---
title: Task Creation Failed → Backup Task Behavior
description: "When the integration cannot create the primary Asana task, the plugin follows a predictable fallback flow so you don’t lose context. #### Event Flow 1. **Plain-text retry.** If the task was rejected because of its rich-text description, the plugin automatically…"
url: "https://brightleafdigital.io/docs/task-creation-failed-backup-task-behavior/"
updated: "2026-10-18"
category: Integrate Asana with Gravity Forms / Troubleshooting
---

# Task Creation Failed → Backup Task Behavior

When the integration cannot create the primary Asana task, the plugin follows a predictable fallback flow so you don’t lose context.

#### Event Flow

1. **Plain-text retry.** If the task was rejected because of its rich-text description, the plugin automatically retries once with the description sent as **plain text**. Most description-related failures recover here and a normal task is created — no backup task is needed.
2. **Error recorded for admins.** If creation still fails, the technical error is saved to the entry (`task_creation_error`) and added as an **entry note**, and the failure is listed in the **Asana Integration dashboard widget**. This happens whether or not the backup task below succeeds.
3. **Backup task attempted** in Asana.
4. **If backup succeeds:**
   - An **entry note** is added with a direct link to the backup task.
   - Any **notifications** tied to *Backup Task Created* are sent.
5. **If backup fails:**
   - An **entry note** is added with the backup attempt error.
   - Any **notifications** tied to *Backup Task Creation Failed* are sent.

#### Backup Task — Exact Details

- **Name:** `Task Creation Failed`
- **Project:** the **Fallback project** configured on the **Settings tab** (GravityOps → Asana → Settings). Putting the backup in a fixed project keeps it findable. If no fallback project is set, the task is created in the connected user’s workspace context without a project.
- **Assignee:** the **Fallback assignee** configured on the Settings tab. If none is set — or the configured user has since been removed — it falls back to the **connected Asana user**.
- **Due date:** **today** (same day as the failed attempt)
- **Description (plain text):**
  - Includes **all mapped task values** the original task would have received (name, description, assignee, due date, project/section, tags, custom fields, etc.) so you can recreate it manually.
  - The description is kept user-friendly; the technical API error is **not** placed on the task (see "Where to See the Details").

> The backup task is created defensively: if the fallback project or assignee no longer exists, the plugin degrades gracefully and still creates the notice (assigned to the connected user, with no project) rather than losing it.

#### Where to See the Details

- **Gravity Forms → Entries → (Entry)**: review the **entry notes** for the technical error and the backup result (with a link if created).
- **Dashboard → Asana Integration widget**: shows a **Recent task creation failures** list with the error and a link to the entry.
- **Asana**: open the backup task (if created) for the copied payload to recreate the task manually.

#### What to Do Next

1. **Read the error** — it will appear either in the **entry note** (if the backup also fails) or in the **backup task description** (if the backup succeeds).
2. **If you can fix the issue**, manually create the desired task in this one‑time instance based on the backup task or entry data.
3. **If the problem can’t be resolved or persists**, enable **Gravity Forms logging** (Forms → Settings → Logging) and contact support with:
   - The error text from the entry note or backup task and logs from the Asana Integration plugin.

**Common Causes to Check**

- **Permissions / Access:** connected user lacks access to the selected **project/section/assignee/tag/custom fields**
- **Malformed rich‑text / merge tags** in the task description
- **Invalid field values** (e.g., wrong enum option, date formats, custom field mismatch)
- **Disconnected / expired OAuth** or **API limits**