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Every 15 minutes

Create a Drive folder for each new hire in your roster

New rows in your Onboarding sheet get their own Drive folder from your template, shared with the new hire, with the link written back.

Runs
Every 15 minutes
Apps
Google Drive, Google Sheets
AI
Not needed
Access
Sheets read+write; Drive write

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: every 15 minutes, for new rows in my Onboarding sheet, create a Drive folder from my template, share it with their email and write the link into the row.

Paste it into your assistant. It tells you what it will send or change before it runs live.

First time? Adding ClickRuntime to your assistant takes about two minutes.

Why use it

Why teams use this automation

An operations lead onboards two or three people a month. For each one she creates a folder, copies in the handbook, contract and checklist, shares it, and pastes the link into the onboarding sheet. When she is away, new starters arrive with no folder.

Creating the folder as soon as someone is added to the sheet means every new hire has their documents ready before their first day, however busy the week is.

What you get out of it

  • Every new starter gets the same pack

    Each folder is copied from your template, so nobody misses the handbook or the checklist.

  • Ready before day one

    The folder exists as soon as the row is added, which often means days before the start date.

  • Anyone can start onboarding

    A manager or recruiter only has to add a row, so onboarding does not depend on one person being in the office.

  • Links kept with each person

    The folder link is written into the sheet, so finding a new hire's documents later takes one click.

How it works

What happens, step by step

  1. Every 15 minutes ClickRuntime checks your Onboarding sheet for rows without a folder link.

  2. For each new hire it creates a folder named after them and copies in the files from your template folder.

  3. It shares the folder with the new hire's email address.

  4. The folder link is written into the person's row so the sheet shows it is done.

Before it runs live

  • Connect Google Drive
  • Connect your Google Sheets account and pick the spreadsheets it may use

What you get

RunsEvery 15 minutes
Create a Drive folder for each new hire in your rostertoday, 9:00Succeeded
Google Sheets · OnboardingRiley Chen, riley@acme.example, Onboarding - Riley Chen (folder link added)

Build your own

Need it to work differently?

This template is a starting point. Copy the prompt and change it, or describe a different automation from scratch, with your own conditions, more apps or an AI step. Your assistant writes it, tests it and runs it on ClickRuntime.
  • Your own rules

    Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.

  • Any number of apps

    One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.

  • AI where it helps

    Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.

  • On a schedule or on each event

    Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.

Changes you can ask for

  • Act only on the items that match your own rules, and skip the rest
  • Add an AI step, for example to summarize, sort or draft a reply
  • Add another app, for example also send it to Slack
  • Combine it with other Google Drive and Google Sheets steps into one automation

Under the hood

The code that runs this automation

This is the Python script that runs each time the automation starts. Your AI assistant writes it for you when you send the prompt, and you allow each step in your assistant. To change how the automation works, describe the change to your assistant and it updates the script for you. For every function it can use, see the script reference.
new_hire_roster_creates_drive_folders.pyexample
from googleapiclient.discovery import build
from google.oauth2.credentials import Credentials
from clickruntime import on_trigger, credentials, report_fetched

SHEET_ID, TEMPLATE, PARENT = "your-spreadsheet-id", "template-folder-id", "onboarding-folder-id"

@on_trigger
def run(event):
    creds = Credentials(credentials.connection("google", "work"))
    values = build("sheets", "v4", credentials=creds, cache_discovery=False).spreadsheets().values()
    rows = values.get(spreadsheetId=SHEET_ID, range="Onboarding!A2:C").execute().get("values", [])
    new = [(i + 2, r) for i, r in enumerate(rows) if len(r) >= 2 and len(r) < 3]
    report_fetched(len(new))
    if not new:
        return {"summary": "No new hires"}
    drive = build("drive", "v3", credentials=creds, cache_discovery=False).files()
    perms = build("drive", "v3", credentials=creds, cache_discovery=False).permissions()
    templates = drive.list(q=f"'{TEMPLATE}' in parents and trashed=false", fields="files(id,name)").execute()["files"]
    for row, (name, email) in new:
        folder = drive.create(body={"name": f"Onboarding - {name}", "mimeType": "application/vnd.google-apps.folder",
                                    "parents": [PARENT]}, fields="id,webViewLink").execute()
        for t in templates:
            drive.copy(fileId=t["id"], body={"name": t["name"], "parents": [folder["id"]]}).execute()
        perms.create(fileId=folder["id"], body={"type": "user", "role": "writer", "emailAddress": email}).execute()
        values.update(spreadsheetId=SHEET_ID, range=f"Onboarding!C{row}", valueInputOption="RAW",
                      body={"values": [[folder["webViewLink"]]]}).execute()
    return {"created": len(new)}

FAQ

Common questions

Which files are copied into the folder?
Everything in your template folder, such as the handbook, policies and checklists. Update the template and future folders get the new versions.
What access does the new hire get?
Edit access by default, so they can fill in forms. You can choose view-only if the documents should not be changed.
What if the email in the row is wrong?
The folder is still created and the link written back. Correct the email and share the folder again from Drive, or remove the row's link to have it shared on the next check.
What permissions does it need?
Sheets read+write; Drive write. Nothing else in your accounts is used.
Does it need AI?
No. It runs without AI, so it doesn't use your plan's AI allowance.
How many runs does it use?
One run each time it checks. Checks that find nothing new and stop right away aren't counted.
Can I change how it works?
Yes. Describe the change to your AI assistant, for example a different schedule, channel or filter. It updates the automation, tests it and tells you what changed.

Set up “Create a Drive folder for each new hire in your roster” from your assistant

Copy the prompt above, or connect your assistant first. Free plan, no credit card.