Lesson 5 of 7 · HQ fundamentals

Onboard a Team Member with /new-hire

Invite a teammate, give them only the access they need, send them a welcome package, and check their first session.

Written path: 11 steps

Before You Begin

Your company is set up for your team in HQ.
You’re allowed to invite people and share company access.
You know what your teammate does and have their work email handy.
A few minutes to look over their access before you send the invite.

Step 1: Start the invite
Run /new-hire with your teammate’s name or work email. HQ checks who’s already in the company and starts the invite.
CommandType exactly as shown
```
> /new-hire [teammate name]
```
Expected
HQ checks your team list and starts asking questions.
Note
Swap [teammate name] for the person you’re inviting. You can also run /new-hire on its own and HQ will ask who.
Step 2: Confirm who you mean
If HQ finds someone with a similar name, tell it whether that’s the same person or someone new. If they’re already on the team, HQ just adds the access they’re missing and doesn’t send another invite.
Expected
HQ carries on with the right person.
hq — claude
⏺hq members list --company awesomeco
⏺Quick check first: AwesomeCo already has a member named Maya C. So "Maya Chen" could be her.
Who
Who is the Maya you want to onboard?
❯1. A new teammateA different person joining AwesomeCo. I'll need her work email and role details.
2. Maya C. (already a member)She's already in. I'll check her access and only add what's missing.
3. Type something.
Enter to select · ↑/↓ to navigate · Esc to cancel
>
Step 3: Pick their role
Choose Member or Admin. Pick Member unless they need to manage the company.
ChoosePick this in HQ
```
— Select Member or Admin
```
Expected
Your teammate gets the role that fits their job, and no more.
Note
Admins can invite people and change access for the whole company, so save it for people who need that.
hq — claude
⏺Got it: a new teammate named Maya Chen. A few questions to set her up.
Role
What role should Maya have in AwesomeCo?
❯1. MemberStandard access. Can use what she's granted, can't manage other members or company settings. Right for most hires.
2. AdminCan manage members, secrets, and company settings. Save it for people who run the vault with you.
3. Type something.
Enter to select · ↑/↓ to navigate · Esc to cancel
>
Step 4: Say what they do
Tell HQ their role in a few words, like Sales or Design. HQ uses it to suggest what they should have access to.
PromptSend in your AI session
```
› Enter [business function]
```
Expected
HQ knows what they do and can suggest the right access.
Note
Swap [business function] for what they actually do.
Step 5: Choose how to set their access
Copy access from someone already on the team, start from a standard set for their role, or pick everything yourself. Whichever you choose, look it over.
ChoosePick this in HQ
```
— Select Baseline for the function
```
Expected
HQ suggests the keys, knowledge, and info they’ll need.
Note
The suggestion is a starting point. Look it over before you send anything.
hq — claude
Access
How should I decide what Maya can access?
❯1. Mirror an existing personCopy another teammate's grants as the template. Cleanest when someone already does the same job.
2. Baseline for the functionI'll grant a least-privilege starter bundle for Sales and we tune from there.
3. I'll specifyYou tell me exactly which repos, secrets, and knowledge areas to grant.
4. Type something.
Enter to select · ↑/↓ to navigate · Esc to cancel
>
Step 6: Review and send the invite
Check the access HQ suggests, type their work email when HQ asks, and confirm. Then ask HQ to put together a welcome package.
PromptSend in your AI session
```
› Review the suggested access
› Enter [work email] and confirm
› Create a welcome package for [teammate name].
```
Expected
HQ sends the invite and builds the welcome package. It checks with you before sending the welcome message.
Note
The bracketed parts are placeholders. Keep real emails and keys out of anything you share publicly.
hq — claude
⏺Here's Maya's bundle. Nothing goes out until you say so:
Invite AwesomeCo · member
Group sales
Secret HUBSPOT_API_KEY · read · value never shown
Knowledge knowledge/sales/ · read
⏺What's her work email? It only goes into the invite.
>
Step 7: Check the summary
Read HQ’s summary and make sure the invite, access, and welcome package all look right.
Expected
The invite shows as pending until your teammate accepts, along with their groups, access, and welcome package.
hq — claude
⏺Wrote her onboarding packet and welcome package
>
Step 8: Your teammate accepts the invite
Your teammate opens the invite email and accepts it.
Go toOpen this place
```
→ Open the invite email and accept
```
Expected
They join the company and see only what you gave them access to.
Note
Taking screenshots of this? Keep inboxes and email addresses out of them.
Step 9: Your teammate starts their first session
On their own computer, your teammate runs /startwork with your company and says hi.
CommandType exactly as shown
```
> /startwork awesomeco
> Hi, I'm getting started with awesomeco.
```
Expected
HQ loads the company and everything they have access to.
Note
awesomeco is an example. Use your company’s name.
hq — claude
● Maya's MacBook
✻ Welcome to Claude Code · cwd: ~/hq
>
Step 10: Send them a DM (optional)
Send the welcome note through HQ so it lands in your teammate’s messages.
CommandType exactly as shown
```
> /dm [teammate name] with this message
```
Expected
Your teammate gets the welcome note in HQ.
Step 11: Check what your teammate sees
On your teammate’s side, check their role, their access, the welcome note, and their next steps.
Expected
They see the right role and access, and they never see an actual API key.
hq — claude
● Maya's MacBook
⏺Working in AwesomeCo. What do you want to work on?
You're joining as a Member on the sales team, reporting to Jacob.
What you get on day one
· HubSpot (CRM), read: through HQ's secret vault, so you use the key without ever seeing it
· Sales knowledge: the playbook and shared knowledge base, once you sync
· Member role: you can use everything you've been granted
House rules keep each company's context separate, never paste raw secrets, and use HQ's commands for sharing and sync.
Your setup checklist
1. Accept the invite from the email link (or run /accept)
2. Sign in: /hq-login
3. Pull the workspace: /hq-sync
4. Confirm access: hq secrets list --company awesomeco shows the HubSpot key
>

You’re done when

Your teammate accepted the invite, has the access you picked, got the welcome note, and their first session loads only what they’re allowed to see.

Onboard a Team Member with /new-hire

Before You Begin

Step-by-step walkthrough

You’re done when