Migrate from Project KickStart to Asana

Project KickStart Project records map to Asana Projects with the project name, description, planned start and due dates, and cost fields transferred to their Asana equivalents. The source Project ID is stored in a custom text field project_kickstart_id__c for audit traceability. Project KickStart's Projects-as-folders model maps directly to Asana's project container without structural transformation.

Project KickStart Phase records within a Project map to Asana Sections within the corresponding Project. Each Phase becomes a Section header with its description stored as the Section's description field. Phases in Project KickStart represent a planning grouping (typically aligned to a project milestone or deliverable) rather than a standalone work unit, so the Section model in Asana is the closest structural equivalent. Phase-level dates do not map to Asana Section dates (Sections have no date fields); date context is preserved by anchoring the first and last task dates within each Section.

Project KickStart Task records map directly to Asana Tasks. Task name, description, planned start date, due date, percent complete, estimated cost, and any custom task fields transfer to Asana Task fields. Assignee is resolved via email match against Asana workspace users at migration time. Tasks without a matching Asana user are flagged in the reconciliation report for reassignment before the task is committed.

Project KickStart SubTask records map to Asana Subtasks (nested tasks) under the parent Task. SubTask name, description, dates, and assignee transfer directly. Asana supports up to 16 levels of nesting; Project KickStart's SubTask depth is typically one level, so the 1:1 mapping holds without flattening in most cases. SubTask-level custom fields map to custom fields on the subtask record in Asana.

Project KickStart Goal entries are a planning concept with no direct Asana equivalent. We preserve Goals as a multi-line text custom field (goal__c) on the Asana Project record. Goals contain project-level context, success criteria, and strategic alignment notes; we store them intact rather than splitting them into individual custom fields. Customers should verify that Asana's custom field capacity meets their Goal count and that project managers understand where to find this context post-migration.

Project KickStart Obstacle and Risk entries map to either a dedicated Risk Task (with a custom field risk_type__c set to Obstacle or Risk) or to a custom multi-line text field on the Project, depending on the customer's scoping preference chosen during discovery. Risk title and description transfer directly. Risk links (associated tasks or milestones) are stored as text references in a risk_associated_tasks__c field. We do not create Asana's native Goals feature (a separate object at the organizational level) for Project KickStart Risks because the semantic meaning differs.

Project KickStart task assignees (named team members) map to Asana assignee lookups by email address. We build a reconciliation table of every distinct assignee name in the export against the Asana workspace user list resolved at migration time. Assignees without a matching Asana user are flagged for the customer's admin to provision accounts or reassign before the task import phase begins. Active/inactive status is preserved where the destination supports it.

Project KickStart explicit finish-to-start (FS) and start-to-start (SS) dependencies transfer to Asana via the POST /tasks/{gid}/addDependencies endpoint. We resolve source and destination task GIDs during migration, map Project KickStart FS to Asana DependentsEndpoint (task depends on predecessor), and store SS dependencies in a custom text field ss_dependency__c since Asana's native dependency model defaults to finish-to-start. Dependency chains are validated post-load to ensure no circular references were introduced during the transform.

Project KickStart Notes at the Project, Phase, or Task level transfer to Asana Task comments (for task-level notes) or to the Project description field (for project-level notes). Notes are stored as plain text; rich formatting in the source export is preserved where the format is supported. Phase-level notes attach to the first task within that Phase's Section as a comment. We do not create separate Note objects in Asana because Asana does not have a standalone Note object at the project level outside of descriptions and comments.

Project KickStart file attachments linked to Tasks and Projects transfer to Asana Attachments on the corresponding Task or Project record. We map the file path reference from the export to an uploaded file in Asana, preserving original filename and linked record. Customers must provide the actual attachment files alongside the export CSV; file references without corresponding files are logged as missing attachments in the reconciliation report. File path references are updated to reflect Asana's attachment storage location post-upload.

Project KickStart comment log entries on Tasks map to Asana Task comments. Author name, comment text, and timestamp transfer directly. Asana does not support comment threading in the same structure as Project KickStart's log model; comments land in reverse-chronological order in the task's activity panel. Author is stored as the comment text prefix if no matching Asana user is found by email.

Project KickStart Project Templates (outline structure with placeholder tasks and phases) export as Projects in the CSV. We recreate them in Asana as Asana Templates by saving the migrated Project as a Template in Asana. The template retains the Phase/Section structure, task outline, placeholder task names, and planned dates but not the original assignees (templates in Asana use placeholder data). Customers use the template to kick off new projects in Asana post-migration.