How do I update a task in asana vs creating a new one?

Hey @Brianna,

You can use paths in your Zap. First add an action to search for Task in Asana. Than add paths. 

Path A- If task exist -> Update Task

Path B - If task does not exist -> Create Task

You can read here more about paths .

​​​​​Hope this solves your problem.

@Troy Tessalone 
So this is the route I was trying to go and I might be doing something wrong, but when I add the “update task” option it has a field for “task” and below that field it says “Either search for an existing task, or "Use a Custom Value" and select the "Task ID" if the task was created by a previous step in this Zap.”

No options come up for existing tasks and when I select “custom fields” there isn’t a field that says “task ID” I did try to use “ID” in that field, but it pulled an error every time. I think this is the step I’m going wrong at, but I’m not sure how to fix it. 

Some of the others options that include “ID” are:
data ID
Workspace ID
Custom fields created by ID
Custom Fields enum Value ID
Custom Fields ID
Projects ID
Data ID

Am I just selecting the wrong option here? There isn’t one that says “Task ID” 

@Troy Tessalone  Yes that’s the one I did. It pulls a “task: Unknown object: 1201255804463324” 

Here is the “update Asana task Action” The name and the notes are copied from the “find or create asana task” which is the previous action to this one. Is it pulling an error because the task before doesn’t always create a task and sometimes it just finds a task?

@Troy Tessalone 
Based on the screenshot the Name/Notes are being populated from the GSheet trigger step.

You are correct they do pull from our Gsheet responses, what I meant was the note section for this action was copied from the note section in the create or find asana task trigger. As in the “Notes” sections for both actions are identical (maybe that’s unnecessary) I assumed by setting it up this way that if someone submits a second response in the gsheet trigger then it would show the zap the fields that I want to update in the updated asana task….I hope that makes sense. 

Can you please post a screenshot of the error?
I actually figured out the error and that is no longer an issue. 

The issue that I’m having is, when a 2nd submission is made on our google sheet it still isn’t updating the task on Asana. It’s just creating a whole new one. 

Here’s an example. 

I ran a test and filled out our application on our google form which creates the new line on the attached google sheet (our trigger). In the test I apply for the front desk position and fill the rest out accordingly and I submit the form. The new line is created in Gsheets which triggers our asana find or create task and everything works up to this point. Beautifully. 

BUT
wait, I’ve decided I want to also apply for the instructor position so I go fill out the application form again. Instead of updating the Asana task that was already created the first time, a whole new asana task is being created so now I’ve got two asana tasks titled “Brianna-front desk” and “Brianna -Front desk, Instructor” 

How can I get it to just update the first one instead of creating a 2nd task. Is it possible?

I would think that I have it set up right since it does create the initial Asana task correctly with each applicant’s information. But while the columns stay the same, the rows are unique since each applicant’s information will be different. Everyone has to include an email address, but of course they won’t have the same ones. 

When the new asana task is created the name of the task pulls 3 different fields from the Gsheet and then in the Notes pulls several different fields from the GSheet. If the Name and Notes fields are the same in the “Find/ Create Task” and in the “Update Task” will those fields be the ones that update if new information is put into the spreadsheet. 

Thank you so  much for your patience on this! I’m still learning!

@Troy Tessalone 

Right as you asked for that I realized what I was probably doing wrong. This is how it was configured, but I should be pulling those fields from the Create task action instead of my Gsheet right? 

 

So instead of the above configuration it should be like this?

Or am I still wrong? *facepalm*