Implement Error Handling: Add error handling to your flow to catch potential issues, such as the field already being deleted or a permissions error. This ensures your flow can notify an administrator and fail gracefully instead of stopping unexpectedly.

Updated about 3 hours ago