@ka_nishiyama Either I missed something or I just forgot how I intended to solve this. 
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What I would like to know is whether this is possible.
When “Task (old)” is completed, a new “Task (new)” is created and executes the rule.
I solved this with Zapier and a few rules in Asana.
This is the logic:
- Asana Rule - When a task is added to the project, set a custom field (e.g. “CreationTaskID”) to be the value of the task’s TaskID.
- Asana Rule - When task status is changed to Complete, send a webhook (to Zapier)
- Zapier Rule:
a) Catch Webhook
b) Delay for 1 minute (prevents issues - trust me)
c) Find tasks in Asana workspace with “CreationTaskID”, sorted by due date. (This finds the completed task, and the newly created one, since they both have the same CreationTaskID field, and returns the newer one (the future task).
d) Update Task - update the future task found in step c) in its CreationTaskID field with its actual TaskID. Also use this step to update another custom field named “ZapierUpdateDate”. It adds the current time to this field. I can then use any Asana rule to trigger based on this ZapierUpdateField field being updated.
Hope that helps some people. Works well for me.
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Does anyone know if Asana plans to address this “issue”
Welcome to the forum @Jacqueline_Schwamber !
Not to my knowledge. If so, the topic will likely be marked considered or in-development
Best thing to to is add your vote and voice, and zoom in on the why:
- Why would you call this an issue?
- What impact does this have for you/your team?
- Why would you want it changed?
This helps Asana prioritise.
Thanks @Jan-Rienk I have added my vote. Our team has many recurring tasks that we update associated custom fields when completing. When they renew, we consider them a new task and are currently having to manually clear the custom field selections. If these are not manually cleared, they can result in misinformation being included in that “new task”.
If the field is a “status” field, Custom task types might provide a solution, as new custom task types default to the first status.
We have several fields that are completed per tasks. Are you saying we would have to convert each task type to a custom task?
I should also clarify we have some fields that we would want to selections to remain the same for the recurring tasks. But others like “notes” or “status update” we would want to clear out to enter new.
Let’s say your task has a status field that is a bit more depth than incomplete/complete, for example: “to do”, “doing”, “done”.
Then a new task should always start with “to do”.
Using a custom task type to track the status instead of a field could solve that, as new appearances of a custom task type would start with the first option, instead of field values, which just get copies of the values at the moment the previous recurring task was completed.
Certainly not a solution for multiple custom fields, but maybe it can solve part of the problem.
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I’ve managed to sync an Asana project to a specific outlook calendar and it’s working fine when I add new tasks/milestones to the relevant section. However, I’m having trouble with tasks/milestones that recur on an e.g. annual basis: once the task/milestone is completed, and the new one created in Asana, it doesn’t then appear on the calendar. Any ideas?
@Ellie_Cook3 , Hello and welcome to the Forum!
I have merged your post with an older one discussing the same topic. You will see that there is a workaround provided in this thread. I hope this helps!
Hi @Joanna_Colgan,
I think this is a different topic. Here we are talking about enabling new occurences of a task to trigger rules.
From what I understand of Ellie’s description she’s not using rules but the sync to Outlook functionality.
@Ellie_Cook3, can you confirm? If so, I think it’s best to contact support for this. See: How to contact our Support Team 📧
It’s a bit complicated! I have a rule set up to sync tasks to an outlook calendar, most of these are recurring tasks. When the tasks are completed and another is created (e.g. for the following year), the task doesn’t appear in the Outlook calendar.
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Are you aware that recurring tasks new recurrences don’t trigger rules? Might that be the underlying problem?
Thanks,
Larry
Thanks Larry. No I wasn’t aware, that must be the problem. Is there any workaround in this case?
One workaround:
In general, find a way (rule, manually but with a reminder automated, etc.) to avoid the recurring task if you need a rule triggered.
Thanks,
Larry
I’ve got a workaround that works for my particular needs, perhaps others will find it useful.
Instead of using the built-in recurrence feature which doesn’t trigger “task is added” rules, I used a rule to mimic recurrence by changing the due date:
Key points:
- I have a custom single-select field called “Recurrence” with 4 options (every 2 days, weekly, monthly, quarterly).
- When a task is completed in my project, the rule updates the due date accordingly (using the relative due date option) and marks it as incomplete.
- It also sets a custom priority field to “waiting”, which is what I was trying to accomplish in the first place (when a recurring task is complete, set the priority of the new task to waiting).
A similar result could be achieved using “Create new task” as the rule action instead of changing the status and due dates. Depending on what you’re trying to accomplish, one method may work better than the other.
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I’d call this an issue because recurring tasks behave differently from “normal” newly created tasks in terms of rules, which breaks expectations and adds manual work for something that should be fully automatable.
For our team, the main impact is on weekly operational workflows where we rely heavily on rules and custom fields. Here are two examples:
- We have weekly recurring to‑dos like “Check incoming payments”. Each time the current task is completed, the next occurrence appears in the “My tasks” inbox as a new task. We tag these with a specific custom field and would like a rule to automatically move the new instance into a later section, so people don’t have to manually triage the same recurring task every week. Because the recurring instance does not trigger the rule, this has to be done by hand over and over again.
- We also use recurring tasks for weekly meetings and have a rule that renames the newly created task based on the new date (also based on the value a custom field for weekly meetings). The trigger “task added to project” only fires when the task is completed by an other rule (with setting: allow rule to trigger other rules) – but if someone checks the task manually the automation doesn’t work and we have to correct names and details manually.
I’d like this to be changed so that new instances of a recurring task can trigger rules in the same way as any other newly created task (e.g. “task added to project”, field changes, etc.). That would make recurring tasks first‑class citizens in rule‑based workflows, reduce repetitive manual steps, and keep “My tasks” and meeting tasks clean and correctly structured without workarounds or external automation tools.
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