Help · Settings

Getting set up

An admin sets up a new account from the Get started page. It holds a nine-step setup checklist, a way to connect the systems you already use, and the first requests you can make. Set up from your email, which reads your vendor email once, shows only on some accounts.

An admin sets up the account on the Get started page. The checklist on that page is a guide, not a gate: you can make a request before you finish any step, skip any step, and come back to it later.

The page tells you where your account stands from live data. A step shows as done when the account has at least one record of that kind. If somebody deletes the records, the step shows as not done again.

#Who sees the Get started page

The Get started page opens only for an admin: a person whose role is Admin, or whose job title sits on the Admin tier (see Users). Anyone else who opens it is sent away with an "Unauthorized" message.

An admin finds the page in two places:

When they sign in. While any checklist step is still empty, an admin lands on Get started after they sign in. A link to a record still opens that record first. When every step has data, the admin lands on the usual first page.
In the Settings menu. The first row of the Settings menu opens the page. It reads Finish setup while a checklist step is still empty, and Setup when every step has data. The row stays after you finish, so you can come back to the checklist at any time. See Settings menu.

#What is on the page

The page title is Get started, with the line "Start a request now. Setup is optional." The sections below show in this order, top to bottom.

Section	Who sees it
Set up from your email	Only when Gearflow turns it on (see Set up from your email).
Connect your systems	Every admin.
Three request cards: Parts request, Equipment request, Maintenance request	Every admin.
Set up materials	Only on an account that has materials turned on.
Optional setup (the checklist)	Every admin.
Text your parts requests	Only when Gearflow turns it on for your account.

#Connect your systems

A connection fills the account from a system you already use, so you type less. The text reads: "A connection can import your units, jobs and people."

The section lists each system Gearflow can import from. As of November 2026 these are Samsara, M5 (AssetWorks), HCSS, Tenna, Motive and Fleetio. A connected system shows a Connected badge, or Last sync failed when its most recent sync had an error.

Connect a system opens Integrations, where you connect one.

#The request cards

Each card opens the form for one kind of request, over the Get started page.

Card	What it says	When you can use it
Parts request	"Ask your vendors for parts and get quotes back."	Always.
Equipment request	"Get a machine to a job: from your fleet, a rental or a purchase."	When the account has a job and a unit. Until then the card is grey and says "Add a job and a unit to request equipment."
Maintenance request	"Report a repair or book service on a unit."	When the account has a unit. Until then the card is grey and says "Add a unit to request maintenance."

A grey card does nothing when you click it.

#The setup checklist

The checklist sits under Optional setup. A line above it counts your progress, for example "3 of 8 steps done. Skip anything you're not ready for — you can come back."

The checklist has nine steps. The first eight count toward the progress line. The ninth, Check notification coverage, is a last look and has nothing to complete. Each step in the list shows a count and a check mark (for example "4 ✓") when it has data.

#	Step	Required	Optional	Shows as done when
1	Business units	Name, Code		The account has a business unit.
2	Departments	Name, Code, Business unit		The account has a department.
3	Locations	Name, Address, Business units	Code	The account has a location.
4	Users	Name, Email or phone, Role	Business units, Title	One more person besides you is an active user. You never count toward this step.
5	Jobs	Name, Code, Business unit, Department	Location, Address, GL code	The account has a job site that is not archived. A shop does not count.
6	Vendors	Name	Services, Business units, Contacts	The account has an active vendor.
7	Asset categories	Name, Code	Canonical category mapping	The account has a category that is mapped to a canonical category. An unmapped category does not count.
8	Equipment	Unit number, Asset category	Make, Model, Year, Serial / VIN, Ownership	The account has a unit that is not marked inactive.
9	Check notification coverage			Never. This step is a check only.

The Required and Optional columns are the fields of the form that the step's main button opens.

#What a step shows

Click a step to open its panel. Each panel has:

A count, for example "3 jobs ✓", or "Nothing set up yet."
Why it matters: one or two sentences on what the step is for.
Required and Optional field lists.
The ways to fill the step, described below.

Each step has these ways to fill it:

Way	Button or link	Where it goes
By hand	The step's main button: Add a business unit, Add a department, Add a location, Invite a user, Add a job, Add a vendor, Pick from the catalog, Add equipment, or Open team notifications	The settings page or form for that step.
From a file	The step's import link, for example Import jobs from CSV	The importer for that step. The coverage step has no import link.
With the assistant	Do this step with the assistant	The Settings Assistant. Shows only when your account has it, and not on the coverage step. See AI and Ask Gearflow.
From a connected system	A line such as "Already keep this in Samsara? ... Connect Samsara", or "Samsara connected. ... Manage integrations"	Integrations. Shows only on a step that a system can fill.

On the Asset categories step, Pick from the catalog opens the category catalog picker, and the import link reads Import your own taxonomy as CSV. On the Users step, the import link reads Import users from CSV (job title is an optional column there).

#Leave a step and come back

When you leave the checklist through a step's button or link, a bar shows at the top of the page you open. It reads "Setting up your account — step name", with a Back to setup button. That button returns you to the same step.

#Move through the steps

Back opens the step before.
Skip for now opens the next step.
Finish setup, on the last step, opens a summary.

The summary title is You're all set when all eight counted steps have data, and Setup so far when they do not. It lists each empty step under Still empty, with a link back to it. Under What's next it has three buttons: Go to your requests, See your equipment and Check who hears what.

#Extra help on two steps

Vendors. On some accounts, the Vendors step also lets you search a vendor directory and add vendors from it, under Add vendors from the directory. You can also type a name under Add a vendor by name, then click Add vendor. A prompt asks for a contact for each vendor that has none, because Gearflow cannot send a vendor anything without one. Gearflow turns the directory on for your account.
Equipment. When units have no asset category, for example after a CSV import, the step says how many, such as "12 units awaiting a category." Set their categories opens the Equipment list, filtered to those units.

#Set up materials

This section shows only on an account that has materials turned on. It holds two steps, in order, and each step shows Done. when its data exists.

Add a location that holds inventory. Add a location and turn on "Stocks parts inventory". A location needs a business unit, so add one of those first if you have none. Add a location opens Locations.
Add your materials. Add materials one at a time with "Stock material" on the inventory page, or import your whole catalog from a CSV file. The links are Go to inventory and Import materials from a CSV file.

A person who cannot do a step sees "Ask an account admin to do this step." in place of the link.

#Text your parts requests

This card shows only when Gearflow turns it on for your account, and only when your account has a number to text. It shows the number your texts go to, with a Save to contacts button.

Under it, Your mobile number holds your own phone number. Gearflow knows who sent a text only from the phone number on the sender's profile. Type your number and click Save. The page confirms "Saved. Texts from your number reach you."

For how texting works, see Texting and calling Gearflow.

#Set up from your email

Gearflow reads your email with vendors one time and finds your vendors, units and jobs. Nothing is saved until you add it.

This shows only when Gearflow turns it on for you or your account, and only for an admin. When it is on, the Get started page leads with a Set up from your email card. Its button, Connect Microsoft 365, opens the Set up your account from your email page.

#What the page promises

The page lists five promises:

Read-only. Gearflow can't send, delete or change any email.
Only your work with vendors. The last 12 months. Personal email and email inside your own company domain are skipped.
No person reads your email. And your email never trains AI models.
You approve everything. Nothing is saved until you add it.
A one-time read. Gearflow disconnects when it's done. Only what you add stays.

The page also says "Your IT team can see this connection."

#Connect your mailbox

Click Continue with Microsoft for a Microsoft 365 work or school account. Or click Continue with Google for a Google Workspace work account. The Google button shows only when Gearflow has Google set up.
Sign in on the Microsoft or Google screen and give access.
Gearflow returns you to the page. It shows "Your email is connected" and the progress of the read, for example "Reading who you email with…" and then "Finding your vendors in n threads…".
When the read is done, the title changes to "Gearflow read your vendor email". The page says how many threads it read and how many were with vendors. Gearflow is then disconnected from your mailbox.

To skip the email read, click Skip and upload files instead. The page describes the files as "Quotes, invoices and POs. Screenshots work too." The button opens the Vendors step of the checklist.

After a Google connection, a Disconnect Gmail button shows while the connection lasts.

#When the connection does not work

What you see	What it means	What to do
Your IT admin needs to approve Gearflow	Your company's Microsoft 365 needs an IT admin to approve Gearflow before it can read your email.	Send your IT admin the ready-written request under Ask IT to approve Gearflow. Email your IT admin opens it in your email app. The request includes the approval link. Or click Upload files instead.
You didn't give Gearflow access	You declined on the Microsoft or Google screen.	Try again, or upload files instead.
Use your work email	You signed in with a personal account.	Sign in with your work account.
The sign-in took too long	The sign-in expired.	Try again.
Gearflow needs read access to your Gmail	You unticked the Gmail box on Google's screen.	Try again and leave the box ticked.
We couldn't connect your email	Something else went wrong.	Try again, or upload files instead.
We couldn't finish reading your email	The read stopped before it finished.	Click Try again with Microsoft (or Google), or Upload files instead.