Official agent skill

Zapier Onboard

by zapier in zapier/zapier-mcp

Onboard a new user to Zapier MCP — introduce what it can do, walk through authentication, and route into the right flow based on the state of their setup.

OfficialMITAuto-check passedProductivity & Automation

Install Zapier Onboard

skills CLI
$ npx skills add zapier/zapier-mcp --skill zapier-onboard -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install zapier/zapier-mcp zapier-onboard --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/zapier/zapier-mcp.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/zapier/skills/zapier-onboard .claude/skills/zapier-onboard && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
zapier-onboard
GitHub stars
430
Token cost
~2.8k tokens
SKILL.md length
1,338 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
4
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Onboard a new user to Zapier MCP — introduce what it can do, walk through authentication, and route into the right flow based on the state of their setup.

  • Works in 2 steps: Introduction → Diagnose
  • Getting started
  • SKILL.md covers Step 1: Introduction, Step 2: Diagnose, Branch: Healthy and Branch: Auth broken, plus 5 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Zapier Onboard is an agent skill from zapier/zapier-mcp, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Onboard a new user to Zapier MCP — introduce what it can do, walk through authentication, and route into the right flow based on the state of their setup. Use when getting started, troubleshooting connection issues, or when the user asks "what is Zapier MCP", "how do I get started with Zapier", "set me up", "what can I do with Zapier", or "tell me about Zapier".

Its SKILL.md is about 2.8k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Productivity & Automation, covering Workflow automation. It works with Zapier and Model Context Protocol. The repository describes itself as: Official plugin distribution for the hosted Zapier MCP server. Install it in your AI client and connect to thousands of apps. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Getting started
  • Troubleshooting connection issues
  • The user asks what is Zapier MCP
  • How do I get started with Zapier

Example prompts

  • “what is Zapier MCP”
  • “how do I get started with Zapier”
  • “set me up”
  • “/zapier-onboard”

Workflow steps

2 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Introduction
  2. Diagnose

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 5360f15. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):

    • mcp.zapier.com
    • docs.zapier.com

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Zapier Onboard loads about 2.8k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 95 tokens; SKILL.md has 1,338 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~95
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~2.8k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from zapier/zapier-mcp at commit 5360f15, republished under its MIT licence (© zapier). 1,338 words, ~2,838 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/zapier-onboard/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
zapier-onboard
description
Onboard a new user to Zapier MCP — introduce what it can do, walk through authentication, and route into the right flow based on the state of their setup. Use when getting started, troubleshooting connection issues, or when the user asks "what is Zapier MCP", "how do I get started with Zapier", "set me up", "what can I do with Zapier", or "tell me about Zapier".

Zapier onboard

Introduce Zapier MCP, get the user authenticated, then guide them through the appropriate setup flow.

For how the Zapier MCP server itself works, see docs.zapier.com/mcp.

Step 1: Introduction

Start by describing what Zapier MCP can do for the user, then get them authenticated.

Pitch

"Zapier MCP connects your AI assistant to 9,000+ apps — Slack, Gmail, Google Calendar, Jira, Notion, HubSpot, and thousands more. Once set up, you can search across your tools, take actions, and automate workflows, all through natural conversation. It's personalized to your workflow — you pick the apps and actions that matter to you, and your AI learns to use them."

Check connection

Check if any Zapier MCP tools are available:

  • Tools are available: The user is already authenticated. Give a shorter version of the pitch — "You've got Zapier MCP installed and connected. Let me check what you have set up." — then proceed to Step 2.

  • No Zapier tools available at all: The server is installed but needs authentication. First, attempt to authenticate directly in the chat by calling mcp_auth on the Zapier MCP server. If that succeeds, re-check available tools and proceed to Step 2.

    If mcp_auth fails or is unavailable, fall back to manual instructions based on their client:

    • In Cursor: "Let's get you connected. Go to Settings > Cursor Settings > Tools & MCP and click Connect next to the Zapier MCP server. You can also press Cmd+Shift+P and search for 'MCP' to get there quickly."
    • In Claude Desktop: "Let's get you connected. Go to Customize > Connectors > Zapier and click Connect."
    • In other clients: "Let's get you connected. Find the Zapier MCP server in your client's MCP settings and click Connect. This will redirect you to mcp.zapier.com to sign in."

    Detect which client is in use from the environment or conversation context. If unclear, give the generic instructions.

    Wait for the user to confirm ("done"), then re-check available tools and proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: Diagnose

Inspect the available Zapier MCP tools. The result determines which branch to follow:

ResultBranch
Zapier action tools are available (beyond the configuration tools)Healthy
Only configuration tools available (no actions yet)Fresh install
Calls fail with auth/401 errorsAuth broken
No Zapier tools available at allNot connected

Branch: Healthy

The server is connected and has actions configured. Show a summary and offer next steps.

  1. Look at the available Zapier MCP tools and group them by app.
  2. Show a clean summary:

"Your Zapier MCP is connected with [N] tools across [app list]:

  • Slack: ...
  • Gmail: ...
  • Google Calendar: ...

Everything's working. What would you like to do?"

  1. Offer options:
    • "Try one live" → trigger the zapier-demo skill for a first-action walkthrough
    • "Add more tools" → trigger the zapier-explore skill to build out a role-tailored toolkit
    • "Run a health check" → trigger the zapier-status skill
    • Or just start using the tools

Branch: Auth broken

The server exists in the config but authentication has expired or is invalid.

  1. Tell the user:

"Your Zapier MCP server is configured but the connection is broken (authentication expired).

Click here to reconnect

Sign in, find your server, and re-authenticate. Come back and say done when you're finished."

  1. Wait for the user to confirm.
  2. Try calling a Zapier tool again to verify.
  3. If it works: show the Healthy summary.
  4. If it still fails: suggest deleting and recreating the server config. Offer to help update the MCP config file with a fresh token (see "MCP config by client" below).

Branch: Not connected

The Zapier MCP server is installed via the plugin but hasn't been authenticated yet. This is the most common state on a fresh install — zero Zapier tools are visible because the server hasn't been connected.

  1. Tell the user the Zapier plugin is installed but needs to be connected first.

  2. Attempt to authenticate directly in the chat by calling mcp_auth on the Zapier MCP server. If that succeeds, skip to step 5.

  3. If mcp_auth fails or is unavailable, fall back to manual instructions based on their client:

    • In Cursor: "Go to Settings > Cursor Settings > Tools & MCP and click Connect next to the Zapier MCP server. You can also press Cmd+Shift+P and search for 'MCP' to get there quickly."
    • In Claude Desktop: "Go to Customize > Connectors > Zapier and click Connect."
    • In other clients: "Find the Zapier MCP server in your client's MCP settings and connect it. This will redirect you to mcp.zapier.com to sign in."

    Detect which client is in use from the environment or conversation context. If unclear, give the generic instructions.

  4. Wait for the user to confirm ("done").

  5. Re-diagnose by checking available Zapier MCP tools. Proceed to the appropriate branch — most likely Fresh install (server connected, no actions yet).

Branch: Fresh install

The server is connected but has no actions configured. The user needs to add actions through Zapier.

Show full SKILL.md (536 more words)Show less
Step 1: Workflow-first discovery

Don't ask "what apps do you use?" Start with what they're trying to accomplish.

"You're connected but don't have any tools set up yet. Let's add some."

Direct the user to mcp.zapier.com (or call the server's configuration-URL tool if available) so they can go directly to their server's tool config page.

Then help them pick what to add based on their workflow:

Starter kits by workflow:

WorkflowAppsWhy these
Dev workflowJira + GitLab + Slack + Google DocsIssue tracking, code review, team comms, documentation
PM workflowJira + Slack + Google Docs + Google Calendar + NotionPlanning, updates, writing, scheduling, knowledge base
Sales workflowHubSpot + Gmail + Google Calendar + SlackCRM, outreach, scheduling, team updates
Marketing workflowGoogle Sheets + Slack + Notion + GmailData, coordination, content, campaigns
General productivityGmail + Google Calendar + Slack + Google Docs + Google SheetsThe essentials for anyone

"Pick a starter kit, or tell me what you're working on and I'll suggest the right tools."

Step 2: Guide configuration

Recommend specific actions the user should add for each app. Aim for 2-4 actions per app: one or two search actions and one or two write actions.

Recommended starters by app:

AppSearch actionsWrite actions
SlackFind Message, Get MessageSend Channel Message
GmailFind EmailSend Email, Create Draft
Google CalendarFind EventsCreate Detailed Event
Google DocsGet Document ContentCreate Document
Google SheetsGet Data Range, Lookup RowAdd Row
JiraFind Issue by Key, Find Issues via JQLCreate Issue
LinearFind IssueCreate Issue
GitLabFind Merge Requests(read-heavy by nature)
GitHubFind Issue, Find Pull RequestCreate Issue
HubSpotFind Contact, Find CompanyCreate Contact
NotionFind Page, Find Database ItemCreate Page
ZoomFind Meeting(read-heavy)
CodaFind RowCreate Row
AirtableFind RecordCreate Record

Tell the user which actions to add for their chosen apps, then wait for them to configure and authenticate everything.

"Add those actions and connect your app accounts in the Zapier dashboard. Come back and say done when you're finished."

Step 3: Verify

After the user confirms, check the available Zapier MCP tools to see what was added. If new tools appeared, show a summary. If nothing changed, the user may need to reload their client (see "Reload instructions by client" below).

Step 4: Wrap up

Once everything is connected:

  1. Show a final summary of the setup.
  2. Hand off to the natural next step:

"You're set up. Want to try one live? Run /zapier-demo to see one action work, or /zapier-explore if you want to keep building out the toolkit."

MCP config by client

ClientConfig file locationScope
Cursor.cursor/mcp.json (project) or ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global)Project/Global
Claude Desktop~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS)Global
Claude Code.mcp.json (project) or ~/.claude/mcp.json (global)Project/Global
Windsurf~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.jsonGlobal

Detect which client is in use from the environment or conversation context. If unclear, ask.

Reload instructions by client

ClientHow to reload
CursorCmd+Shift+P → "Reload Window"
Claude DesktopQuit and reopen the app
Claude CodeRun /mcp to check status, restart if needed
WindsurfCmd+Shift+P → "Reload Window"

Tone

Casual and efficient. Don't explain MCP or protocol details. Just get them to the right place fast. If something breaks, be direct: "That didn't work. Let's try..."

© zapier, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in plugins/zapier/skills/zapier-onboard of zapier/zapier-mcp.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 5360f15

Compare with similar skills

Zapier Onboard next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Zapier Onboard compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Zapier Onboard this skillzapier/zapier-mcp430—~2.8kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
MCP Urgent Caller Triagezapier/gtm-cheat-codes342—~1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Zapierasgeirtj/system_prompts_leaks69k—~328Automated safety check: PassCC0-1.0
N8nericrisco/rsc-harness180—~2.6kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Zapierericrisco/rsc-harness180—~2.8kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Zapier Workflowsdavila7/claude-code-templates33k2 repos~4.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Questions about Zapier Onboard

What does Zapier Onboard do?

Onboard a new user to Zapier MCP — introduce what it can do, walk through authentication, and route into the right flow based on the state of their setup. Zapier Onboard is an agent skill from zapier/zapier-mcp, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Onboard a new user to Zapier MCP — introduce what it can do, walk through authentication, and route into the right flow based on the state of their setup.

When should I use Zapier Onboard?

Zapier Onboard fits situations like: getting started; troubleshooting connection issues; the user asks what is Zapier MCP; how do I get started with Zapier.

How do I install Zapier Onboard in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add zapier/zapier-mcp --skill zapier-onboard -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/zapier/skills/zapier-onboard in zapier/zapier-mcp) into .claude/skills/zapier-onboard in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Zapier Onboard in Codex?

Run `npx skills add zapier/zapier-mcp --skill zapier-onboard -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/zapier/skills/zapier-onboard in zapier/zapier-mcp) into .agents/skills/zapier-onboard in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Zapier Onboard in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add zapier/zapier-mcp --skill zapier-onboard -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/zapier-onboard, .gemini/skills/zapier-onboard, .github/skills/zapier-onboard and .opencode/skills/zapier-onboard in your project.

What does Zapier Onboard need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Zapier Onboard is instructions for the agent only.

Does Zapier Onboard access the network?

SKILL.md names 2 domains. As links in the text: mcp.zapier.com and docs.zapier.com. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Zapier Onboard safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Zapier Onboard use?

Zapier Onboard is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Zapier Onboard use?

About 2.8k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 11k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Zapier Onboard?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Zapier Onboard: MCP Urgent Caller Triage (zapier/gtm-cheat-codes, 342 stars), Zapier (asgeirtj/system_prompts_leaks, 69k stars), N8n (ericrisco/rsc-harness, 180 stars) and Zapier (ericrisco/rsc-harness, 180 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Zapier Onboard?

zapier (a GitHub organization, an official publisher) maintains it in zapier/zapier-mcp, which has 430 GitHub stars. The repository holds 4 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on July 29, 2026.

Source: zapier/zapier-mcp on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.