Rules can now connect to Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Jira

[Michael-Chen]

Hi Asana Community!

My name is Michael, and I’m a Product Marketer focused on Asana’s Workflows and Platform features. I’m very excited to share that Rules in Asana can now connect to other apps. This new feature will help you automatically take actions in those tools without having to leave Asana, making sure that key pieces of information move with your work when they cross multiple tools.

In our first batch of App Rules, you’ll find actions that connect Asana to Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Jira. Here are some examples of what you could do with App Rules:

• When a task is marked complete, send a message to a Slack channel.

• When to use: Automatically notify the #translation channel when a video production task has been completed

• When a task is moved to a specific section, create a new Jira issue and link it to the Asana task.

• Use case example: Automatically create a Jira ticket when a task is moved from “Triage” to “Assigned”

This launch marks the beginning of many more integrations to come. We hope you are excited as we are and encourage you to explore the different combinations you can create with Rules and App Rules.

Please note: we are gradually rolling out this feature to our customers and you should expect to have access no later than the end of January.

[Paul_Grobler]

This is a great update. Thanks @Michael-Chen !

[James_Zietsma]

Awesome! However, i do not see any rules that are associated with MS Teams. I only see Slack and Jiri listed in my rules

[Marie]

Hi @James_Zietsma, rules for Microsoft Teams should start rolling out later this week, so you’ll soon have access to them

[James_Zietsma]

Thanks!

[Getz_Pro]

WOW, that takes a looooong time to complete.

It took over 2 minutes from the Rule being applied to it showing up in Slack.

Also, there is no indication within the task that the Rule was executed as is the case with other Rules.

[Getz_Pro]

We’ll need ability to run Rules on Milestones so I can Slack a channel when only milestones are reached.

Also:
I don’t like the way Approvals are handled.

So ONLY when an Approval is greened will it Slack. There is no Approval Rejected message sent in Slack.

This goes to the point that an Approval task should never be completed unless greened.

[Getz_Pro]

I wold also like to see a Nudge rule.

When a task is overdue;
@mention assignee;
Slack DM assignee;
Please review this past due task.

[Phil_Seeman]

@Getz_Pro

It took over 2 minutes from the Rule being applied to it showing up in Slack.

Was the trigger for this rule set to “Task added to this project” or some other trigger?

[Getz_Pro]

Task added. Seems there is a delay from last interaction with task prior to sending the call to Slack.

This I guess is to allow all items on the task to be filled out first.

[Phil_Seeman]

@Getz_Pro

Seems there is a delay from last interaction with task prior to sending the call to Slack.

Exactly! It only applies for the “task added” trigger - there is a 2-minute delay for the exact reason you mention. For all other triggers, the external app is notified immediately.

(FWIW I’m lobbying to have that time reduced; personally I think 2 minutes is too long and 15 seconds or so would be a better delay.)

[Getz_Pro]

I could see

if assignee && due date;
15 seconds;
if not;
1 minute

but that might be too much logic than they want to implement.

[abass]

I keep getting an authentication error message after trying to connect it to a second channel in my Slack account:

Super confused as to what to do here, before it automatically authenticated it in the first channel.

Thanks!

[Emily_Roman]

Hi @abass, thanks for reaching out! If the Slack channel is private, you’d need to add the Asana bot to the channel manually and then create the rule. You can do this typing /asana link and you’ll see the option to choose and connect your project to the channel. This is currently how Slack permissions work but our team is aware of this and looking for ways to improve it in the future!

[Caleb_Givens]

This is awesome! Should save me a few Zaps too. Thanks for the update!

[Jose_Martinez]

Hi!

Trying to setup a rule for MSFT Teams, I’m getting an error, see image below

I’ve tried a few things but nothing seems to work. I added the App to Teams overall, which connects just find, I’ve created tasks from Teams and they get added in Asana for example.

I’ve added the Asana App to the specific channel within Teams, but still I get this error when trying to create the rule.

Any help is appreciated, thanks

[Emily_Roman]

Thanks for your report, @Jose_Martinez! If you already linked Asana to the selected channel in Teams and the issue persists, I recommend you to contact our support team so they can help you troubleshoot this issue further: How to contact our Support Team ✉.

As reference, these are the steps to link the teams channel with your Asana project: