AI Template Generator Reference
The AI template generator builds a template from a description or from documents, in the Template Designer. This page is the reference for what it builds and what it accepts. For the steps, see Generate a Template with AI.
What the AI Can Build
| Part of a template | What the AI does |
|---|---|
| Headings | Groups the steps into sections. Headings carry no controls, assignments or due dates. |
| Tasks | One task for each step, with instructions written into a Text control. |
| Input controls | Short Text, Long Text, E-Mail, Website, Date & Time, Dropdown, Multi-Choice, Sub-Tasks, File Upload and Members, marked Required where an answer is needed. |
| Conditional logic | Shows or hides tasks and controls depending on an answer — whether a control has a particular answer, does not, has any answer or has none. A Date & Time or Members control can only be tested for whether it has been answered. |
| Template parameters | Values asked for when a checklist starts, of all three types: String, Date & Time, and Member or Group. |
| Task assignments | Assigns tasks to your workspace's existing groups, to a Member or Group parameter, or to whoever is picked in an earlier Members control. |
| Due dates | Date offsets after the checklist starts, after the previous task or a named task, or before or after a Date & Time control or parameter; and calendar positions such as Next Weekday or First Day of Next Quarter. |
| Enforced task order | Halts a task so that nothing after it can be done until it is complete — on its own, or together with everything before it. |
The template is written in the language of your description or your documents.
What It Does Not Build
- Custom notifications — add them in the designer. See Custom Notifications.
- Data Sets — the AI writes the options into each control. See Linking a Data Set to a Control to use managed lists instead.
- Linked checklists.
- Assignments to named people — only to groups, parameters and Members controls. It never invents a group your workspace does not have.
An AI assistant connected through the MCP server can do all four, refining a template with you in conversation.
Documents You Can Import
| Kind | File types | Read by |
|---|---|---|
| Word | .docx | CheckFlow |
| Excel | .xlsx | CheckFlow |
| CSV and tab-separated | .csv, .tsv | CheckFlow |
| PDF with text | .pdf | CheckFlow |
| Scanned PDF | .pdf | Azure AI Document Intelligence |
| Web page | .html, .htm | CheckFlow |
| Text and Markdown | .txt, .md | CheckFlow |
| JSON exports, such as from Trello, Asana or Jira | .json, .jsonl, .ndjson | CheckFlow |
| Photos and screenshots | .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .heic, .heif, .tif, .tiff, .bmp | Azure AI Document Intelligence |
Scanned documents and images can only be imported where Document Intelligence is available for your region; the build dialog mentions them only when it is.
These are not accepted: PowerPoint files (save the slides as a PDF), the older .doc and .xls formats (save as .docx or .xlsx), password-protected files, and GIF, WebP or AVIF images (save as PNG or JPG).
Behaviour and Validation Rules
- A file's type is read from its content, not its name. An image renamed to
.docxis read as an image. - A PDF is treated as scanned when at least a third of its pages have no text.
- Import as written, or improve it. Without Improve it as well, the AI keeps to the steps in the documents. With it, the AI also fills gaps and adds good practice.
- Imports are checked for missing steps. When an import comes back without some of the document's steps, the generator tries again — the progress card says Found more steps in your documents. Rebuilding… — unless you gave instructions, which may deliberately narrow it. If steps are still missing, the result carries a warning saying roughly what share of the document's steps were found.
- Hidden-by-default settings and reverse rules are set for you. The AI decides which answer shows what; CheckFlow works out what starts hidden and adds the rule that hides it again. Where more than one control can reveal the same task or control, no hiding rule is added, so once revealed it stays shown.
- A template that cannot be saved in full is simplified. If the conditional logic cannot be saved, the template is saved without it; if that fails too, it is saved with its tasks, controls, halts and simple due dates only.
- A build can stop early and keep what it has. At 150 steps, after 200 seconds, or when the AI runs out of room, the template is saved with the steps written so far, and a warning says why.
- Group names are sent to the AI so that it can assign steps to your groups. Nothing else from your workspace is.
Limits
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Description or instructions | 500 characters (at least 3 for a description) |
| Files per import | 3 |
| File size | 8 MB each |
| Text read from all files together | 60,000 characters |
| Pages of a PDF | 100 |
| Rows of a spreadsheet, CSV or table | 500 |
| Pages of scans and images per import | 20 |
| Steps in a template | 150 |
| Input controls per task | 12 |
| Options per Dropdown or Multi-Choice | 30 |
| Template parameters | 10 |
| Conditional logic rules | 40 |
| Groups assigned to one task | 5 |
| Due date offset | 365 days |
| Time for a build | 200 seconds |
When a document is longer than these limits allow, the start of it is used and a notice says so.
Cross-Feature Support
| Feature | Supported |
|---|---|
| Conditional Logic | Yes |
| Template Parameters | Yes |
| Dynamic Task Assignments | Yes, from a Members control or a Member or Group parameter |
| Dynamic Due Dates | Yes |
| Enforce Task Order | Yes |
| Custom Notifications | No |
| Data Sets | No |
| Linked Checklist | No |
| Table control | No |
Examples
From a description. Hotel room housekeeping inspection gives a template with a step for each area of the room — sleeping area, bathroom, linens and towels, amenities, surfaces and floors, safety — each with an Acceptable or Needs attention Dropdown and a Long Text control that appears only for Needs attention, followed by a corrective-action task that appears when any area needs attention.
From a document. A Word procedure for returning equipment, imported as written, keeps the document's steps in the document's order. Where the document says a step is done by IT, and your workspace has a group called IT, that step is assigned to the group.
With instructions. Importing a staff handbook with the instruction Only the onboarding section gives a template of that section alone. The generator does not rebuild it to add the steps from the rest of the handbook, because the instructions narrowed it on purpose.
The Public Generator Page
The AI template generator page on the CheckFlow website lets anyone try the generator without an account.
- It builds from a description only, in up to 500 characters. Documents cannot be imported there.
- Each internet address can generate three templates an hour and ten a day. The page is also limited to a number of templates a day across all visitors.
- It has no workspace, so its templates have no group assignments.
- Use This Template in CheckFlow takes the visitor through sign-up or sign-in, then offers Add to My Templates. Adding it uses no AI credits. It needs the same access as building a template with AI in the app.
- Generated templates are kept for a limited time. After that, This template has expired, and a new one can be generated in the app.
Who Can Do What
| Action | Required role or permission |
|---|---|
| Build a template with AI | Administrator, or Member with Template.Creator and AI.User, while Allow AI features is on |
| File it in a Library folder | Administrator, or Member with Library.Creator and Edit on the folder |
| Discard it or try again from the result | The person who built it, within an hour, before a checklist has been started from it |
| Add a template from the public page | As for building a template with AI |
Related Pages
- Generate a Template with AI — the steps.
- AI Credits — what a build costs.
- AI in CheckFlow — how your data and documents are handled.
- Control Types — every control, including the ones the AI does not use.