Issue posting custom_fields updates through Asana RestAPI

English Forum Developers & API
,
1

I am updating a task filed in a test project to reflect the time elapsed since creation in a clear way.

I am using the client.tasks.update(task[‘gid’], params=data) function to post this data format:

{
    "data": {
        "custom_fields": [
            {
                "gid": "1202936345777676",
                "enabled": true,
                "multi_enum_values": [
                    {
                        "gid": "1202936345777694",
                        "resource_type": "enum_option",
                        "enabled": true,
                        "name": "< 1 Month",
                        "color": "indigo"
                    }
                ],
                "name": "Age",
                "description": "",
                "created_by": {
                    "gid": "1202108515356173",
                    "name": "Carlo A. Fernandez Benedetto",
                    "resource_type": "user"
                },
                "display_value": "< 1 Month",
                "resource_subtype": "multi_enum",
                "resource_type": "custom_field",
                "type": "multi_enum"
            }
        ]
    }
}

The Asana.error I get is: “ValueError: dictionary update sequence element #0 has length 1; 2 is required”

Any help on the solution would be greatly appreciated

2

Hi,

Here’s the expected format to update a task’s custom fields:

{
 '123455':'a value',
'90364':'42'
}

the first number is the field gid, the second value is the actual value you want, either a dropdown option gid, a text, a number…

Make sure to check out the body parameter on the right of the documentation.

Does this help?

4

Hi Bastien!

Thank you for your answer! Not sure what you mean on the 3rd line of your json, maybe you could help me with the context of my data? It is a custom drop down menu I created to display text in a column of the list view.

I tried with

{
    "data": {
        "custom_fields": {
            "1202936345777676": "1 Month or ++"
        }
    }
}

And with:

{
    "data": {
        "custom_fields": {
            "1202936345777676": "1202936345777694"
        }
    }
}

Both return the same issue.

“ValueError: dictionary update sequence element #0 has length 1; 2 is required”

What would be the 2nd level required?

"Age" : "< 1 Month" ?

5

I am not 100% sure but try the following:

{
custom_fields:{
'1202936345777676':['1202936345777694']
}
}

I’ll explain if it works :slight_smile:

6

Hi Bastian,

Thank you again, but no luck with that either, I tried with this validated json:

{
  "data": {
    "custom_fields": {
      "1202936345777676": [
        "1202936345777680"
      ]
    }
  }
}

& with only:

{
  "custom_fields": {
    "1202936345777676": [
      "1202936345777680"
    ]
  }
}
7

I still get the same json lenght issue:

ValueError: dictionary update sequence element #0 has length 1; 2 is required
8

Can you use Postman for example to validate the format and numbers are correct before moving to another tech stack?

9

The numbers for the custom fields are taken from the full task view that displays them and are correct. According to this: https://community.zapier.com/featured-articles-65/how-to-update-custom-fields-on-an-asana-task-9381

{
  "data": {
    "custom_fields": {
      "1202936345777676": "1202936345777680"
    }
  }
}

Should work, but according to the asana error, my dictionary here on pos 0 (“data”) has a lenght of 1 when 2 is needed, so I don’t know what is expected. We dont have time to download Postman and check for this, but is a simple dict. length (ie. format) error. Is there any example or logs on how other users update this?

Could I please contact your API product owner, devs or support?

10

You can email api-support@asana.com, the Asana dev team almost never answers here.

2 Likes
11

In case anyone runs into this, for custom fileds:

Incorrect:
{
"data": {
"custom_fields": {
"1203012693580045": "1203012693586629"
}
}
}

Correct:
{
"custom_fields": {
"1203012693580045": "1203012693586629"
}
}

Issue solved, thank you again!

1 Like