Pencel

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Project management: Asana and Monday.com ​

Connect the project tool your team already uses and Pencel can tell you what's overdue, what's stuck and who owns it, and turn notes or requests into tasks for you to approve. Pencel connects to Asana (tasks, projects and timelines) and Monday.com (boards, items and updates).

What Pencel can do with it ​

Ask on Home or in a room that uses the connection:

  • "What's overdue in the Q3 Launch project, and who owns each task?" (Asana)
  • "Summarize this week's progress across my projects in five bullets." (Asana)
  • "Turn the action items in these meeting notes into tasks in Team Tasks, due next Friday." (Asana; asks before creating them)
  • "Which items on the Operations board are marked Stuck, and for how long?" (Monday.com)
  • "Add an item to the Onboarding board for each new hire in this spreadsheet." (Monday.com; asks before adding them)

A weekly status report is a good first routine. Ask once, then click Save as workflow on the reply. See Turn a request into a routine.

How to connect ​

The steps are the same for both:

  1. Open Settings ▸ Connections and stay on the Recommended tab.
  2. Find Asana or Monday.com and click Install.
  3. Your browser opens the sign-in page for that service. Sign in and allow Pencel access.
  4. Return to Pencel. The card now says Installed.

If the browser step didn't finish, go to the Installed tab, open the card's ⋯ menu, click Remove, then click Install again. If the connection later asks you to sign in again, its card on the Recommended tab shows Needs sign-in. Click Sign in there.

What needs your approval ​

  • Reading is free. Listing tasks, reading boards, searching and checking due dates happen without asking.
  • Changes ask first. Creating or updating a task or item, changing a status, posting a comment or update: Pencel shows you exactly what it will do and waits. You can approve it, Edit fields first, or Reject it.
  • Routine changes can become standing approvals. When a room offers Always Allow, it lets that room make that kind of change without asking again. You can take it back at any time. Deleting something always asks in a room. See Approvals and permissions.

Good to know ​

  • Pencel sees what you can see. It works as the account you signed in with, so private projects or boards you can't open, it can't open either.
  • Rooms only use accounts connected to them. Check a room's accounts by clicking its name and going to Advanced ▸ Tools & accounts.
  • Try it safely first. On the card's ⋯ menu, Enable Simulation makes Pencel skip anything that would change your projects and report what it would have done instead.

Disconnect or change what it can do ​

Go to Settings ▸ Connections ▸ Installed and open the card's ⋯ menu:

  • Manage Tools: switch individual actions off everywhere, or choose which run without asking in chats and workflows under Auto-Approval (None, All tools or Custom). Click Save changes. Rooms keep their own approvals.
  • Disconnect: stop using the connection for now. Rooms that use it will ask you to reconnect.
  • Remove: delete the connection and its saved sign-in from Pencel. To end access on the vendor's side too, remove Pencel from the connected apps in your Asana or Monday.com settings.