asana_create_subtask

Create a subtask within an existing Asana task to break down work into manageable components. Specify details like name, description, due date, and assignee to organize project workflows.

Instructions

Create a new subtask for an existing task

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`parent_task_id`	Yes	The parent task ID to create the subtask under
`name`	Yes	Name of the subtask
`notes`	No	Description of the subtask
`html_notes`	No	HTML-like formatted description of the subtask. Does not support ALL HTML tags. Only a subset. The only allowed TAG in the HTML are: <body> <h1> <h2> <ol> <ul> <li> <strong> <em> <u> <s> <code> <pre> <blockquote> <a data-asana-type="" data-asana-gid=""> <hr> <img> <table> <tr> <td>. No other tags are allowed. Use the \n to create a newline. Do not use \n after <body>. Example: <body><h1>Motivation</h1> A customer called in to complain <h1>Goal</h1> Fix the problem</body>
`due_on`	No	Due date in YYYY-MM-DD format
`assignee`	No	Assignee (can be 'me' or a user ID)
`opt_fields`	No	Comma-separated list of optional fields to include

Implementation Reference

src/tool-handler.ts:342-382 (handler)

Handler function in the main tool switch statement that processes calls to 'asana_create_subtask', performs HTML validation if notes provided, and calls the AsanaClientWrapper.createSubtask method.

case "asana_create_subtask": {
  const { parent_task_id, opt_fields, ...taskData } = args;

  try {
    // Validate html_notes if provided
    if (taskData.html_notes) {
      const xmlValidationErrors = validateAsanaXml(taskData.html_notes);
      if (xmlValidationErrors.length > 0) {
        return {
          content: [{
            type: "text",
            text: JSON.stringify({
              error: "HTML validation failed",
              validation_errors: xmlValidationErrors,
              message: "The HTML notes contain invalid XML formatting. Please check the validation errors above."
            })
          }],
        };
      }
    }

    const response = await asanaClient.createSubtask(parent_task_id, taskData, { opt_fields });
    return {
      content: [{ type: "text", text: JSON.stringify(response) }],
    };
  } catch (error) {
    // When error occurs and html_notes was provided, help troubleshoot
    if (taskData.html_notes && error instanceof Error && error.message.includes('400')) {
      return {
        content: [{
          type: "text",
          text: JSON.stringify({
            error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error),
            html_notes_validation: "The HTML notes format is valid. The error must be related to something else."
          })
        }],
      };
    }
    throw error; // re-throw to be caught by the outer try/catch
  }
}

src/tools/task-tools.ts:367-404 (schema)

Tool schema definition for 'asana_create_subtask' including input schema with properties like parent_task_id, name, notes, etc.

export const createSubtaskTool: Tool = {
  name: "asana_create_subtask",
  description: "Create a new subtask for an existing task",
  inputSchema: {
    type: "object",
    properties: {
      parent_task_id: {
        type: "string",
        description: "The parent task ID to create the subtask under"
      },
      name: {
        type: "string",
        description: "Name of the subtask"
      },
      notes: {
        type: "string",
        description: "Description of the subtask"
      },
      html_notes: {
        type: "string",
        description: "HTML-like formatted description of the subtask. Does not support ALL HTML tags. Only a subset. The only allowed TAG in the HTML are: <body> <h1> <h2> <ol> <ul> <li> <strong> <em> <u> <s> <code> <pre> <blockquote> <a data-asana-type=\"\" data-asana-gid=\"\"> <hr> <img> <table> <tr> <td>. No other tags are allowed. Use the \\n to create a newline. Do not use \\n after <body>. Example: <body><h1>Motivation</h1>\nA customer called in to complain\n<h1>Goal</h1>\nFix the problem</body>"
      },
      due_on: {
        type: "string",
        description: "Due date in YYYY-MM-DD format"
      },
      assignee: {
        type: "string",
        description: "Assignee (can be 'me' or a user ID)"
      },
      opt_fields: {
        type: "string",
        description: "Comma-separated list of optional fields to include"
      }
    },
    required: ["parent_task_id", "name"]
  }
};

src/tool-handler.ts:38-86 (registration)

Registration of the tool in the all_tools array and exported as list_of_tools (filtered for read-only mode if enabled). Note: createSubtaskTool is included at line 52.

const all_tools: Tool[] = [
  listWorkspacesTool,
  searchProjectsTool,
  searchTasksTool,
  getTaskTool,
  createTaskTool,
  getStoriesForTaskTool,
  updateTaskTool,
  getProjectTool,
  getProjectTaskCountsTool,
  getProjectSectionsTool,
  createTaskStoryTool,
  addTaskDependenciesTool,
  addTaskDependentsTool,
  createSubtaskTool,
  getMultipleTasksByGidTool,
  getProjectStatusTool,
  getProjectStatusesForProjectTool,
  createProjectStatusTool,
  deleteProjectStatusTool,
  setParentForTaskTool,
  getTasksForTagTool,
  getTagsForWorkspaceTool,
];

// List of tools that only read Asana state
const READ_ONLY_TOOLS = [
  'asana_list_workspaces',
  'asana_search_projects',
  'asana_search_tasks',
  'asana_get_task',
  'asana_get_task_stories',
  'asana_get_project',
  'asana_get_project_task_counts',
  'asana_get_project_status',
  'asana_get_project_statuses',
  'asana_get_project_sections',
  'asana_get_multiple_tasks_by_gid',
  'asana_get_tasks_for_tag',
  'asana_get_tags_for_workspace'
];

// Filter tools based on READ_ONLY_MODE
const isReadOnlyMode = process.env.READ_ONLY_MODE === 'true';

// Export filtered list of tools
export const list_of_tools = isReadOnlyMode
  ? all_tools.filter(tool => READ_ONLY_TOOLS.includes(tool.name))
  : all_tools;

src/asana-client-wrapper.ts:237-245 (helper)

Helper method in AsanaClientWrapper that wraps the Asana SDK call to createSubtaskForTask, which is invoked by the tool handler.

async createSubtask(parentTaskId: string, data: any, opts: any = {}) {
  const taskData = {
    data: {
      ...data
    }
  };
  const response = await this.tasks.createSubtaskForTask(taskData, parentTaskId, opts);
  return response.data;
}

mcp-server-asana