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Templates are reusable blueprints for your onboarding process. Each template holds phases (stages) and tasks (action items) that are copied into a portal when you create an onboarding for a client. This guide is for MSP staff.
These steps use the unified Projects experience, where templates live under Settings > Projects > Templates. If your organization still uses the earlier experience, open Settings > Client Onboarding instead.

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Before you start

  • Client Onboarding is turned on for your organization.
  • You need onboarding read access to view templates. Creating or changing them needs onboarding write access (write_settings_onboarding) and an active subscription.
  • Create forms, checklists, and client pages first if you want to attach them to tasks.

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Create a template

1

Open the template list

Go to Settings > Projects > Templates > Templates and select New Template.
2

Enter the details

Enter a Name. Add a Description, Tags, and Duration (days) if you want them. Leave Project type on Client onboarding (default) so projects created from this template get a client portal. Other project types build a plain project without one.
3

Create the template

Select Create Template. You can add phases only after the template exists.
4

Add phases

Select Add Phase and name it, for example Discovery, Setup, Training, or Go Live. Drag phases to reorder them.
5

Add tasks to each phase

Inside a phase, select Add Item. Enter a Title, then choose the Type, Owner, and any other settings described below.
6

Save the details

Select Save Changes after you edit the name, description, tags, duration, or invitation email. Phase and item changes save as you work.
Keep phases high level. Three to six phases work well. Put the detailed steps in tasks.

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What saves and when

Save Changes does not commit the whole builder. If an item fails to save, stay on the page, note the error, and reopen the item to check what was stored before you create a portal. A new item needs a title before it can save.

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Task types

Each item has a Type that decides what the client or your team does. Pick it when you add the item. Credential Handoff and Secure File Drop submissions are retrieved once. Read Retrieve onboarding credentials and secure files before you use the retrieval buttons. For Form / Questionnaire, choose a form under Reusable Form. The form’s Repeat Entries setting decides whether clients can add more entries. Build forms under Settings > Projects > Templates > Forms. See Onboarding Forms.

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Configure a task

1

Open the item

Expand the phase and select the item to open its editor.
2

Set the basics

Set Title, Type, Owner (MSP or Client), Required, and Description. Write the description from the client’s point of view.
3

Set scheduling and ownership

Set Priority (Low, Normal, High, or Critical), Est. Hours, Milestone, Category, Due Offset (days), Due From (Phase Start, Portal Start, or After Dependencies), and Assignee Role.
4

Add type-specific settings

A Document Upload item has Allowed File Types, for example .pdf, .doc, .xlsx. A Training item has Training Mode and Video URL. A Form / Questionnaire item has Reusable Form. An Email item has Email Template and recipient roles. A Report item has Report Template.
5

Choose who sees it

Set Visibility to Client or Internal. Ownership and visibility are separate settings. An MSP-owned task with Client visibility shows in the provider progress section of the portal.

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Assignee role choices

The task owner decides where the Assignee Role choices come from. If only one MSP role appears, add and save the missing roles under Team Roles, then reopen the template. Templates offer tenant-wide Team Roles. Company-specific role definitions are not included. Client roles do not add MSP assignee choices, and permission roles do not fill either picker.

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Add a dependency

A dependent task shows as Blocked in the portal until its prerequisites are complete.
1

Open the dependency picker

In the item editor, select Add Dependency.
2

Choose prerequisites

Pick one or more tasks from any phase. The selection saves as soon as you choose it.
3

Resolve a cycle

If MSPortal reports a circular dependency, change the selection. Only add dependencies where order really matters.
If you set Due From to After Dependencies without adding dependencies, the editor warns you. Add the dependencies or pick another anchor. A template task can update a linked Standard as it progresses. See Link an onboarding template task to a Standard.

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Documents, surveys, and approvals

Beyond tasks, phases can also hold Document Upload items, Approval items, and linked surveys from your Surveys module. These show in their own sections of the client portal.

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Add client pages

Templates reference reusable client pages. They do not copy the text.
1

Open the Pages section

In the template builder, open Pages from the template menu.
2

Link a page

Use Select custom page to search your library and add a page. Select Manage pages if you need to create one first.
3

Set client visibility

Turn Visible to client portal off to keep a page attached but hidden. Use the eye icon to preview it.
Update a page once in the library and every template that links it stays current. See Client Pages.

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Add template dates

Template dates give every new portal the same milestones. Each date uses a day offset from the portal start.
1

Open the Dates section

In the template builder, open Dates from the template menu and select Add Date.
2

Enter the milestone

Enter a Label and an optional Description. Enter Offset from portal start (days), for example 0 for kickoff, 14 for hardware, 45 for go-live. Leave the offset blank to set the date by hand on each portal.
3

Choose the countdown

Turn on Show countdown for the date portals should count down to by default. Only one date per template can have it on.
Offsets turn into real dates when a portal is created. A draft that you start later does not shift its dates. See Custom Dates and Countdowns.

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Use the AI Onboarding Designer

The AI designer is a sidebar in the template builder. It works on the template you have open. It is a build tool for your team, and clients never see it.
1

Open the designer

Select the floating AI button (AI Onboarding Designer). Responses can take 1 to 2 minutes.
2

Describe the process

Type a request such as “Create an onboarding template for a 50-person law firm migrating from on-prem Exchange to Microsoft 365” or “Add a security hardening phase with MFA enrollment and endpoint protection tasks.” You can also start from a prompt helper such as Standard MSP Onboarding, Quick Start, Security-Focused, M365 Migration, or Infrastructure Audit.
3

Review the changes

Select Review Template Changes. Check each added phase, task, and setting. Accept or reject sections, or accept or reject all.
4

Apply or refine

Select Apply to save the changes you accepted, or keep chatting to refine them. After applying, select View Applied Changes to see what changed, or the undo icon to reverse the last changes.
If an apply reports a partial failure, open the saved template and check what was written before you retry.
Give the designer context about the client type, size, and requirements. You can also ask it to change an existing template, for example “Add a compliance documentation phase after the migration phase.”

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Test a template

A template has no preview of its own, because what a client sees depends on the portal built from it. To test one, build a draft portal.
1

Create a draft portal

Go to Projects > New project, pick your template and a test or internal company, and finish the wizard. The portal is created as a Draft. Review any configured automation first, and skip project or ticket creation if you only need a presentation preview.
2

Open View as

In the page header, select View as and pick a contact. With no contacts, pick a client role instead. The portal opens in a new read-only tab.
3

Adjust and repeat

Fix anything that reads wrong, save the template, and create a fresh draft to see the change. Existing portals keep the structure they were created with.
See Previewing as a client.

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Import & Export

Use Import / Export in the template builder to share templates, back them up, or build them in a spreadsheet. The dialog has three formats.
JSON carries the full template structure, including phases, tasks, documents, approvals, and client page data. It is not a backup of portal progress, submitted files, or provider records. Check linked library items after you import.
1

Export

Open the JSON tab and select Export JSON.
2

Import

Select Select JSON File and choose the file. A preview shows the phase, task, and document counts. Select Import Template. This updates the current template in place.

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Create checklist templates

Checklist templates are reusable sets of sub-items you can attach to any task.
1

Open Checklists

Go to Settings > Projects > Templates > Checklists and select New Checklist.
2

Add items

Enter a name and description. Add items one at a time, drag them into order, use AI Generate, or use Import to paste one item per line. Select Create.
3

Attach it to a task

In the template builder, open a task and choose the checklist under Checklist (optional). Its items appear as checkable sub-items. Both MSP staff and clients can check them off.

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Manage templates

1

Open the actions menu

In Settings > Projects > Templates > Templates, select the … menu on a template row.
2

Choose an action

Edit opens the builder. Duplicate saves a copy named “(Copy)” and opens it. Archive hides the template from new portals. Restore brings an archived template back.
Existing portals are not affected when you archive a template. A duplicate shares linked forms and pages with the original, so editing those linked items changes both.

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Review change history

Open History from the template menu to see recorded changes. Each entry shows what changed, who changed it, and when. Hover an entry for the exact time and select Load More for older history.

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Troubleshooting

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Best practices

Make separate templates for different client types, such as SMB onboarding, enterprise migration, and M365 setup only. Avoid one large template full of optional phases.
Add dependencies only where order truly matters. Too many blocked tasks slow clients down.
Include MSP-owned tasks so clients can see your team’s progress too.
Instead of “Provide AD credentials,” write “Please provide your Active Directory administrator username and password so we can begin the migration.”
Start with the AI designer for a baseline, then adjust it to match your process.

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Frequently asked questions

No. It saves the template details and display defaults. Phases, items, ordering, dependencies, dates, pages, and AI changes save through their own controls.
No. Existing portals keep the phases and tasks they were created with. Linked client pages can still show the latest library content.
No. Review Template Changes is the preview. Apply saves the changes you accepted.
No. Excel export is for review and sharing. Use JSON to update a template or CSV to create one from a task list.
No. JSON import updates the current template. Import as New Template on the CSV tab creates a separate one.
No. Ownership and visibility are separate. Set Visibility to Internal to hide an item.
No. It only removes the template from new portal selection. Portals have their own lifecycle.