When you first log in, the dashboard shows a setup checklist card at the top. It tracks 10 setup steps that are tuned to your plan tier, computed from real data (no separate state table — it reflects what's actually configured), and deep-links to the exact page that completes each step. It's not optional busywork — each step feeds a specific system, and skipping them is the most common reason smart-slot returns "no open slots" or the receptionist greets with the wrong name.
The 10 steps
| Set business hours | Settings → Business hours. Smart-slot fallback + receptionist schedule. |
| Build your services catalog | Services. Appointment durations, quote prices, and skill-matching all read from here. |
| Add your field techs | Team. Skills, certifications, location, daily capacity. |
| Set tech daily capacity (hours) | Team. Zero capacity = smart-slot can't book that tech. Full-time = 8 hrs, part-time = 4 hrs. |
| Set per-tech weekly schedule | Team scheduling (/portal/team/scheduling). Override global hours per tech. Bundle/Front Office only. |
| Configure your AI receptionist | Receptionist. Name, voice, greeting, urgent escalation. Voice / Front Office only. |
| Connect Google Business Profile | Integrations. GBP posts, review drafts, photo refreshes. Visibility / Bundle / Front Office only. |
| Connect your calendar | Integrations. Google Calendar or Microsoft 365. Bookings auto-land. Bundle / Front Office only. |
| Connect Stripe (take card payments) | Integrations. Online invoices, save-card-on-file, recurring autopay. All tiers. |
| Send yourself a test invoice | Invoices → New. End-to-end smoke test before going live. Only applies once Stripe is connected. |
Tier-aware step visibility
Not every step applies to every plan. The checklist hides steps that don't make sense for your tier so you're not prompted to do things you can't use:
- Voice-only plan: GBP step hidden (no GBP features on Voice tier), calendar step hidden (no AI booking without Bundle).
- Visibility-only plan: AI receptionist step hidden, calendar step hidden.
- Bundle / Front Office: all 10 steps shown.
- Per-tech weekly schedule step only appears when you already have at least one tech added — no point showing it before that.
Collapse, snooze, and auto-hide
- At 50% or more steps done, the checklist collapses by default to a compact progress bar + "X / Y done" badge. You can expand it with the chevron button.
- The X button snoozes the checklist for 7 days. It reappears after 7 days if steps are still incomplete.
- When all applicable steps are complete (100%), the checklist disappears permanently. Your dashboard gets the space back.
- Your collapsed / expanded preference is saved in localStorage so it persists across sessions.
- The checklist is hidden entirely on demo workspaces — the demo represents a fully-configured shop and a "get started" prompt there would be misleading.
Deep-links — each step takes you right there
Every step row is a live link to the page that completes it. Click "Set business hours" and you land on Settings → Business hours. Click "Add your field techs" and you land on /portal/team. No hunting in the sidebar. If you complete the step and come back, the row gets a green check mark.
Why a step shows as incomplete even after you've done it
- Business hours: the step is done once active_hours_config.schedule is set. If you picked "Always answer" mode but never opened the custom-schedule editor, the schedule object may still be empty — open Settings → Business hours and click "Custom schedule" once to populate it, or select any other mode.
- Services catalog: at least one active service required. If you added services and then deactivated all of them, the step shows incomplete again.
- Tech daily capacity: zero daily capacity minutes on every tech = incomplete. Set at least one tech to 8 hours (480 minutes).
- Test invoice: any invoice ever created marks this done — even a $0 draft.
Each checklist step is a one-liner that links to the fix. For the full explanation of every step including common gotchas, see the complete setup walkthrough at /portal/support/kb/complete-setup-walkthrough.