Key takeaways
- Asana shows no task total or storage figure, so a developer sums num_tasks across projects with the task counts API; the sum is an upper bound because a task can sit in several projects.
- The complete JSON backup is the organization export, which a service account starts through the API on Enterprise+ or on Enterprise with the Compliance management add-on.
- Personal, Starter and Advanced export one project at a time as CSV or PDF, and Asana's download links expire after about 1 hour.
- You don't need to export anything to apply: have your task count, years of history and seat count ready, and the data vendor anonymizes the records before any AI lab sees them.
01
What is Asana data, and why do AI labs and data vendors buy it?
The short answer
Asana data is the history of a company's tracked work across every department: each task, who it was assigned to, when it was due, the comments people left on it, and how tasks were grouped into projects and goals. AI labs (companies that build and train AI models) and data vendors (companies that anonymize business records and package them for those labs) buy a copy because a task shows how ordinary business work, such as a marketing launch or a legal review, is planned, handed between people and finished.
What an Asana account records
Asana is a work-management app used by teams in marketing, operations, legal, finance and engineering alike. A company's records in it are organized in layers.
- Task
- One piece of work, with an assignee (the person responsible), a due date, a description and any custom fields.
- Project
- A collection of tasks for one piece of work, such as a product launch or a new-hire onboarding.
- Custom field
- An extra column a team adds to its tasks, such as priority, budget or approval status.
- Portfolio and goal
- A portfolio groups projects so leaders can follow them together. A goal states a company target that projects and tasks are linked to.
- Comment
- The conversation on a task, where people ask questions and hand work back and forth.
Why an Asana task teaches an AI model something
An AI model learns by studying a very large number of examples and finding the patterns in them, and those examples are called training data. A task is a small, complete example of a job in any department: what needed doing, who did it, how long it took and what was said along the way.
AI labs now want to train AI agents, software that carries out a job step by step. Projects, portfolios and goals link daily tasks to larger plans, so an agent can learn how a company breaks a goal into steps and whether the steps were finished. The full mechanism is in AI training data: why AI companies want your company's data.
How Asana fits into a dataset
Asana is one of several apps in a company's dataset, which usually also includes chat, email and documents. Companies are paid $100K to $2M or more per dataset, according to micro1, the data vendor we typically refer companies to. The price covers the whole dataset, not each app on its own, and what your data is worth explains what moves it.
02
Where does Asana show how much data you have?
The short answer
Asana shows neither a storage figure nor a total task count in its documented admin pages. A developer can read the num_tasks field for each project from the task counts endpoint of Asana's API and add the results together. The sum is an upper bound, because a task that sits in several projects is counted once in each.
How to count your tasks
The count needs a short script, because it asks the API for one project at a time. The steps below describe what the developer does.
- Pick an account that can see every project in the workspace or organization. On Enterprise plans, a super admin or a service account is the best choice.
- Have the developer list the projects through the Asana API.
- For each project, call GET /projects/{project_gid}/task_counts with opt_fields=num_tasks. Asana excludes every field of this endpoint unless you ask for it by name.
- Add the num_tasks values from all projects. Milestones are tasks in Asana, so they are inside that number.
Asana describes the endpoint in its task counts reference.
What limits the count
The endpoint works for any project the access token can see, so a token with narrow access undercounts. It also has its own rate limit on top of the normal ones, and each field costs a lot against Asana's request budget, so a large workspace takes patience.
| Item | What to know |
|---|---|
| Task counts endpoint | Works for any project the token can see; extra rate limit applies |
| Admin console | Listed on the Enterprise and Enterprise+ plans |
| Super admin role | Enterprise and Enterprise+ only |
Why the sum is an upper bound
A task can belong to more than one project, and the endpoint reports each project separately. The same task is therefore added once per project. Comments and attachments belong to tasks, so the task total is the right number to report.
03
What should you know about your Asana data before you apply?
The short answer
Have three facts ready: how many tasks your Asana account holds, how many years it has been in use and how many people hold a paid seat. They go into the data manifest, the written summary of which apps hold your records, how many years each covers and roughly how much. Applying shares no data, and you don't need to run an export first.
The number of tasks
Report the summed task count as records, and mention that it is an upper bound if many tasks sit in more than one project. If the script could not see some private projects, say so, because the figure is then a minimum.
The years of history
Use the creation year of your oldest project, or the year the company started paying for Asana, whichever is earlier.
The number of seats
Seats are the paid members billed on your Asana plan. Free guests, such as clients invited into a project, do not count as paid members.
What you don't need to do first
You don't need to export anything to apply, and you don't need to clean or scrub the records. The data vendor anonymizes them before anyone else sees them, and nothing moves until a lawyer-reviewed license is signed. The application, the intro call and each later step are laid out in how to sell your company's data.
04
How do you export your full Asana history?
The short answer
Asana's complete JSON backup of an organization is the organization export, which a service account starts through the API on Enterprise+ or on Enterprise with the Compliance management add-on. Personal, Starter and Advanced plans can only export one project at a time as CSV or PDF. Large organizations can wait from several minutes to a few hours, and the download link works for about an hour.
Which plan gets which export
The plan decides the whole route, so confirm it first. Asana's pricing page lists the organization export, a complete JSON backup, under Enterprise+ and as part of the Compliance management add-on for Enterprise.
| Plan | Export route | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Personal, Starter, Advanced | Export each project on its own | CSV and PDF |
| Enterprise with the Compliance management add-on | Organization export through the API | Gzipped JSON |
| Enterprise+ | Organization export through the API | Gzipped JSON |
| Enterprise and Enterprise+ | Graph exports and resource exports through the API | Gzipped JSON; JSON Lines for resource exports |
The steps for an organization export
Asana's organization export reference says these endpoints are available only to service accounts of an Enterprise organization. A service account is a special account that scripts use instead of a person.
- Confirm the plan: Enterprise+, or Enterprise with the Compliance management add-on.
- Have a service account send POST /organization_exports with the organization's gid, which is Asana's numeric identifier for it.
- Request the export again every few minutes until its state field says finished. Large organizations can take from several minutes to a few hours.
- Download the gzipped JSON file from the download_url straight away. The link stays valid for about 1 hour, so ask for a new one if it has expired.
The steps for Personal, Starter and Advanced
These plans have no complete backup. Export each project to CSV and combine the files afterwards, and open one sample file first to confirm it holds the fields you need before you repeat the work for hundreds of projects.
Graph and resource exports on Enterprise
Asana also offers two bulk exports to Enterprise and Enterprise+ organizations, described in its graph exports guide. A graph export starts from one goal, team, portfolio or project and returns the data beneath it. A resource export returns tasks, teams and messages for a whole workspace. Both arrive as gzipped files with a link that expires after 1 hour, and a graph export of more than 1,000 tasks is cached for 4 hours, so a repeat request in that window returns the same file.
What each export holds
What an export leaves out
Asana describes the organization export as covering all projects, tasks, comments and custom fields. It does not say whether attachment files are inside, so ask Asana or check a sample before relying on them. Project CSV exports cover one project at a time, and their contents vary, so sample one before you commit to the route.
How long an export takes
Asana gives a range of several minutes to a few hours for large organizations, and the only way to know is to keep checking the state of the request.
Sources: Asana, pricing, Create an organization export request, Get task count of a project and Graph exports. Steps checked against these pages in November 2026.
05
What stays private when Asana data is licensed?
The short answer
The company decides which teams and projects are in scope, and the data vendor replaces names and other personal details with consistent stand-ins before an AI lab sees anything. The company keeps ownership of its Asana history, and the license covers defined records for a defined use.
You choose what is in scope
A company can leave private projects, such as HR or finance work, out of what it licenses. The data vendor also deletes records that are too sensitive to clean safely instead of anonymizing them.
Names are replaced before a lab sees them
Anonymization means replacing every detail that identifies a person, such as a name or an email address, with a stand-in that is the same every time it appears. The task still reads in order, so a lab can learn from it, but it no longer says who was involved. The diagram shows one task before and after.
The method, including what is deleted outright and how you review samples, is in how company data is anonymized for AI training.
Ownership and payment
Licensing gives the buyer limited rights to a copy, while the company keeps ownership of the originals. Exclusivity, permitted use and deletion are covered in data licensing. micro1 pays in full within 30 days of accepting the data, usually as a single payment.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Can I export my whole Asana organization on the Advanced plan?
No. Asana lists CSV and PDF exports for Personal, Starter and Advanced. The complete JSON backup is on Enterprise+ and on Enterprise with the Compliance management add-on.
What format is the Asana organization export?
It is JSON compressed as a gzip (.gz) file. Download it within about an hour of getting the link, or ask Asana for a fresh link.
How long does an Asana organization export take?
From several minutes to a few hours for large organizations. Check the request every few minutes until its state says finished.
Which Asana plans have the admin console?
Asana's pricing page lists the admin console on Enterprise and Enterprise+. Super admins can also export the team list to CSV from its teams tab.
Why is there no total task count in Asana?
The admin pages Asana documents show no storage figure and no workspace task total. The count comes from the API, where a developer adds up each project's num_tasks value.
Why would the task total be too high?
A task that lives in more than one project is counted once in each project, so the sum can exceed the number of distinct tasks. Report it as an upper bound.
Do we need to export Asana before we apply?
No. The application shares no data. For the intro call you need your task count, your years of history and your seat count. The full export is needed later, when the records are transferred after you sign the license.
Can we license only some Asana projects?
Yes. The company picks the teams and projects in scope, so private projects such as HR or finance can stay out. Make sure the task count you report matches what you intend to license.
What is Asana data worth to AI labs and data vendors?
Asana history is priced as part of a whole dataset, not on its own. Companies are paid $100K to $2M or more per dataset, according to micro1, and the price depends on the years of history and how completely the records show each job. What your data is worth explains the factors.
Bottom line
Know what is in Asana, then see what it is worth
You don't need to export anything to apply. Apply in two minutes, describe your records on the intro call, and micro1, the data vendor we typically refer companies to, prices the whole dataset and sends an offer 1–2 days later.
Not legal, tax or financial advice. Figures come from micro1's published pages and public reporting as of November 2026.