Migrate from Merlin Project to Asana

Merlin Project files map to Asana Projects. Each Merlin Project file is a self-contained project with nested Activities, Resources, and Assignments. We extract project metadata (name, start date, notes) from the Gantt view CSV and create a corresponding Asana Project with the project start date set as a custom field since Asana Projects do not have a native start date field separate from the first task due date. Projects are created before any child object import so that Asana GID references are available for task assignment.

Merlin Activities map to Asana Tasks within the target Project. We parse activity_name, start_date, end_date, duration, notes, and custom properties from the CSV. Custom properties defined per project in Merlin appear as additional columns in the export and map to Asana custom fields (text, date, number, or enum depending on content). Task due dates in Asana map from Merlin end_date; start_date is preserved as a custom field since Asana Tasks do not have a native separate start date.

Merlin Milestones export as Activity rows with a milestone flag column. We set the Asana Task's start and due date to the milestone date and mark it as a Milestone subtask within the parent task hierarchy or as a top-level task with the milestone checkbox enabled. Milestone notes migrate as task descriptions.

Merlin Dependencies are stored as predecessor/successor references per Activity in CSV export. We parse dependency_type (Finish-to-Start, Start-to-Start, Finish-to-Finish, Start-to-Finish) and the predecessor task reference. Asana's dependency API supports Finish-to-Start natively; Start-to-Start and Finish-to-Finish dependencies are recorded as custom fields on the task since Asana's UI only exposes Finish-to-Start. We reconstruct the full dependency chain and create Asana dependencies using the Asana REST API after tasks are inserted.

Merlin Resources of type Person map to Asana Users by email lookup. The Merlin Resource export includes resource name, email (if entered), type, and hourly rate. We match by email against the destination Asana workspace members. Any Merlin Resource without an email or without a matching Asana User is placed in a reconciliation queue for the customer's admin to provision access before the migration runs. Hourly rates from Merlin are stored in a custom field on the migrated tasks for reference.

Merlin Resource types for equipment and materials do not have a direct Asana equivalent. Equipment resources map to a custom multi-select field (resource_type) on tasks with the value set to the equipment name. Material resources map to tags on the task. We recommend the customer's admin defines these custom fields in Asana before migration begins.

Merlin Assignments (the linking table between Activities and Resources) export as rows with activity reference, resource reference, allocation percentage, and work units. We resolve the Asana Task GID from the Activity mapping, the Asana User GID from the Resource-User lookup, and set the task assignee. Allocation percentage is preserved as a note on the task since Asana does not have a native task-level allocation percentage field; we recommend a workload management review after migration.

Merlin Attachments export as a CSV list with file names, paths, and parent activity references. We extract the file list and upload each file to the corresponding Asana Task as an attachment via the Asana Attachments API. File metadata (original upload date, file size) is preserved in the attachment record. Attachments are uploaded after all tasks exist in Asana to ensure the parent task GID is available.

Merlin Custom Fields defined at the Activity level appear as additional columns in the Activity CSV export if the exported view has those columns visible. We map column data types to Asana custom field types: text strings to text, dates to date, numbers to numeric, and enumerated values to enum. We create the custom fields in Asana under the project or organization's field library before migration, then populate values during task insert. Any custom field not visible in the exported view is omitted and flagged in the export checklist.

Merlin Activity Notes appear as a column in the exported view if the Notes column is visible. We migrate the Notes content as the Asana Task description (rich text). If the customer used Merlin's internal comments or annotations, these are not separately exportable and are flagged as a manual handoff item for the customer to copy manually into Asana task comments post-migration.

Merlin scheduling constraints (As Late As Possible, As Soon As Possible, Fixed Dates) are in-app flags that do not have a standard export field. We ask customers to document constraint values manually before migration and map them to Asana custom fields (constraint_type, constraint_date). Scheduling conflict indicators shown in Merlin's UI are not exported data and are not migrated; the destination system re-evaluates constraint validity independently.

Merlin Mindmap views cannot be exported to CSV or any interchange format. The brainstorming structure captured in Mindmap views is documented as a manual rebuild item. We ask the customer to screenshot the Mindmap view before migration and deliver a written guide for recreating the structure as a task hierarchy in Asana. This is a post-migration admin task, not a programmatic migration item.

Merlin's Kanban view is a visual board representation of Activities with status columns. The underlying Activity data is captured in the Activity export, but the board layout and column structure are not exportable. We migrate the Activity status column (if visible in the exported view) to an Asana custom field that can serve as the basis for an Asana Board view. The specific column structure and WIP limits from Merlin Kanban are documented for manual rebuild in Asana's Board view.

The Merlin Netplan view is a network diagram visualization over the dependency and scheduling data. It has no export format. The underlying Activities, Dependencies, and scheduling data are fully captured in the Activity and Dependency exports. We deliver a written guide for the customer to rebuild the network view in Asana's Timeline view using the migrated dependency chain. The Netplan visualization itself is not migratable.

Merlin Reports are in-app generated charts and summaries with no export capability. The underlying data driving those reports (Activities, Resources, assignments) is fully migrated. Asana's reporting (Dashboards, Portfolios, custom formulas) replaces Merlin Reports. We deliver a written report inventory from the customer's screenshots taken before migration with recommended Asana Dashboard widget configurations for each.