Onboard to monday.com

Get a brand-new monday.com user from "just connected" to a working board they recognize as their own, in one short conversation. The goal is a first win in minutes: a board built around the user's real work, with real items, one automation, and a clear next action.

The board itself is built by create_board with a creationPrompt - monday designs the groups and columns from a free-text description. This skill decides what to ask for, then checks the result and fills any gaps. Use the task-management skill for column value formats and write-failure handling.

Principles

• Propose first, ask second. Do not open with a questionnaire. Draft a setup from what you already know, then ask one confirmation question.
• Be transparent about what you inferred. Say what you are basing the proposal on so the user can correct it.
• Work context only. Use the user's role, team, company, current projects, and tools. Never put personal or sensitive details (health, family, finances, private conversations) into the creation prompt, board names, items, or descriptions.
• Fast. Aim for one confirmation, one build, one first action. Use smart defaults and state them; do not ask about things that have a reasonable default.

Workflow

Step 1: Confirm this is a new user

Call get_user_context.

• Tell the user, in one line, which account and workspace they are connected to.
• New user (trial or recently created account, few or no boards of their own): continue with Step 2.
• Existing user (the account already has boards they use): do not run onboarding. Say they already have boards set up, name a few of their most relevant ones, and offer to help with those instead (status update, add items, new board).
• Unexpected account (the user says it is not the right one, or expected boards are missing): stop and ask them to disconnect and reconnect the monday.com connector, choosing the right account.

Note the plan tier and trial status for Step 6.

Step 2: Build a picture of the user's work

Use what you already know about the user from this conversation and from earlier conversations or memory, if available: their role, team, company or industry, and what they are working on now (projects, launches, clients, hiring, events).

• If you know enough to guess what they would track, go straight to Step 3.
• If you know little or nothing, ask at most three short questions, in one message:
  1. What kind of work do you want to manage here? (e.g. projects, clients/deals, content, requests, hiring, an event)
  2. What is one real thing you are working on right now?
  3. Is this just for you, or for a team?

Step 3: Propose a tailored setup

Decide on:

• Board name from their real work (e.g. "Q4 Product Launch", "Acme Client Pipeline"), not "My Board".
• What the board tracks and how work flows (stages, the key fields per item - owner, due date, priority, value, etc.).
• 3-5 starter items from their actual work - real milestones, clients, or tasks you know about or that they just mentioned - never "Task 1". Spread due dates over the next two weeks.
• One starter automation (see "Starter automations" below).

Present it compactly and ask one question, for example:

Based on what I know - you lead marketing at Acme and you are planning the Q4 launch - I would set up a Q4 Launch Tracker that tracks each launch task through To Do / In Progress / In Review / Done, with an owner, due date and priority, starting with: Finalize messaging, Launch landing page, Partner email, Launch day checklist - plus an automation that notifies the owner when a task gets stuck. Should I build it, or change anything first?

If they change something, adjust and build. Do not re-confirm after small changes.

Step 4: Create the board

1. Check for a name collision. Call search with the board name. If a board with that name exists, ask whether to use it or create the new one with a different name.

2. Call create_board with boardName, boardKind: "public" (or "private" if the user asked), the workspace from Step 1, and a creationPrompt that describes the board in plain language: what it tracks, the workflow stages, the fields each item needs, and the starter items. Leave the automation out - it is not created from the prompt; Step 6 adds it. Write the prompt from the agreed proposal, for example:

   A launch tracker for a marketing team planning a Q4 product launch. Work moves through To Do, In Progress, In Review, Done. Each task needs an owner, a due date, and a priority (Low, Medium, High, Critical). Starter tasks: Finalize messaging, Launch landing page, Partner email, Launch day checklist.

3. If create_board fails or times out, do not call it again straight away - the board may have been created. Call search for the board name first, and only retry if it does not exist. Re-sending creates duplicate boards.

Step 5: Check the result, fill gaps, and show the board

creationPrompt gets most of the board right but not all. Call get_board_info, get_board_items_page (includeColumns: true), and list_automations, and compare with what you proposed:

• Group order - if a later or terminal group (e.g. "Done") is on top, new items land there. Move the first workflow stage to the top with all_monday_api: update_group(board_id, group_id, group_attribute: relative_position_before, new_value: "<current top group id>") { id }.
• Columns - if a key field is missing or has the wrong type (e.g. a website as text instead of link), add it with create_column. Do not rebuild the board.
• Items - if starter items are missing, create them in one create_items call; if values you asked for are blank, fill them in one update_items call. Follow the task-management column formats. Assign items to the current user only if they agreed.
• Unrequested automations - create_board can add automations nobody asked for (e.g. monday AI "categorize" rules that use AI credits). Mention them in one line and offer to turn them off.

If a write tool fails after a successful read, follow the task-management rule: retry once, then stop and ask the user to reconnect the connector. Do not keep rebuilding.

Show the board right away. As soon as the columns and starter items are in place, call show-table with the new board's boardId so the user sees their board as an interactive table in the chat. Do not pass filters; show the whole board. Add one short line, e.g. "Here's your board - adding a starter automation next." Do not wait for the automation step. If show-table is unavailable or fails, share the board URL from the tool response instead and continue.

Step 6: Add the starter automation

Ask before creating it (it can be part of the Step 3 confirmation).

1. Call create_automation with the boardId and a structured description (Trigger / Conditions / Actions) in the user's terms, using the real column and group names from Step 5. If it returns needs_clarification, ask for the missing details and call it again.
2. Read it back. Call list_automations for the board and check that the trigger and conditions match the request - in particular that a "status changes to X" trigger does not also require the previous status to be X, and that conditions are not inverted. If it is wrong, deactivate it with manage_automations (action: "deactivate") and recreate it.
3. If manage_automations returns USER_UNAUTHORIZED for an automation you just created, do not retry - tell the user to turn it off from the board's Automations panel.
4. If create_automation is rejected because of the plan or trial, skip it, mention automations are available on paid plans, and continue. Do not let this block the board.

Step 7: Hand over with a first win

The board is already on screen from Step 5 - do not call show-table again here.

1. Summarize in a few lines: what was built, the automation (if created), and the board URL from the tool response. Do not repeat the items as a text list - the table already shows them. (If show-table failed in Step 5, list the starter items here instead.)

2. Give one concrete thing to try right now, phrased as something they can just say, using one of their own items:

   • "Try it: say mark Finalize messaging as done."

   When they do, make the change (task-management skill), then call show-table again so they see the board update.

Then offer, briefly, the habits that bring people back:

• "Any time, ask me what's overdue or give me a status update on this board."
• "Want me to invite your teammates so they can work on this with you?" (only if they said it is for a team)

Stop there. Do not chain further setup unless the user asks.

Starter automations

Pick the one that fits the board, using its real column, label, and group names:

Tools Used

• get_user_context - account, workspace, plan and trial status, and whether the user already has boards
• search - board name collision check, and checking whether a failed create_board actually created the board
• create_board - build the board from a creationPrompt
• get_board_info - read back the generated columns, groups, and labels
• get_board_items_page - check the starter items' values
• all_monday_api - reorder groups (update_group) when the first stage is not on top
• update_items - fill starter-item values the generated board left blank
• create_column - add a key column the generated board is missing
• create_items - add the starter items if the generated board does not have them
• create_automation - create the starter automation
• list_automations - verify the automation's trigger and conditions
• manage_automations - deactivate an automation that was created wrong
• show-table - display the new board as soon as its items exist (Step 5), and again after the user's first change