The Getting Started guide (guided setup)
The step-by-step walkthrough at Getting started — a checklist that ticks itself off as you configure your shop, with an AI fast path.
Getting started6 in this section
Service VIN does a lot, so Getting started turns setup into one ordered walkthrough: six short phases, from The basics (profile, hours, branding, voice) through What you sell, Your team, Be reachable, Put the AI to work, and Your first win (first customer, first quote). Until it's finished, a progress card follows you in the sidebar and a banner on the Dashboard shows your next three steps.
The checklist is live, not a form you fill in: each step checks itself off by looking at your real data. Add services from anywhere and the services step turns green; if something later comes undone (say your texting number is removed), the step reopens. Do the steps in any order — the numbering is a suggested path, not a requirement.
The fast path: run the AI setup assistant first
Steps badged AI setup does this can all be completed in one pass through the AI setup assistant: point it at your website and it drafts your profile, hours, branding, shop voice, quote wording, review link, booking and agents — you review and edit everything before any of it is applied. Your services are the one thing it never drafts, because it won't put a price on your work: a step inside the same flow imports your catalog from your own price list instead. Every one of those steps then ticks itself off.
Working the checklist
- 1
Open a step where it happens
Every step has an Open button that deep-links to the exact page — do the thing there, come back (or don't), and the step is green.
- 2
Skip what doesn't apply
Skip parks a step and counts it as resolved; Undo skip brings it back. Steps marked *Optional* are safe to leave for later.
- 3
Tick off the one manual step
Pointing your website's forms at the leads intake URL can't be auto-detected until a lead arrives, so it has a Mark done button.
- 4
Ask Dash when unsure
Every step has an Ask Dash button that opens the copilot with that step's question pre-filled. Dash sees this same checklist, so "what should I do next?" gets a real answer.
When you're done (or just tired of seeing it), Hide from sidebar at the bottom of the page removes the progress card and dashboard banner — the page itself stays under Getting started in the sidebar as a health check you can revisit any time.
Troubleshooting
A step won't turn green even though I configured it.
Why: The step reads specific fields — e.g. the services step wants at least one service AND one per-vehicle price tier.
Fix: Read the small status line under the step title — it says exactly what's detected and what's missing.
The sidebar progress card disappeared.
Why: Either the guide hit 100%, or someone clicked its ✕ (or Hide from sidebar).
Fix: Open Getting started from the sidebar nav and click "Show it again" at the bottom.
Common questions
Does the percentage affect anything?
No — it's purely a progress meter for you. Nothing is locked behind completing the guide.
Why did a step I finished reopen?
Steps re-check live data on every visit. If the underlying config went away (a number was released, the last service was deleted), the step honestly reports it — that's the guide doubling as a health check.
Do skipped steps count as complete?
They count as resolved in the progress bar, shown crossed out in the list. Undo the skip and the step goes back on your to-do list.