> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.clinikehr.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Add your first client

> Register a client with the full intake form, including contact details and reminder preferences.

export const AuditNote = ({action = 'This action'}) => <div className="ck-callout ck-callout--info" role="note">
    <p className="ck-callout__body">
      {action} is written to your workspace's audit log with your name, the
      record touched and the time — a HIPAA requirement, and one you can review
      yourself under <strong>Audit Log</strong>. See{' '}
      <a href="/platform/security/audit-log">Audit log</a>.
    </p>
  </div>;

export const StillStuck = ({topic}) => <div className="ck-callout ck-callout--note" role="note">
    <p className="ck-callout__body">
      <strong>Still stuck{topic ? ` with ${topic}` : ''}?</strong>{' '}
      Check <a href="/platform/help/troubleshooting">Troubleshooting</a> first —
      it covers the failures we see most often. If that does not resolve it,{' '}
      <a href="/platform/help/contact-support">contact support</a> and include
      your workspace name and the time the problem happened, so we can find the
      matching entry in your audit log.
    </p>
  </div>;

export const TaskHeader = ({before, time, after}) => <div className="ck-task">
    {before ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">Before you start</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{before}</p>
      </div> : null}

    {time ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">Takes about</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{time}</p>
      </div> : null}

    {after ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">When you're done</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{after}</p>
      </div> : null}
  </div>;

export const Path = ({steps = []}) => <span className="ck-path">
    {steps.map((s, i) => <span key={i} className="ck-path__step">
        {i > 0 ? <span className="ck-path__sep" aria-hidden="true">
            ›
          </span> : null}
        {s}
      </span>)}
  </span>;

export const Availability = ({editions = ['all'], plans, roles, note}) => {
  const list = editions.includes('all') ? ['clinic', 'pharmacy', 'lims'] : editions;
  return <div className="ck-avail" role="note" aria-label="Feature availability">
      <span className="ck-avail__label">Available in</span>

      {list.map(e => <span key={e} className={`ck-pill ck-pill--${e}`}>
          {EDITION_LABELS[e] || e}
        </span>)}

      {plans ? <span className="ck-avail__label">Plan</span> : null}
      {plans ? <span className="ck-pill ck-pill--plan">{plans}</span> : null}

      {roles ? <span className="ck-avail__label">Who</span> : null}
      {roles ? <span className="ck-pill ck-pill--role">{roles}</span> : null}

      {note ? <span className="ck-avail__note">{note}</span> : null}
    </div>;
};

<Availability editions={['clinic']} plans="Solo and Team" roles="Any staff member with access to the client list" note="Each plan caps how many client records you may hold." />

Step 2 of the [setup checklist](/practice/get-started). One record completes it. The intake form is three steps, and only two fields plus a status are actually required — everything else can wait.

<Path steps={['Sidebar', 'Clients', 'Create client']} />

<TaskHeader before="Nothing — a name is enough to start" time="1 minute for the basics, 3 with contact details and preferences" after="One record you can book appointments against and write notes for" />

## Start from the empty list

Until you have created anyone, **Clients** opens on a card reading **Your client registry is empty**. It offers three ways forward:

* **Add your first client** — "Register one client manually with the full intake form." This is the step below.
* **Import clients** — bring an existing list in from a CSV rather than typing it. See [Manage your client list](/practice/daily/clients).
* **Explore with sample clients** — a 60-second tour of the screen. Nothing in it is saved to your clinic, and it does not tick the checklist step.

Once you have real records the empty card is gone and the toolbar takes over: **Import**, **Export** and **Create client**, under the heading **Clients Management**.

## Register someone

The sheet shows its position as **Step 1 of 3 • Basic information** and so on. **Next** and **Back** move between steps; **Submit** is offered from step 2 onwards if you do not need the medical section.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Choose the record type">
    **Client type** offers **Adult**, **Minor** and **Couple**. A minor gets a **Contact** tab for the parent or guardian, with a **Relationship** picker and a **Responsible for billing** checkbox; a couple gets **Partner 1** and **Partner 2** tabs.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter the name and basics">
    **Legal first name** and **Legal last name** are required. **What name do they go by?**, **Gender** and **Date of birth** (three boxes — **MM**, **DD**, **YYYY**) are optional but worth filling now, because the preferred name is what appears on your calendar.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set how they pay and where they came from">
    **Billing type** is set separately **For individual appointments** and **For group appointments**, each **Self-pay** or **Insurance**. **Referred by** records the source.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the status">
    **Status** is required — **Active** or **Prospective**. Prospective lets you track their intake progress on the Inquiries page; Active does not. There is also an **Add to waitlist** checkbox.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add contact details">
    Step 2 is **Contact & notifications**. Add one or more **Email addresses** and **Phone numbers**, each with a type (**Home**, **Work**, **Mobile**, **Fax**, **Other**) and a permission (**Email OK** / **No Email**; **Text / voicemail OK**, **Text only**, **Voicemail only**, **No calls**).

    <Note>
      An email address is what grants access to the [patient portal](/portal/setup/enable) and what appointment reminders are sent to. Skipping it here means adding it before either can work.
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set their reminder preferences">
    Under **Reminder and notification options** there are three switches — **Upcoming appointments**, **Incomplete documents** and **Cancellations**. **Manage** on each opens the timing, for example **24 hours before**, **2 days before** or **1 week before**. These preferences are per person and they are honoured; leaving a switch off means that person is not contacted.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add medical information, or skip it">
    Step 3 is **Medical information** — **Blood Type**, **Genotype**, **Allergies**, **Medical History / Past History** and **Current Medications**. All optional. Select **Create client** (the button reads **Creating...** while it saves).
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Check it worked

* A toast reads **Client created successfully!** and the record appears in the list.
* The **Get Started** checklist ticks **Add your first client**.
* The name now appears in the pickers on the appointment sheet and the note editors.

<AuditNote action="Creating and opening a record" />

## If something goes wrong

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="The Create button is greyed out and shows an upgrade message">
    You have reached your plan's record limit. Hovering the disabled button shows the upgrade prompt. See [Change your plan](/platform/plans/change-plan).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I have a spreadsheet of existing clients">
    Use **Import clients** on the empty state, or **Import** in the toolbar, rather than typing them in one by one. Details in [Manage your client list](/practice/daily/clients).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The sample records tour worried me">
    **Explore with sample clients** is a preview only — "nothing is saved to your clinic". No sample data is ever written to your records, and the checklist step does not tick from it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I picked the wrong type — adult instead of minor">
    Create the record correctly and remove the wrong one rather than trying to convert it. The type decides which contacts and billing responsibilities the record can hold.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="They asked not to be contacted">
    Set the email permission to **No Email** and the phone permission to **No calls**, and leave the three reminder switches off. Those settings are the ones the reminder system reads.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<StillStuck topic="adding a client" />