Make data-driven decisions with the Asana API and Asana2sql

As part of our initiative to enable teams to track anything (and everything), we recently launched custom fields. Teams have already used custom fields to collect data on a variety of workflows, from tracking job applicants and software bugs to managing VC deal flow and DNA synthesis.

For an organization to truly thrive, it requires more than seamless collaboration. Managers also need an overview of what’s happening across multiple teams quickly and accurately. Asana’s API opens up exciting possibilities for integrating the information collected in Asana with the other tools you already use. And with Asana2sql, an open source integration that lets you export Asana projects into a common format, you can run more complex and powerful queries on your data.

What is Asana2sql?

Asana2sql is a Python script that generically transforms Asana projects into a database. The integration can handle creating tables, exporting data, synchronizing data, mapping to various database types and more. For instance, you can turn a custom field into a column in your tasks table. (For more details, check out Asana2sql on GitHub.)

How the Asana recruiting team uses Asana2sql

We use custom fields and templates to do all of our applicant tracking in Asana. We built Asana2sql to empower our recruiting team to increase the quality, quantity, and diversity of candidates accepting offers.

To improve our hiring process, we started by asking a lot of complex questions. For example, which interviewers are more likely to have a candidate accept an offer? Does it make a difference if a founder pitches to a candidate versus another senior engineer? What’s the median time spent by candidates at each stage of the funnel? Which interviewers are the most accurate in their hiring decisions?

To help teams stay on the same page, we keep all of our workflows in Asana. But to answer these questions we need to query the data collected in Asana using tools designed for that purpose (like Redshift and Looker). Asana2sql is just one example of how you can leverage the Asana API to make data-driven decisions about your business.

Access (only) the data you need

Asana has different reporting options so that you get the insight you want without the noise (and endless status meetings and emails) you don’t want. The Asana dashboard provides high-level overviews of projects as well as status reports. You can get deeper insight using a reporting app. For example, our Google Sheets integration lets you pull data from Asana projects to create custom reports and visualizations. With our open API, you can export your data to business intelligence tools to answer questions about specific workflows.

We’ve made Asana2sql open source and welcome pull requests. As more users explore the power of custom fields, we’re excited to see how you use our API to do more with the data created in Asana.