Solving Asana's Multiple Trigger Problem in Zapier
If you're using Asana with Zapier, you might have encountered a frustrating issue: updating a single field triggers multiple identical payloads. As one developer noted: "What would happen is when they update a single field, that was triggering at the same time with the same payload... with exactly the same timestamp, everything is identical."
The Problem
When updating custom fields in Asana, each field update can trigger multiple identical webhooks, even though logically it should only trigger once. This creates duplicate downstream actions in your automation workflow.
A Technical Solution: Using Storage
Here's a reliable way to handle this using Zapier's Storage:
- Initial Trigger
- Capture the Asana update trigger
- Store the Payload
- Send the payload to Zapier Storage
- Use a unique identifier (like task ID + timestamp)
- Add a small delay with Delay by Zapier, Queue
- Retrieve and Deduplicate
- Get the stored information
- If multiple entries exist, take only the most recent one
- Process this single payload
As one automation expert explains: "We'll need to store the triggers and then deduplicate from storage and then update. Instead of taking both and triggering both, we just request the information and get how many are back."
Implementation Tips
- Use delay actions strategically
- Consider storage cleanup steps
- Test thoroughly with your specific use case
This solution helps ensure your Asana triggers only process once, maintaining data integrity in your automation workflows.
Would you like me to expand on any part of this solution or add more technical implementation details?
