Client onboarding portal

Own your client onboarding. Stop renting it.

If your business starts with "collect info and documents from a new client before work begins," you've probably been juggling Google Forms, Dropbox links, and a folder somewhere full of "where did that signed scope go?" emails. Or you're paying $35/month forever to Dubsado or HoneyBook for a fraction of what they offer.

This is a branded, audit-ready onboarding portal you self-host on your own domain, customize with one prompt to your AI tool, and own forever. It pays for itself in one client engagement.

What you get

• A public client portal at a unique tokenized URL per client. No client account required, lower friction than any SaaS.
• Linear wizard with save-and-resume. Clients can close the tab mid-fill and resume later from the same link. Auto-saves on every step.
• Six field types built in — short text, long text, single-select, multi-select, file upload (drag-and-drop, multiple files per field), and acceptance checkbox.
• Three presets shipped — Marketing agency, Bookkeeping firm, Coaching practice. Pick one with a one-line config edit, or use them as starting points.
• Sign-off step that produces a real audit record — typed signature, terms acceptance with SHA-256 hash of the exact text the client saw, IP capture, timestamp. Downloadable as a one-page PDF.
• Magic-link admin — see every invite's status (Not started / In progress / Completed) at a glance, drill into any client's responses, download files with the original filename, regenerate the PDF, resend the invite, delete with cascade.
• Optional Resend + Slack on completion — drop in an API key and the right people get notified the moment a client signs off. Works fine without them too.
• AGENTS.md + CUSTOMIZE_WITH_AI.md — paste any of the ten included recipes into Cursor, Claude Code, or Windsurf to customize without touching the code yourself.

Who it's for

If your business starts with "collect info and documents from a new client before work begins," this is for you:

• Marketing, design, and dev agencies — kickoff intake, brand assets, scope acceptance
• Bookkeepers and accountants — new-client setup, document collection, authorization
• Coaches and consultants — intake questionnaires, agreement, logistics
• Lawyers and financial advisors — KYC, document collection, engagement letter
• Recruiters — onboarding hiring clients (companies, not candidates)
• B2B SaaS implementation teams — capturing customer requirements before kickoff
• Anyone replacing Google Forms + email + Dropbox with something professional

Why this vs. a SaaS like Dubsado or HoneyBook

Pays for itself in one client engagement. If you bill anywhere from $100-$300/hr, saving 2 hours of intake back-and-forth on the first client covers the $349. Skipping one "but I thought we agreed on..." scope dispute pays for it many times over.

You're not buying a product. You're buying the code, with documentation, screenshots, an AI customization guide, and three preset configurations. Fork it, brand it, ship it.

What's under the hood

Modern, boring stack — the kind that just works in 2026:

• Next.js 15 (App Router, Turbopack) + React 19 + TypeScript strict
• Tailwind CSS v4 with a CSS-first @theme token (one variable, full rebrand)
• Supabase — Postgres + Auth magic-link + Storage
• Resend for transactional email (optional)
• @react-pdf/renderer for the signed-record PDF
• Vitest for unit tests (3 test files included)

Deploys to Vercel in 5 minutes. Free tier of Supabase covers most professional-services volumes. Comprehensive docs included: SETUP.md, DEPLOY.md, TESTING.md, TROUBLESHOOTING.md, RECIPES.md, SECURITY.md.

Built for AI-assisted customization

Every Merkado Original ships with two files most templates don't have:

• AGENTS.md — auto-loaded by Cursor, Claude Code, and Windsurf. Your AI tool reads it and instantly knows the architecture, where to edit what, and which invariants not to break.
• CUSTOMIZE_WITH_AI.md — ten paste-ready prompts that handle the most-asked customizations: add a date-picker field kind, add a step, swap presets, make a field conditional, wire up Google Drive, wire up HubSpot CRM, CSV export, second signer, full rebrand, generic Zapier webhook.

The bar is not "you can edit this." It's "you can paste a prompt and ship a customization in 5 minutes." That's why this template is $349 instead of $99.

FAQ

Do I need to be a developer? About the same skill bar as setting up a WordPress site. The included AI recipes mean most customizations don't require writing code yourself — paste a prompt into your AI tool of choice.

Can I customize the intake questions? Yes — the entire intake flow lives in one TypeScript config file. Three pre-built presets (agency, bookkeeping, coaching) ship with the template. Swap presets with a one-line change, edit the imported file directly, or paste the "Add a new step" recipe into Cursor.

Where do my client's documents go? Your Supabase Storage bucket. Free tier includes 1 GB. You own the data, you control retention, you decide who has access.

What happens after a client signs off? The system records the signature, IP, timestamp, and a SHA-256 hash of the exact terms text the client saw (so they can't dispute it later). Optionally fires email notifications and a Slack message. Generates a downloadable PDF audit record.

Will it work for my specific industry? The field types are generic, so the template fits any professional-services intake. Three vertical presets ship to give you a head start.

Is this HIPAA / SOC 2 / PCI compliant? No. This is a starter, not a regulated-data system. If you collect protected health info or payment data, you'll need to add controls your regulator requires. Most professional-services intake doesn't fall in that bucket.

What if I get stuck? The included docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md covers the common gotchas. The MIT license means you can fork it, modify anything, ship it under your own brand.

MIT licensed. Instant ZIP delivery after purchase.