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This guide walks you through setting up your Windmill account and connecting the essential systems you’ll need to get started.

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Account creation

Currently, the Windmill team sends account invitations directly. If you’re interested in Windmill, schedule time with our team to get started. Once you receive your invite (check your spam folder if you don’t see it), accept the invitation to access your account. You’ll be guided through the initial setup process by Windy, our AI assistant in Slack.

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Authentication

To log in to Windmill, visit https://app.gowindmill.com/auth. Windmill supports three SSO authentication methods: Google Recommended for companies using Google Workspace. No additional setup required. Click the Google sign-in button and authenticate with your company Google account. Microsoft Recommended for companies using Microsoft 365. No additional setup required. Click the Microsoft sign-in button and authenticate with your company Microsoft account. Rippling If you use Rippling for HR and SSO, you can authenticate through Rippling. A Windmill Admin must set up the Rippling connection first before users can authenticate with this method.
We recommend all users in your account use the same authentication method. While not strictly required, this leads to the best experience and simplifies troubleshooting.
Important notes about authentication:
  • Every user must be explicitly invited to Windmill to gain access to the platform
  • The email you use to invite team members must match the email they use to authenticate
  • Only invited users can access the dashboard

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Connect Slack

After accepting your invite, you’ll be guided through the Slack integration by Windy. Slack is where your team will interact with Windmill, so this connection is essential. Choose which channels Windy can access Most teams opt to have Windy join all public channels. This gives Windy the most context about team collaboration and helps identify the right moments to collect feedback. You can configure this in Settings > Connections > Slack at any time, or add Windy to specific channels one by one if you prefer more control.
Team members don’t need to be invited to Windmill’s dashboard if they’ll only interact with Windy through Slack. Dashboard invites are for managers and admins who need to view reports and configure settings.

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Connect your HRIS

Your HRIS (HR Information System) is the foundation of Windmill. We use it to build your org chart and understand your team’s reporting structure. What Windmill collects from your HRIS:
  • Employee first name, last name, and email
  • Manager and reporting structure
  • Job titles and departments
We do NOT collect:
  • Payroll information
  • Addresses, Social Security Numbers, or other sensitive PII
  • Employment contracts or benefits information
To connect your HRIS, go to Settings > Connections > Add Connections and select your HR system. View our full list of available HR integrations.
If you don’t have an HRIS to connect, you’ll need to build your org chart manually. This ensures the right people have access to the right information within Windmill.

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Add more connections

The more systems you connect to Windmill, the smarter Windy becomes. Consider connecting:
  • Google Workspace - For meeting data and calendar activities - this is required to leverage our 1:1 feature
  • GitHub - For engineering contributions (requires username mapping)
  • Jira - For project management activities (requires username mapping)
  • Linear - For issue tracking
  • Figma - For design contributions (requires username mapping)
  • Salesforce - For sales activities and customer interactions
You can add connections anytime by going to Settings > Connections > Add Connections. See our full Connections overview for detailed setup instructions for each integration.

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Next steps

Once you’ve connected your HRIS and Slack, you’re ready to build your org chart and start inviting team members to Windmill.