mcp__asana__create_tasks persistent server error with Claude Code

English Forum Developers & API
, ,
1

Yesterday, I set up the Asana-hosted MCP connection in Claude Code. The very first attempt to make a new task worked, and it appeared in Asana. This was in an existing project already containing many tasks. Since then, all create_tasks calls have failed with server_error. I’ve been able to reproduce this for ~24 hours. Other tool calls (update, delete, list) are working just fine.

From what I gather, a project that has never previously had create_tasks called on it will succeed on the first call to create_tasks. After, across Claude Code sessions, all subsequent calls to create_tasks fail for that project.

Reproduction

  1. Tell Claude Code to create a new project → success
  2. Tell Claude Code to create a dummy task in the new project → success
  3. Tell Claude Code to create another dummy task in the same project → server_error
  4. Tell Claude Code to delete the first dummy task (this is a soft delete) → success
  5. Tell Claude Code to create a dummy task in the same project → server_error
  6. Use the Asana web interface to permanently delete the first dummy task.
  7. Tell Claude Code to create a dummy task in the same project → server_error
  8. Tell Claude Code to dump the inputs and outputs:
● Invocation:
  Tool: mcp__asana__create_tasks

  Input:
  {
    "tasks": [{"name": "Dummy task"}],
    "default_project": "1214265558571118"
  }

  Output:
  {
    "succeeded": [],
    "failed": [
      {
        "task": "Dummy task",
        "errors": [
          {
            "error": "server_error",
            "message": "Oops! An unexpected error occurred while processing this request. The input may have contained something the server did not know how to handle. Usually waiting and then retrying the request once fixes this. If the issue is persistent, please navigate to https://help.asana.com and engage with our chatbot, making sure to include the error phrase from this response.",
            "suggestion": "Asana is temporarily unavailable. Ask the user to retry in 30 seconds.",
            "details": {
              "phrase": "16 crazy dogs dive awfully clearly"
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "summary": "Created 0 of 1 tasks."
  }

I had Claude Code try the default_project top-level key, and the task-level project_id field. If both are omitted, task creation succeeds, but in my “My Tasks in Home” project (536372468982), not in the desired project.

Can anyone confirm this issue and how to address it?

More error phrases:

  • 16 crazy dogs dive awfully clearly
  • 7 bizarre bunnies dance terribly angrily
  • 8 glossy peacocks float severely rarely
  • 3 bright reindeer krump really tensely
  • 26 cuddly catfish leap severely clearly

System Specs:

  • Claude Code: 2.1.119
  • OS: Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) x86_64, kernel 6.8.0-110-generic
  • Asana MCP: https://mcp.asana.com/v2/mcp (HTTP streaming)
2

@Mikhail_Melikhov @dbrdak

3

Same here

4

Same issue in Codex, first task create works then all others fail.

5

Since I can’t figure how to edit my previous post here are more details:

I’m seeing the same “first task succeeds, subsequent task creation fails” pattern, but from Codex rather than Claude Code.

Setup/context:

  • Client: Codex Desktop / Codex MCP
  • Server: https://mcp.asana.com/v2/mcp
  • Bridge: mcp-remote@latest
  • Resource: https://mcp.asana.com/v2
  • OAuth callback: http://localhost:3334/oauth/callback
  • Reads/searches/user lookups worked normally.

Observed behavior:

  1. Found an existing project and section successfully.
  2. Created one task successfully in the project.
  3. That first task landed in the default/top project section rather than the intended section.
  4. Moving that first task into the intended section succeeded.
  5. Every later attempt to create another task in the same project failed with Asana server_error.
  6. Retrying only the failed tasks did not help.
  7. Creating a minimal one-line task into the same project still failed.
  8. Creating directly into the intended section still failed.
  9. Creating a task outside the project worked, but adding it back into the project failed, so this seems tied to project membership / project task creation rather than basic task creation.
  10. I also tested whether assignee type was the issue. User IDs and exact emails got past validation in some cases, but still hit the same server error, so it does not appear to be only a guest/email issue.

A few Asana error phrases we saw:

  • 25 goofy klingons feed awfully loosely
  • 4 dusty birds joke terribly honestly
  • 10 gentle hawks laugh really brightly
  • 14 jumpy cheetahs bite somewhat swiftly
  • 13 jolly chipmunks buzz awfully honestly

This seems very close to the report above: first create into a project succeeds, then subsequent creates/add-to-project operations fail for that project. It does not look like an OAuth/config issue because other MCP operations and the first create worked.

Linear MCP works brilliantly if you would like some ideas

6

Hi @Andy_Marquette, thank you for providing such a detailed breakdown of your setup and those specific error phrases. Seeing the “goofy klingons” and “dusty birds” in the logs was actually incredibly helpful.

I’m happy to share that this bug has been fixed. The issue causing subsequent task creations operations to fail after the first success has been resolved. The MCP server should now behave consistently regardless of how many tasks you are pushing to a specific project or section.

Please give it another go with your Codex setup and let us know if everything is working as expected on your end.

7

Thank you! Confirm it is working now using create_tasks tool.

The create_tasks_confirm path doesn’t seem to be working as a preview/confirm human in the loop pop up that I am used to seeing before commiting writes like in Linear but all good for now!