Quickstart: Build Your First Impact Snapshot

This guide gets you from a Workrail account to a private, evidence-backed Impact Snapshot. Setup and evidence processing time vary by repository, so keep the Impact Snapshot page open while Workrail updates your progress.

Before you start

• You can access the Workrail web app.
• Your local repository already has commits.
• You are running commands from repository root.

Step 1Connect your work

Install the CLI:

npm install -g @workrail/cli

Then run guided setup from a repository you want to use:

workrail setup

On a new, empty installation, the same guided flow also starts automatically when you first run Workrail in an interactive terminal. It:

• connects your Workrail account
• links repositories to your existing Default Project
• explains and offers optional GitHub context
• lets you enable autosync
• offers to run your first sync

Run workrail setup again whenever you want to revisit these choices.

Step 2Bring in evidence

workrail sync

After Workrail accepts activity, it prepares entries in the background. The Impact Snapshot page refreshes setup progress automatically; do not rerun sync just because evidence is still processing.

Free setup can import up to six months from three selected repositories for your one Impact Snapshot. After that snapshot is available, Free product writes and sync pause while your existing data remains readable.

Pro starts newly linked repositories from the current point forward. If you explicitly want recent history, request a bounded backfill of up to 30 days:

workrail sync --since 7d

If your repository has no useful commits in the selected period, open Entries and add one real accomplishment manually. Manual and synced entries can both become snapshot evidence.

Step 3Build your Impact Snapshot

Open Impact Snapshot, inspect the representative evidence, and include or exclude entries before building. Workrail creates a completed snapshot from at least two evidence entries, a clearly labeled partial snapshot from one, and does not invoke AI when there is no evidence.

After generation, you can inspect citations, edit the snapshot manually, copy or print it, use the included narrative and review-answer refreshes, or delete it. Manual snapshot editing remains available on Free.

After you open the result, Workrail offers Pro for ongoing sync and full performance-review workflows at $29/month or $290/year. No card is required for the Free snapshot.

Common setup issues

• Auth expired: run workrail auth login again.
• Wrong project link: run workrail unlink, then workrail link.
• No commits in range: use a repository with recent work or add evidence manually.
• Evidence still processing: keep the Impact Snapshot page open and wait for the status to update.
• Snapshot generation failed: retry from Impact Snapshot; your original entries are unchanged.