Export your Asana Tasks as Plaintext

Modern project management tools like Asana help teams collaborate effectively, but they often store data in proprietary formats. This creates vendor lock-in, making it difficult to access your data if the tool changes or disappears.

To maintain control over your project data, you can export Asana tasks to plain text formats like YAML. This approach provides portability and enables custom analysis and automation.

Data Silos and “Good Enough”

SaaS tools like Asana store data in proprietary formats. While this approach offers certain benefits for vendors, it can introduce challenges for users regarding data accessibility and control. Asana’s export options exist but remain limited. They often don’t capture all task metadata, and manual exports become cumbersome with multiple projects.

The result? Data silos and vendor lock-in. Teams may continue using a tool that no longer fits their workflow because data migration often appears too difficult. This lack of portability affects long-term projects and integrations with other systems.

Many organizations accept “good enough” solutions rather than invest in better data management. Proprietary formats, however, can limit your ability to analyze trends, automate processes, or migrate when needed. It is worth considering whether your current tool truly supports your long-term data goals or if it inadvertently creates an undesirable dependency.

The Power of Plain Text

This is where plain text provides significant advantages. Plain text data, like YAML, is in many ways akin to a physical printed book. It can be read by anyone who understands the language, without needing specialized software or proprietary decoders. This inherent simplicity means it will likely remain readable decades or even centuries from now, long after current software has become obsolete.

Of course, a plain text file is not directly executable, nor does it inherently carry the rich interactive features of a modern application. However, its power lies in its universal parsability and human readability. It serves as a durable, foundational layer for your data.

Syncing your Asana data to YAML offers other benefits, too — easy ad hoc analysis and the ability to improve custom tools.

Here’s a simple example of what an Asana task might look like when exported to YAML:

---
id: '1200694331183094'
path:
  - 1200694331045602
  - 1200694331046858
name: Research data export options
notes: |
  We need to find a way to regularly export our Asana data in a format that's easy to use outside of Asana. 

  Key requirements:
  - Human-readable format
  - Includes all relevant task data
  - Easy to version control
  - Can be automated to run regularly

completed: false
assignee: James Smith

As you can see, the YAML format provides a clear, structured representation of the task’s fields and values. It’s readable by humans and can be parsed by virtually any programming language.

The exported YAML data provides several practical benefits. Regular exports create reliable backups of your Asana data. You can store these backups in multiple locations for redundancy. If you need to migrate from Asana, the YAML format simplifies the process compared to proprietary formats.

With data in plain text format, you can analyze it using various tools. For instance, you might:

Calculate average task completion times across projects
Identify bottlenecks by analyzing task assignment patterns
Generate weekly progress reports using spreadsheet formulas
Create dashboards showing project velocity over time

The structured YAML format also enables automation. You could write scripts to:

Automatically archive completed tasks older than 30 days
Sync high-priority tasks to a different system
Generate alerts when projects exceed estimated timelines
Create summary reports for stakeholder meetings

Vendor lock-in can limit the flexibility of your data. Exporting project data to plain text restores this flexibility, enabling custom analysis and automation through scripts, spreadsheets, or other tools.

Before you begin, it is wise to ensure that any existing project data or configuration files are committed to source control. This provides a known good version to revert to if needed, especially when setting up new data export processes.

Getting Started with House of YAML for Asana

Before implementing any data export process, consider your specific needs. House of YAML works well for teams that want programmatic access to their task data, though it requires some technical setup and ongoing maintenance.

Note that this approach has limitations:

It requires Ruby development environment setup
API rate limits may affect large workspaces
Custom fields and attachments may need additional handling
The export process needs to run regularly to stay current

If these constraints don’t fit your situation, you might consider Asana’s built-in CSV export for simpler needs.

Make sure you have Ruby installed on your system. House of YAML is a Ruby gem, so you’ll need Ruby to use it. I recommend against using system packages, such as those provided by apt-get or brew; instead, use rbenv or mise to install them.
Install the house_of_yaml gem:
```
gem install house_of_yaml
```
Configure the gem with your Asana API key. You can find this in your Asana account settings:
```
require 'house_of_yaml'

HouseOfYaml::Services::Base.add 'asana', asana_api_key: 'your_asana_api_key'
```
Tip: Your Asana API key is a sensitive credential. Avoid hardcoding it directly into scripts that will be committed to source control. Instead, use environment variables or a secure secrets management system to protect it.
Choose a location for your exported YAML files. This should be a directory managed by Git. Initialize a new Git repository there if one doesn’t already exist:
```
mkdir asana-data
cd asana-data
git init
```

Create a Ruby script (e.g., export_asana.rb) with the following content:

require 'house_of_yaml'

repo_path = '/path/to/your/repo'
HouseOfYaml.sync(repo_path)

Run the script:
```
ruby export_asana.rb
```

Commit and push the exported files to a remote Git repository:

git add .
git commit -m "Initial Asana data export"
git remote add origin https://github.com/your-username/your-repo.git
git push -u origin main

Consider setting up a regular task (e.g., a cron job or a GitHub Action) to run the export script periodically. This will ensure that your exported data stays up to date.

Alternative Approaches

While House of YAML offers a robust solution for programmatic data export, it may not fit every use case. When considering how to export your Asana data, several other approaches exist, each with its own set of trade-offs:

Asana’s Built-in CSV Export: This is the most straightforward option for basic data needs. It requires no technical setup and is ideal for one-off exports or simple analyses in a spreadsheet. However, it often lacks comprehensive metadata, can be cumbersome for multiple projects, and is not easily automated.
Third-Party Integration Tools (e.g., Zapier): Tools like Zapier can automate exports and integrate Asana with other services without writing code. They offer a balance of automation and ease of use. The trade-off, though, is often cost, reliance on another vendor, and potential limitations in customization compared to direct API access.
Custom Scripts Using Asana’s API Directly: For maximum control and flexibility, you can write custom scripts that interact directly with the Asana API. This approach allows for highly tailored exports, including specific fields, attachments, and complex filtering. The primary trade-off is the significant development effort and ongoing maintenance required to build and sustain such a solution.

Each of these approaches presents a different balance of complexity, completeness, and maintenance requirements. Your choice will depend on your team’s technical capabilities, the volume and sensitivity of your data, and your long-term data management strategy.

Conclusion

By exporting your Asana data to YAML using tools like House of YAML, you maintain control over your project information. This supports long-term data portability and enables custom analysis and automation. Consider your specific needs when choosing an export approach.