How to Quickly Sync Jira Issues and Asana Tasks with 2-way Updates
This walkthrough will show you how to connect Jira with Asana with automated 2-way updates to keep your issues and tasks in sync. Unito’s simple no-code Asana-Jira integration enables anyone on your team to quickly set up a workflow that turns newly created issues into tasks and vice versa with a range of options in between. You can do this both with Jira Cloud and Data Center.
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 Asana-Jira integration from Unito has two goals:
- Automatically create new Jira issues based on specified Asana tasks and vice versa.
- Maintain a live, bidirectional sync between both project management software 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:
In this article:
- Step 1. Connect Asana and Jira to Unito
- Step 2. Choose a flow direction for creating tasks and/or issues
- Step 3. Filter out unrelated tasks from syncing between Asana and Jira
- Step 4. Link fields between Asana and Jira
- Step 5. Launch your Jira Asana integration
- Examples of custom field mappings between Jira and Asana
Setup in Jira
If you’re connecting Jira to Unito via OAuth2, then there are no extra steps to sync your Asana data other than the on-screen instructions when adding your account for the first time:
Here’s a separate guide on how to connect a local Jira Server on-premise to Unito. You can also connect your server via ngrok.
Here’s how to configure Jira if you aren’t using OAuth2 (click to expand)
There are a few steps involved before we can set up a two-way sync with Unito, but we promise it’s worthwhile. The benefit of eliminating manual tasks for your team indefinitely far outweighs the time it takes to set up your automation rules now. So let’s dive in.
- The Jira account connected to Unito must have administrator access with global permissions.
- Here’s a guide if you need help to configure Jira for Unito access before building your flow. Specifically you’ll need to:
- Set your Jira contact email visibility to anyone from your Jira profile page.
- Then, set up an application link in Jira so that your issues can sync to Asana.
Step 1. Connect Asana and Jira to Unito
- Navigate to the Unito App or access Unito from Jira and select +Create Flow.
- 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.
![Connect Asana and Jira to Unito Two Way Sync](https://unito.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Asana-Jira-Connect.png)
When you’re ready, click Confirm.
Step 2. Choose a flow direction for creating tasks and/or issues
Flow direction determines where your manually created tasks or issues get automatically created by Unito. You can either set a one-way or a two-way flow direction. In a one-way flow, there is a source and destination tool.
Manually created tasks or issues in the source tool will be automatically created by Unito. Since our goal is to sync project information, we’ll choose a bidirectional, or two-way flow.
![Set a two-way flow direction between Jira and Asana Unito sync](https://unito.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Asana-Jira-2-Way-Flow.png)
Click Confirm when you’ve chosen a flow direction.
Step 3. Filter out unrelated tasks from syncing between Asana and Jira
Now we can set up rules to determine which trigger events will send data between our tools. Select Add a new rule to establish your rules for each directional flow.
Here’s an example of a basic set of rules between Asana and Jira in which every task created in either tool will create a synced task (or issue in Jira) in the other app.
![Set up rules to filter data between Jira and Asana Unito two-way sync](https://unito.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Asana-Jira-Rules.png)
NOTE: Rules are intended to help you keep only the most relevant information in sync to avoid oversharing unnecessary details. You can apply custom labels to your issues or tasks to be even more precise about what kind of data is shared.
Here’s a more advanced set of rules designed to include only specific Asana tasks to Jira:
![A screenshot of the rules screen in Unito, used to filter the Asana tasks that are synced to a Jira project.](https://unito.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Asana-Jira-Advanced-Rules.png)
Find out more about setting rules.
Step 4. Link fields between Asana and Jira
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.
Learn more about field mappings between Asana and Jira.
![A screenshot of Unito's mapping selection screen.](https://unito.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Asana-master-project-mappings-method-selection.png)
- Click + Add mapping to add additional fields to be synced.
- Then, 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](https://unito.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Asana-Jira-Fields.png)
Selecting the gear icon beside a field will allow you to customize the values or statuses within those fields to further customize your flow. For example, you can append the Jira issue number to your Asana task name:
![](https://unito.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Asana-Jira-Append-Number.png)
Configuring grouped values vs. individually paired values
Within this sub-menu of field mappings, you can configure your field mappings to group values together. Values represent the different states of single or multi-select fields (e.g., types of status, priority, a team or department within your organization, stages of a deal, etc.).
Note: If you don’t configure your fields as pictured, then your flow will refer to your default rules when syncing.
This is an example of values that have been paired up individually:
That means, in the example below, if the status is set to “stuck” in one tool, it will be assigned the “stuck” status in the other:
![](https://unito.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Asana-monday-values.png)
Here’s an example of “grouped” values:
![Syncing status between Asana and Jira](https://unito.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Asana-Jira-Status-Mapping.png)
Find out more about setting field mappings.
Save and launch your new Jira Asana integration
And that’s it! You’ve just completed a flow between these tools. 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 after syncing Jira Asana with Unito’s automated integration?
- If you’d like to see this flow in action, we encourage you to read this case study about one of our customers.
- Learn how to duplicate this flow to suit other use cases you may have in mind.
- Read more about Unito’s integrations for Asana and Jira to better understand their capabilities and limitations.
- Or follow a similar guide to:
- Sync Jira to Notion
- Link Jira issues with Trello cards
- Connect Jira projects to Wrike
- Connect projects between Jira and Jira Service Management
- Sync tasks between Jira and monday.com
- Sync jira issues between multiple projects
- Connect Jira and HubSpot
- Link Jira to Azure DevOps
- Merge issues between Jira and GitHub
- Sync Jira issues to Airtable
- Link tasks between Jira and ClickUp
- Send Jira issues to an Excel spreadsheet
- Export Jira to Google Sheets
- Connect Jira Service Management to ServiceNow
- Send tickets from Zendesk to Jira
- Connect Jira to Smartsheet
- Here’s a guide to integrate GitLab and Jira with Unito.
- We also have a series of Asana guides including:
Examples of custom field mappings between Jira and Asana
Here’s a closer look at a more complex set of field mappings between a Jira and Asana project. In this example, the Jira project has several custom fields synced one-way to Asana so the team in Asana can stay up to date on information from Jira.
Syncing Jira and Asana to manage product launches
The Asana project is part of a go-live initiative for a product launch. With this workflow, both teams will be on top of any issues that need to be resolved before the launch happens. The “Jira next point of contact” custom field is used by this team to indicate who’s responsible for the next step in each process.
![Screenshot of complex workflows in Unito syncing Asana and Jira.](https://unito.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Asana-Jira-In-Depth-Fields.png)
Each field with a blue question mark indicates a custom field synced by Unito. This is where the power of 2-way sync truly shines – by enabling you to sync any fields you can create to match your use case.
Clicking on the gear icon shows the variety of values that can be paired within each set of linked fields:
In this example, the team has synced a custom “NetSuite Process” field one-way from Asana to Jira to ensure that teams in Jira are kept in the loop about which NetSuite process each task pertains to.
![A screenshot of field mappings in Unito, syncing Jira and Asana.](https://unito.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Asana-Jira-Values-Custom.png)
The flow direction for this field is one-way only because the team in Asana is the primary team working on these processes and they want to maintain control over the status and categorization of tasks. This kind of transparency can help teams coordinate their efforts and avoid duplicating work.
![A screenshot of field mappings in Unito, syncing Jira statuses and Issue statuses.](https://unito.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Asana-Jira-Values-Custom-2.png)
Why sync Jira issues with Asana tasks?
Break your teams out of data silos easily
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.
Collaboration through smooth automation
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.
Bring business and technical teams together
Your Jira project is a powerful platform for technical teams that need to manage their work in an agile way. But if important context for a ticket is trapped in an Asana task, that work can come to a screeching halt.
With Unito’s integration, you can bring business and product teams closer together so they can work seamlessly without anyone having to copy and paste data back and forth. Here are just a few Unito customers who do exactly that:
- The University of Oregon saves a day’s work by syncing Jira issues with associated Asana tasks
- Coveo saves 1,000 hours by keeping engineering and technical teams in sync with the broader organization
FAQ: Syncing Jira issues and Asana tasks
Can Asana integrate with Jira?
Yes! With Unito you can build a flow in minutes, which will push data from Asana to Jira and keep everything in sync in both tools.
Can you migrate Asana to Jira?
There’s no built-in solution for migrating your Asana data over to Jira, beyond CSV exporter tools. It’s usually recommended that you use a third-party solution to automate this process. Unito’s integration allows you to run a phased migration that’s kept continually in sync as you work.
How do I add a Jira ticket to an Asana task?
While you could do so manually, the best way to do this is with Unito’s integration. With a single flow, you can turn a Jira issue into an Asana task automatically, and sync any updates between both tools.