thinkfleetai Asana (PAT) skill
This skill provides a dependency-free Node.js CLI that lets the agent use the Asana REST API with a Personal Access Token (PAT).
It is designed to support both:
- Personal task management (quick capture, triage, “my tasks”, lightweight planning), and
- Project management workflows (project briefs, status updates, timelines, dependencies/blockers, custom fields, stakeholder communication).
Setup
1) Create a PAT
Create an Asana personal access token and store it securely. PATs are long-lived and act as the user who created them.
- Asana PAT docs: https://developers.asana.com/docs/personal-access-token
- Asana auth overview: https://developers.asana.com/docs/authentication
2) Configure the skill env var
This skill requires:
ASANA_PAT(required): Asana PAT (Bearer token)
In ThinkFleet, configure skill env vars via skills config (do not rely on host env vars when sandboxed).
- Skills config docs: https://docs.thinkfleet.dev/tools/skills-config
Example config snippet (conceptual):
{
"skills": {
"entries": {
"asana-pat": {
"enabled": true,
"apiKey": "ASANA_PAT",
"env": {
"ASANA_PAT": "YOUR_TOKEN"
}
}
}
}
}
How to call
All commands are executed via the CLI script:
node {baseDir}/scripts/asana.mjs <command> [args] [--flags]
Run:
node {baseDir}/scripts/asana.mjs help
for the full command list.
Key capabilities
Core: tasks + projects
- List tasks assigned to a user (
tasks-assigned) - List tasks in a project (
tasks-in-project) - Create/update/complete tasks (
create-task,update-task,complete-task) - Search tasks with filters (
search-tasks) - Read/update project metadata (
project,update-project) - Sections, project memberships, followers (common PM operations)
Project manager conveniences
- Project brief: read + “upsert” (create or update) (
project-brief,upsert-project-brief) - Status updates: list, create, delete (
status-updates,create-status-update,delete-status-update) - Dependencies / blockers: query + modify (
dependencies,dependents,add-dependencies,remove-dependencies,project-blockers) - Timeline shifting: move dates by N days (
shift-task-dates,shift-project-tasks) - Project dashboard: computed summary snapshot (
project-dashboard)
Custom fields
Custom fields are first-class in PM usage. This skill supports:
- Listing a project’s custom fields (
project-custom-fields) - Reading a custom field definition (
custom-field) - Setting task custom fields when creating/updating tasks (
--custom_fields <json>)
Activity / updates (feed-like)
Asana does not provide a simple “Inbox API” for notifications, but you can approximate “recent changes” via:
events(incremental changes for a resource; maintains a local sync token)search-taskswithmodified_at.after,created_at.after, etc.
Rich text formatting and @-mentions
Asana supports “rich text” fields using XML-valid HTML fragments wrapped in a <body> tag. The rich text version of a field is the same name prefixed by html_ (e.g., notes -> html_notes).
Supported objects include tasks (html_notes), stories/comments (html_text), project briefs (html_text), and status updates (html_text).
- Rich text guide: https://developers.asana.com/docs/rich-text
Creating a mention
To link/mention Asana objects (users, tasks, projects, etc.) in rich text, you can send a minimal link tag such as:
<body>FYI <a data-asana-gid="USER_GID"/></body>
Asana will expand it into a full link when you have access.
Ensuring mention notifications
When adding a comment (story), @-mentions only reliably generate notifications if the mentioned user is already a follower (or assignee) of the task. The recommended pattern is: add follower first, wait briefly, then create the story.
This skill’s comment command supports that pattern via:
--ensure_followers <csv>(user gids/emails/me)--wait_ms 2000(optional)--no_wait true(optional)
Attachments and images
Uploading files (including images)
You can upload files (including images) as Asana attachments using:
upload-attachment --parent <task|project|project_brief_gid> --file <path>
Asana’s attachments endpoint supports uploading a file (multipart/form-data) or creating an external URL attachment. Files are subject to size limits (commonly 100MB).
- Attachments reference: https://developers.asana.com/reference/createattachmentforobject
Listing and inspecting attachments
attachments <parent_gid>attachment <attachment_gid>
Note: attachment download_url values are short-lived (minutes). Prefer permanent_url for a stable Asana link.
Inline images in task notes / project briefs
Asana rich text can include inline images via <img> tags. Inline images are stored as attachments; to embed them you must first upload/attach the image to the same target object, then reference the attachment GID in rich text.
This skill includes:
append-inline-image --attachment <attachment_gid> --task <task_gid>append-inline-image --attachment <attachment_gid> --project_brief <project_brief_gid>
It verifies by default that the attachment is attached to the target object.
Notes and non-goals
- Portfolio operations are intentionally omitted (premium feature; out of scope).
- This skill uses PAT auth only (not OAuth).
- Keep
opt_fieldstight for performance: request only what you need.