How to Quickly Sync Jira issues and Asana tasks with 2-way updates

Published in Apps on , last updated .

This walkthrough will show you how to connect Jira with Asana through Unito’s automated 2-way integration to sync issues and tasks. Similar steps and principles will apply to many other Jira integrations with project management tools including ClickUp, monday.com, Wrike or Trello. We also have a guide on how to sync Jira epics to Asana.

This flow has two goals:

  • Automatically create new Jira issues based on specified Asana tasks and vice versa.
  • Maintain a live, bidirectional sync between tasks and issues so that everyone has visibility over the latest dev work in real-time without needing to manually share or request information. 

Watch as our team walks you through this flow from start to finish:

Why sync Jira issues with Asana tasks?

There are countless ways to benefit from connecting Jira with Asana. To keep things simple, we’ll only describe a few use cases here that are by no means the limit of what can be achieved by connecting Asana tasks with Jira issues. Perhaps a team of developers or scrum masters in Jira need to plan sprints for the upcoming quarter. They might receive work from a team using a different project management tool (in this case, Asana). Management might want to have everyone on the same tool for simplicity, but that’s not always the most practical solution if the goal is to optimize efficiency.

The team in Jira and the team in Asana both need to collaborate with the rest of the organization to provide timelines and report on progress to stakeholders. Syncing these tools with Unito cuts out the friction and enables everyone to stay in their preferred interface without compromise or requiring one team member to copy-paste data back and forth between tools.

Before we connect Jira and Asana to Unito:

  • The Jira account connected to Unito must have administrator access with global permissions.
  • You’ll need to configure Jira for Unito access before building your flow, if you have not previously done so.

Step 1.  Connect Asana and Jira to Unito

Navigate to the Unito App and select +Create Flow. On the next screen, select Start Here to connect Asana and Jira. Choose the accounts you want connected to Unito. In this walkthrough, we’ll select Asana on the left-hand side, and then Jira on the right. You’ll need to specify which account for each tool you wish to connect through Unito, as well as the project names you wish to sync.

See below for an example:

Connect Asana and Jira to Unito Two Way Sync

When you’re ready, click Confirm.

Step 2. Set a two-way flow direction between Jira and Asana

Your data can sync either from only one tool to the other or bidirectionally. Since our goal is to sync project information, we’ll choose a bidirectional, or two-way flow. See below for an example.

Set a two-way flow direction between Jira and Asana Unito sync

NOTE: Here’s a breakdown of each option:

  • One-way from Asana to Jira: tasks created in your Asana Board will appear as new Issues in the connected Jira project, but not vice versa.
  • One-way from Jira to Asana: Issues created in your Jira project will appear as new tasks in your connected Asana board, but not vice versa.
  • Two-way sync: Any new Jira Issues or Asana tasks created in their respective tools will appear in the other (issues as tasks, and tasks as issues).

Click Confirm when you’ve chosen a flow direction. 

Step 3. Set up rules to filter data between Jira and Asana

Now we can set up rules to determine which trigger events will send data between our tools. Select Add a new trigger to establish your rules for each directional flow.

NOTE: These triggers are intended to help you keep only the most relevant information in sync to avoid oversharing unnecessary details. There can be a lot of variability here that will depend on your particular needs and tool setup. You can apply custom labels to your issues or tasks to be even more precise about what kind of data is shared.

In the example below, you’ll see a complete set of rules for a sync between Asana and Jira. We’ve told the system to create an issue in Jira for every open task in the Asana Product roadmap project. 

Set up rules to filter data between Jira and Asana Unito two-way sync

Similarly, in the next example, we’ve set rules to create a new task in Asana for every open issue in the Jira project named “Asana Development.”

Find out more about setting rules.

Step 4. Choose fields to map between Asana tasks and Jira issues

While rules are intended to set triggers for when data should be synced, field mappings determines what information is synced between your tools.

When you first open this screen, you’ll be presented with two options. If you select Auto-map, Unito will pre-populate a list of suggested field mappings which you can then adjust. If you know exactly how you want your fields mapped, Start from scratch.

Learn more about field mappings between Asana and Jira.

Your fields will be automatically mapped for two-way updates, but you can adjust them as needed. With a one-way sync between fields, only the destination field will update automatically when you make changes in the source field.

Click + Add mapping to add additional fields to be synced. To do so, click Select a field for each tool, and find the appropriate field to map. After you’ve chosen a field in one tool, Unito will suggest compatible matches in the second tool when you click on the other drop-down menu. See below for an example:

Choose fields to map between Asana tasks and Jira issues Unito two-way sync

Selecting the gear icon beside a field will allow you to customize the values or statuses within those fields to further customize your flow. In the example below, we have told the system to match priority levels between tools. The field mapped is Priority Level, while the values within are Medium, Low, and High, each in their respective tool.

Unito custom fields two way sync

Click Confirm when you’re satisfied with your field mappings to proceed.

Find out more about setting field mappings.

Step 5. Save and close

And that’s it! You’ve just completed a flow between Asana and Jira. Congratulations!

If you’ve followed the steps above, your flow will now: 

  • Create an issue in Jira for every task in our specified Asana project
  • Create a task in Asana for every issue in our specified Jira project.
  • Allow teams to collaborate between both tools without needing to leave their preferred interface, copy-paste data manually, or request information from the other team about these projects.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know. Our live support team is ready to jump in and lend a hand to make sure your flows always function as intended.

What’s next?

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