Automate Calendly user onboarding & offboarding with Google Sheets and human approval

This workflow automates the entire Calendly onboarding and offboarding process for company users. It relies on form submissions, Google Sheets as a source of truth, AI-generated HR emails, man-in-the-loop approval steps, and direct API interactions with Calendly.

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Key Advantages

✅ Full Automation of Routine HR Processes

The workflow removes the need for HR to manually add or remove Calendly users. It handles data collection, checks eligibility, interacts with Calendly’s API, and updates records automatically.

✅ Centralized Data Management

All onboarding/offboarding data is stored and maintained in a Google Sheet, ensuring a single source of truth for user status and activity tracking.

✅ Built-in Human Validation (Man-in-the-Loop)

HR receives automated approval emails and must validate each action before a Calendly account is created or removed. This ensures:

• security
• accuracy
• compliance with internal policies

✅ AI-Generated Professional Communication

OpenAI generates polished, consistent HTML emails for HR, improving communication quality and reducing manual writing time.

✅ Clean Separation of Onboarding and Offboarding Paths

Both processes are independent but structured similarly, making maintenance easier and ensuring consistent logic.

✅ Direct Integration with Calendly’s API

The workflow automatically:

• creates invitations
• retrieves organization membership
• deletes users

This eliminates manual operations inside Calendly, greatly reducing administrative workload.

✅ Error Reduction & Traceability

Since every action is logged in the Google Sheet, HR can easily track:

• when onboarding/offboarding occurred
• whether approval was given
• if Calendly access is active

✅ Improved User Experience

The final screens (“Onboarding complete”, “Offboarding complete”, “Not approved”) provide immediate feedback to the requester.

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The workflow contains two parallel automation paths:

1. Onboarding Workflow

How it works

1. User submits the Onboarding Form The form collects first name, last name, and email.

2. User is appended to the Google Sheet A new record is added with date, name, email, and a placeholder for the Calendly status.

3. AI-generated email is prepared OpenAI generates a full HTML email notifying HR about the onboarding request.

4. HR receives an approval request via email Using Gmail’s “send and wait” feature, HR must approve or reject onboarding.

5. If approved:

   • The system calls Calendly’s API to invite the user to the organization.
   • The Google Sheet record is updated (CALENDLY = on).
   • The process ends with a confirmation page.

6. If rejected:

   • The workflow ends with a “Not approved” page.

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2. Offboarding Workflow

How it works

1. User submits the Offboarding Form Only the email is required.

2. The system checks the Google Sheet It verifies if the email exists and if the user currently has Calendly access.

3. If the user exists, the workflow:

   • Uses AI to generate a professional offboarding request email.
   • Sends an approval prompt to HR.

4. If HR approves:

   • The workflow retrieves the user’s Calendly membership via API.
   • Deletes the user from the Calendly organization.
   • Updates Google Sheets (CALENDLY = off).
   • Ends with a confirmation page.

5. If approval is denied:

   • The workflow ends with a “Not approved” screen.

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Here's a description of the Calendly Onboarding and Offboarding workflow for n8n:

How It Works

This workflow automates user onboarding and offboarding processes for Calendly with human approval steps. The system operates through two parallel streams:

Onboarding Process:

• Users submit their information (first name, last name, email) through an onboarding form
• Data is automatically recorded in a Google Sheets spreadsheet
• An AI agent generates a professional HTML email notification for HR
• The email is sent to HR with a double-approval mechanism requiring manual confirmation
• If approved, the system automatically adds the user to Calendly organization via API
• The spreadsheet is updated to mark the user as "on" for Calendly access
• User receives a completion confirmation

Offboarding Process:

• Users submit their email through an offboarding form
• The system checks Google Sheets to verify the user exists and has Calendly access
• An AI agent generates an offboarding notification email for HR approval
• After HR double-approval, the system retrieves the user's Calendly membership via API
• The user is automatically removed from Calendly organization
• The spreadsheet is updated to mark Calendly access as "off"
• User receives offboarding completion confirmation

Set Up Steps

Prerequisites:

• Google Sheets spreadsheet with columns: DATE, FIRST NAME, LAST NAME, EMAIL, CALENDLY
• Calendly organization ID and API access
• Gmail account for sending approval emails
• OpenAI API access for email generation

Configuration Steps:

1. Google Sheets Setup:

   • Create a spreadsheet with the required column structure
   • Configure Google Sheets OAuth credentials in n8n
   • Update the document ID in all Google Sheets nodes

2. Calendly API Configuration:

   • Replace "XXX" placeholders in HTTP Request nodes with actual Calendly API bearer tokens
   • Set the correct Calendly organization ID in the Set nodes
   • Verify API endpoints match your Calendly organization structure

3. Email System Setup:

   • Configure Gmail OAuth credentials for sending approval emails
   • Update recipient email address from "[email protected]" to your HR department's email
   • Adjust approval timeout settings as needed (currently 45 minutes)

4. Form Configuration:

   • Deploy both onboarding and offboarding forms
   • Test form submissions to ensure data flows correctly
   • Customize completion messages for both success and rejection scenarios

5. AI Email Generation:

   • Verify OpenAI API credentials are properly configured
   • Test email template generation for both onboarding and offboarding scenarios
   • Adjust system prompts if different email formatting is required

6. Workflow Activation:

   • Test both onboarding and offboarding flows end-to-end
   • Verify approval emails are received and functional
   • Confirm Google Sheets updates correctly
   • Activate the workflow once testing is complete

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