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Find Task

Definition

The Find Task action allows you to retrieve all the detailed information for a single, specified task from your Asana account. By providing a Project and a Task ID, you can access a comprehensive set of data points about that task, which can then be used in subsequent steps of your automation.

  • Key capabilities:
    • Locates a specific task within a designated Asana project using its unique ID.
    • Retrieves a wide range of task attributes, including its name, description, due dates, completion status, and assignee information.

This action is fundamental for any workflow that needs to act upon or make decisions based on the current state of a specific Asana task.

Inputs

  1. Connection

    • Purpose: This field is for establishing a secure, authenticated link to your Asana account.
    • Practical Guidance: You will typically select a pre-configured Asana connection from a dropdown menu. This tells zenphi which Asana workspace to access. This is always a static value selected when building the flow.
    • Use Case Context: You would use the 'Connection' field to authorize zenphi to find tasks in your specific Asana instance.

  2. Project

    • Purpose: This field specifies the Asana project where the task you are looking for is located.
    • Practical Guidance: After you select a connection, a dropdown list of your available Asana projects will appear. You can select a project from this list (static value). Alternatively, you can use the token picker to insert a Project ID from a previous step, such as a "Create Project" action (dynamic value).
    • Use Case Context: You would use the 'Project' field to narrow the search and ensure zenphi finds the task in the correct location.

  3. Task Id

    • Purpose: This field requires the unique identifier of the exact task you wish to retrieve.
    • Practical Guidance: While you can type in a specific ID (static value), this field is most powerful when used with the token picker. For example, in a flow triggered by "When a new task is created," you would use the 'Task Id' token from the trigger to dynamically find the newly created task's information.
    • Use Case Context: You would use the 'Task Id' field to tell zenphi precisely which task's details you need to fetch for the workflow.

Outputs

  1. Task id

    • Data Description: This output provides the unique identifier for the retrieved task.
    • Workflow Utility: This ID is essential for interacting with the same task in later steps. For example, you can pass this token to an 'Update Task' or 'Add Comment to Task' action to ensure you are modifying the correct item.

  2. Name

    • Data Description: This is the title or name of the Asana task.
    • Workflow Utility: This is useful for creating user-friendly notifications or logs. You could use it in an email subject like, "Status update for task: [Name]," or to name a document created based on the task.

  3. Created At

    • Data Description: The exact date and time when the task was created.
    • Workflow Utility: This timestamp can be used for reporting, calculating task age, or for archival workflows that trigger after a task has existed for a certain period.

  4. Modified At

    • Data Description: The date and time when the task was last edited or changed.
    • Workflow Utility: This is useful for triggering flows that need to run only when a task has been updated, allowing you to sync changes to other systems.

  5. Completed

    • Data Description: A boolean (true/false) value that indicates whether the task is marked as complete.
    • Workflow Utility: This is perfect for conditional logic. You can use an 'If/Else' branch to perform different actions based on whether a task is complete, such as sending a confirmation email if true or a reminder if false.

  6. Assignee Status

    • Data Description: The status of the task in the assignee's "My Tasks" list (e.g., 'today', 'upcoming', 'later').
    • Workflow Utility: This allows for more granular workflow logic, such as escalating a task if its 'Assignee Status' hasn't changed for several days.

  7. Completed At

    • Data Description: The date and time when the task was marked as complete.
    • Workflow Utility: This output is valuable for calculating task completion time (from 'Created At' to 'Completed At') for performance metrics and reports.

  8. Due on

    • Data Description: The date on which the task is due (without a specific time).
    • Workflow Utility: This can be used to send daily summary emails of tasks due on a particular day or to set reminders in other applications.

  9. Due At

    • Data Description: The specific UTC date and time on which the task is due.
    • Workflow Utility: This is ideal for creating precise, time-based reminders. For example, you could set up a flow to send a chat message to the assignee two hours before the 'Due At' time.

  10. Start on

    • Data Description: The date on which work for the task is scheduled to begin.
    • Workflow Utility: This can be used to trigger kickoff processes, such as creating a preparatory document or sending a notification that a task is about to begin.

  11. Start At

    • Data Description: The specific UTC date and time when work on the task is scheduled to begin.
    • Workflow Utility: This allows for precise automation at the start of a task, such as changing a project status or notifying team members that work has commenced.

  12. Permalink Url

    • Data Description: A direct, clickable URL that links to the task within the Asana web interface.
    • Workflow Utility: This is extremely useful to include in notifications (email, Slack, Teams). It allows users to click the link and navigate directly to the task to take action.

  13. Description

    • Data Description: The detailed notes, instructions, or content from the task's description field.
    • Workflow Utility: This content can be passed to other systems. For example, you could use the 'Description' to populate the body of a new document in Google Docs or a new issue in Jira.

  14. Workspace

    • Data Description: An object containing the ID and Name of the Asana workspace where the task resides.
      • Id: The unique identifier of the workspace.
      • Name: The display name of the workspace.
    • Workflow Utility: The 'Workspace ID' can be used in advanced automations that might need to interact with workspace-level settings or other actions that require a workspace context.

  15. Assignee

    • Data Description: An object containing the ID and Name of the user assigned to the task.
      • Id: The unique identifier of the assignee.
      • Name: The display name of the assignee.
    • Workflow Utility: The 'Assignee ID' is crucial for reassigning tasks or looking up more user details. The 'Assignee Name' is perfect for personalizing notifications, for example: "Hi [Assignee Name], this is a reminder for your task."

  16. Projects

    • Data Description: A list of all projects that this task is a part of. Each item in the list is an object containing the project's ID and name.
      • Id: The unique identifier of the project.
      • name: The display name of the project.
    • Workflow Utility: This list can be used in a 'For Each' loop to perform an action for every project the task belongs to, or in a conditional step to check if the task is part of a specific high-priority project.

Example Use Cases

  1. Automate Status Notifications Retrieve a task's details to automatically send an email or chat notification with its current status, assignee, and due date.
  2. Create Conditional Workflows Use the 'Completed' status from a found task to trigger different automation paths, such as archiving the task if it's complete or sending a reminder if it's not.
  3. Sync Task Data Across Platforms Find a specific task to copy its description, name, and due date into a corresponding item in another tool like Jira, a Google Sheet, or a project management report.
  4. Generate Direct Task Links Fetch the 'Permalink Url' to include a clickable link directly to the Asana task in automated emails or messages, allowing stakeholders to navigate to it instantly.

Example

Scenario: A marketing team uses a zenphi Form for team members to submit requests for new creative assets. When a form is submitted, a task is created in Asana. To ensure the requester is kept informed, an automated email needs to be sent back to them confirming the task details, including the task name and a direct link to track its progress in Asana.

Steps to Implement:

  1. Set up a "zenphi Form" trigger for the "Creative Asset Request" form. This will start the flow whenever a new request is submitted.
  2. Add a "Create Task" action for Asana. Use the inputs from the form to set the task name and description. This action will output the Task ID of the newly created task.
  3. Configure the "Find Task" action with the following settings:
    • Connection: Select the appropriate pre-configured Asana connection.
    • Project: Choose the "Creative Asset Requests" project from the dropdown list.
    • Task Id: Use the token picker to insert the Task id output from the "Create Task" action in the previous step.
  4. Add a "Send Email" action from the Gmail connector.
  5. Compose the email using tokens from the "Find Task" action's outputs. For example, the subject line could be "Your request for '[Name]' has been created," and the body could include, "You can track the progress of your request here: [Permalink Url]."

Outcome: This automation creates a seamless feedback loop. The requester immediately receives a confirmation email with accurate details and a direct link to the Asana task. This eliminates manual follow-up, ensures transparency, and saves the marketing team time by automating communication for every new request.

Best Practices

  1. Use Dynamic Task IDs For robust automation, always use the token picker to provide the Task Id from a previous trigger or action (e.g., "Create Task" or "When a new task is created"). Hardcoding a static ID makes the workflow inflexible and prone to breaking.
  2. Leverage the Permalink URL for Notifications The Permalink Url output is one of the most valuable pieces of data for user-facing communication. Including this direct link in emails, Google Chat messages, or Slack notifications allows users to instantly access the task without searching for it in Asana.
  3. Incorporate Conditional Logic Use the boolean Completed output to build smarter workflows. Add an "If/Else" branch after the "Find Task" action to perform different steps based on whether the task is complete, such as sending a reminder to the assignee if Completed is false.
  4. Combine with Loops for Bulk Processing If you have a list of task IDs (e.g., from a Google Sheet or another system), you can use a "For Each" loop. Place the "Find Task" action inside the loop to retrieve and process the details for each task in the list individually.

Updated about 3 hours ago