Asana Integration
Connect your Asana account to import tasks, sync statuses, and manage work from Sunsama.
Bring your Asana tasks into your daily plan. Browse your projects and My Tasks in a panel beside your task list, drag in what you’ll work on today, and update the Asana task without leaving Sunsama.
Walkthrough
Installation
Go to Settings > Integrations > Asana, or open Asana in the right hand panel, and click Add Asana account. To connect another Asana account, click Add Asana account again.
The same settings page has an Include your activity from this tool in your Daily Highlights? toggle. To disconnect an account, click Remove next to it. If an account needs to sign in again, a Reconnect button appears beside it.
Browsing and importing tasks
Open Asana in the right hand panel (keyboard shortcut Shift S).
Changing Asana workspace or account
If you have more than one Asana workspace or account connected, click the avatar in the top right corner of the panel and pick another workspace.
Viewing projects
The panel opens on My Tasks. Click the project title at the top of the panel to pick another project, or type in the Project: search box to find one. Recently viewed projects appear at the top.
Tasks show in the same order as in Asana, with each task’s section above it. You can also pick a single section of the project.
Searching for a task
Type in the Contains text box and press Enter to search the tasks you’re viewing.
Filtering your view
Click Filter to narrow the list:
- Filter by imported: Hide once imported (the default) or Show even if imported.
- Filter by assignee: Unassigned, Unassigned or assigned to me, or Assigned to me. Shown when you’re viewing a project rather than My Tasks.
- Filter by due date: Show past due date or Hide past due date.
- Filter by completion: Incomplete (the default), Complete, or All.
- Filter by subtasks: Show subtasks inside tasks (the default, as in Asana) or Show subtasks (only) as tasks, which lists only subtasks so you can import them on their own.
Click Sort to sort by Due Date.
Importing tasks
When you’re ready to work on an Asana task, pull it into your plan:
- Drag the task from the Asana panel onto your task list.
- To timebox it right away, switch to calendar view (
J) and drag the task onto your calendar at the time you’ll work on it. Sunsama adds the task to that day and creates a working session on your calendar. - Click the task and choose Add to today (or hover and press
S), or pick another date.
Interacting with imported tasks
An imported Asana task becomes a Sunsama task linked to the original. Click the Asana icon on the task (or hover and press G) to open it in Asana.
Editing the Asana task from Sunsama
Click a task in the panel, or open the imported Sunsama task, to see the Asana task. Changes you make there are saved straight to Asana. You can:
- Complete or reopen the task, and tick its subtasks
- Rename the task: click the title, then press Enter to save or Esc to cancel
- Move it to another section
- Change the assignee and the due date (with or without a time)
- Add or remove tags
- Edit the description, if it’s plain text (descriptions with links or lists are edited in Asana)
- Post comments and @mention a teammate
You can also see the start date, projects, attachments, what the task is blocked by or blocking, and its activity. To add a subtask, click the + next to Subtasks, which opens the task in Asana.
The Sunsama task works like a worksheet for the Asana task. Add notes, subtasks, time tracking and comments there without touching what your collaborators see in Asana.
Understanding synced fields
- Completion: completing the task in Asana completes it in Sunsama. Completing it in Sunsama completes it in Asana while Complete in Asana is on (see Automations).
- Dates: when you import a task, its Asana due date is copied to the Sunsama due date. The task shows on the day you planned it, its Sunsama start date. After import, dates are not synced: changing a date in either app doesn’t change the other. To change the Asana due date, use the Asana preview inside the task.
- Subtasks: open Asana subtasks are copied in as Sunsama subtasks, each linked to its Asana subtask.
Keep Asana in sync via automations
Open the Asana panel in the right hand sidebar and click the Automations tab to control what Sunsama does when you import or complete an Asana task. Automations apply to all your projects, and each connected Asana account has its own settings.
Import automations
What actions should Sunsama take when you import an Asana task?
- Assign to me in Asana: adds you as the assignee on the Asana task. Off by default.
- Assign to channel: sets the channel of the imported task. Turn on Assign channel based on project (on by default) to use the channel linked to the task’s Asana project, or Assign to the same channel and pick a channel for every import.
Completion automations
What actions should Sunsama take when you complete an imported task?
- Complete in Asana: completing the task in Sunsama also completes it in Asana. On by default.
- Show prompt to update the section in Asana: when you complete the task, Sunsama asks which section to move it to, for example from “In Progress” to “Done”. On by default.
Task export to Asana
Export a task to Asana
Drag and drop a task into your Asana panel to export it. This removes the task from Sunsama and creates a task in the project and section you’re viewing, with the title, notes, due date, and subtasks carried over. If you’re viewing My Tasks, the task is created in your workspace and assigned to you.
Copy a task to Asana
Hold ⌘ (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) while you drag to copy the task instead. The task stays in Sunsama, linked to the new Asana task, and the Asana task has a link back to it.
To undo an export, press ⌘ Z (Mac) or Ctrl Z (Windows) within a minute. The first time you export, Sunsama also shows an Undo button.
Sunny and Autoplan
Sunny can read your Asana tasks when you ask about them, for example “what’s due in Asana this week?”. Autoplan also looks at Asana when it drafts your day. To stop Autoplan from using Asana, open Integrations on the daily planning screen and turn Asana off.
Troubleshooting
Using a paid versus free Asana plan
The integration works with free and paid Asana plans. The difference is in search, sorting by due date, and showing subtasks as tasks: these use Asana’s search API, which only paid plans have. On a free plan, Sunsama fetches a limited batch of your most recent tasks and filters and sorts them itself, so some tasks you’d see in Asana can be missing.