Granola Core Workflow A: Meeting Preparation & Templates
Overview
Configure Granola templates (which structure the enhanced output) and recipes (repeatable Chat prompts) for consistent, high-quality meeting notes. Granola ships with 29 built-in templates and supports custom templates per workspace.
Prerequisites
- Granola installed and authenticated
- Calendar synced with upcoming meetings
- At least one meeting captured (to understand the enhancement flow)
Instructions
Step 1 — Choose a Built-in Template
Click the Change template icon at the bottom of your notes before or during a meeting:
| Template |
Best For |
Sections Generated |
| 1-on-1 |
Manager/report check-ins |
Check-in, Updates, Discussion, Action Items |
| Stand-up |
Daily sync |
Progress, Blockers, Priorities |
| Discovery Call |
Sales prospecting |
Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline (BANT) |
| Sprint Planning |
Agile ceremonies |
Sprint Goals, Velocity, Backlog, Risks |
| Weekly Team |
Status meetings |
Updates, Decisions, Action Items |
| Interview Debrief |
Hiring loops |
Candidate Assessment, Strengths, Concerns |
| Project Kick-Off |
New initiatives |
Goals, Scope, Timeline, RACI |
| Pipeline Review |
Sales forecast |
Deal Status, Next Steps, Risks |
| Design Crit |
Creative review |
Feedback, Changes Requested, Approvals |
Templates tell the AI how to structure the enhanced output — a sales call produces different sections than a standup.
Step 2 — Create a Custom Template
- Open Granola Settings > Templates
- Click Create New Template
- Define the structure using section headers:
## Customer Feedback Session
### Context
[Brief on the customer and their product usage]
### Key Feedback Themes
[Grouped by category: UX, Performance, Features, Support]
### Verbatim Quotes
[Direct customer quotes with timestamps]
### Severity Assessment
[Critical / High / Medium / Low for each issue]
### Action Items
[Owner, task, due date]
### Follow-Up Commitment
[What we promised the customer and by when]
- Name it and optionally set auto-trigger conditions:
- Calendar event title contains specific keywords (e.g., "feedback", "customer")
- Attendee email domains (e.g.,
@customer.com)
Step 3 — Create Recipes for Granola Chat
Recipes are saved prompts invoked with / in Granola Chat:
| Recipe |
Prompt |
Use Case |
/follow-up |
"Draft a professional follow-up email summarizing decisions and next steps" |
Post-meeting email |
/standup |
"Extract blockers, progress updates, and priorities per person" |
Standup summary |
/bant |
"Analyze this call using BANT framework (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline)" |
Sales qualification |
/prd |
"Write a PRD based on the product requirements discussed in this meeting" |
Product spec |
/coaching |
"Based on this 1:1, suggest coaching points and development areas" |
Manager prep |
/decision-log |
"List all decisions made, who made them, and the reasoning" |
Governance |
Create custom recipes at Settings > Recipes or directly in Chat.
Step 4 — Pre-Meeting Preparation
Before important meetings, type context into the Granola notepad before the call starts:
## Pre-Meeting Context
- Last meeting: discussed Series A timeline, concerns about runway
- Open items: term sheet review, board seat allocation
- My goals today: confirm valuation range, discuss liquidation preference
- Questions to ask: timeline for closing, co-investor status
When you click Enhance Notes after the meeting, Granola combines:
- Your pre-meeting context
- Your live notes during the meeting
- The full audio transcript
This produces output that is aware of your goals and prior context.
Step 5 — Set Template Defaults per Workspace
For team deployments, set default templates per shared folder:
| Folder |
Default Template |
Auto-Apply |
#sales-calls |
Discovery Call |
Events with external attendees |
#engineering |
Sprint Planning |
Events titled "sprint" or "planning" |
#leadership |
Weekly Team |
Events with >5 attendees |
#interviews |
Interview Debrief |
Events titled "interview" |
Output
- Templates configured for each meeting type
- Custom recipes created for post-meeting workflows
- Pre-meeting context workflow established
- Consistent structured output across team meetings
Error Handling
| Issue |
Cause |
Fix |
| Wrong template applied |
Auto-trigger matched incorrectly |
Narrow trigger conditions (more specific keywords) |
| Template sections empty |
Meeting lacked relevant discussion |
Remove irrelevant sections from template |
| Recipe not appearing |
Not saved to workspace |
Save recipe in Settings > Recipes |
| Pre-meeting notes lost |
Typed in wrong app |
Ensure you type in the Granola notepad, not a separate editor |
Template Design Best Practices
- Use clear section headers — Granola's AI parses headers to organize content
- Include bracketed hints —
[Owner, task, due date] guides the AI output format
- Keep templates under 10 sections — too many sections dilute content
- Add a "Verbatim Quotes" section for customer-facing meetings — captures exact language
- End with "Action Items" and "Next Steps" — the AI reliably fills these
Resources
Next Steps
Proceed to granola-core-workflow-b for post-meeting processing and sharing workflows.
Source: jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills → skills/.curated/granola-core-workflow-a/SKILL.md
Also appears in: jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills/plugins/saas-packs/granola-pack/skills/granola-core-workflow-a/SKILL.md
1---2name: granola-core-workflow-a3description: "\"Meeting preparation and template setup in Granola \\u2014 templates,\\ \\ recipes, and pre-meeting workflows.\\nUse when configuring note templates for 1:1s,\\ \\ standups, discovery calls, or sprint planning,\\ncreating custom recipes, or preparing\\ \\ agenda notes before important meetings.\\nTrigger: \\\"granola template\\\", \\\"granola\\ \\ meeting prep\\\", \\\"granola recipe\\\", \\\"granola agenda\\\".\\n\""4allowed-tools: "Read, Write, Edit"5category: product-and-pm6source_repo: jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills7source_path: "skills/.curated/granola-core-workflow-a/SKILL.md"8source_url: https://github.com/jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills/blob/HEAD/skills/.curated/granola-core-workflow-a/SKILL.md9---1011# Granola Core Workflow A: Meeting Preparation & Templates1213## Overview1415Configure Granola templates (which structure the enhanced output) and recipes (repeatable Chat prompts) for consistent, high-quality meeting notes. Granola ships with 29 built-in templates and supports custom templates per workspace.1617## Prerequisites1819- Granola installed and authenticated20- Calendar synced with upcoming meetings21- At least one meeting captured (to understand the enhancement flow)2223## Instructions2425### Step 1 — Choose a Built-in Template2627Click the **Change template** icon at the bottom of your notes before or during a meeting:2829| Template | Best For | Sections Generated |30|----------|----------|-------------------|31| **1-on-1** | Manager/report check-ins | Check-in, Updates, Discussion, Action Items |32| **Stand-up** | Daily sync | Progress, Blockers, Priorities |33| **Discovery Call** | Sales prospecting | Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline (BANT) |34| **Sprint Planning** | Agile ceremonies | Sprint Goals, Velocity, Backlog, Risks |35| **Weekly Team** | Status meetings | Updates, Decisions, Action Items |36| **Interview Debrief** | Hiring loops | Candidate Assessment, Strengths, Concerns |37| **Project Kick-Off** | New initiatives | Goals, Scope, Timeline, RACI |38| **Pipeline Review** | Sales forecast | Deal Status, Next Steps, Risks |39| **Design Crit** | Creative review | Feedback, Changes Requested, Approvals |4041Templates tell the AI how to structure the enhanced output — a sales call produces different sections than a standup.4243### Step 2 — Create a Custom Template44451. Open Granola Settings > **Templates**462. Click **Create New Template**473. Define the structure using section headers:4849```markdown50## Customer Feedback Session5152### Context53[Brief on the customer and their product usage]5455### Key Feedback Themes56[Grouped by category: UX, Performance, Features, Support]5758### Verbatim Quotes59[Direct customer quotes with timestamps]6061### Severity Assessment62[Critical / High / Medium / Low for each issue]6364### Action Items65[Owner, task, due date]6667### Follow-Up Commitment68[What we promised the customer and by when]69```70711. Name it and optionally set auto-trigger conditions:72 - Calendar event title contains specific keywords (e.g., "feedback", "customer")73 - Attendee email domains (e.g., `@customer.com`)7475### Step 3 — Create Recipes for Granola Chat7677Recipes are saved prompts invoked with `/` in Granola Chat:7879| Recipe | Prompt | Use Case |80|--------|--------|----------|81| `/follow-up` | "Draft a professional follow-up email summarizing decisions and next steps" | Post-meeting email |82| `/standup` | "Extract blockers, progress updates, and priorities per person" | Standup summary |83| `/bant` | "Analyze this call using BANT framework (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline)" | Sales qualification |84| `/prd` | "Write a PRD based on the product requirements discussed in this meeting" | Product spec |85| `/coaching` | "Based on this 1:1, suggest coaching points and development areas" | Manager prep |86| `/decision-log` | "List all decisions made, who made them, and the reasoning" | Governance |8788Create custom recipes at Settings > **Recipes** or directly in Chat.8990### Step 4 — Pre-Meeting Preparation9192Before important meetings, type context into the Granola notepad **before** the call starts:9394```markdown95## Pre-Meeting Context96- Last meeting: discussed Series A timeline, concerns about runway97- Open items: term sheet review, board seat allocation98- My goals today: confirm valuation range, discuss liquidation preference99- Questions to ask: timeline for closing, co-investor status100```101102When you click **Enhance Notes** after the meeting, Granola combines:1031041. Your pre-meeting context1052. Your live notes during the meeting1063. The full audio transcript107108This produces output that is aware of your goals and prior context.109110### Step 5 — Set Template Defaults per Workspace111112For team deployments, set default templates per shared folder:113114| Folder | Default Template | Auto-Apply |115|--------|-----------------|------------|116| `#sales-calls` | Discovery Call | Events with external attendees |117| `#engineering` | Sprint Planning | Events titled "sprint" or "planning" |118| `#leadership` | Weekly Team | Events with >5 attendees |119| `#interviews` | Interview Debrief | Events titled "interview" |120121## Output122123- Templates configured for each meeting type124- Custom recipes created for post-meeting workflows125- Pre-meeting context workflow established126- Consistent structured output across team meetings127128## Error Handling129130| Issue | Cause | Fix |131|-------|-------|-----|132| Wrong template applied | Auto-trigger matched incorrectly | Narrow trigger conditions (more specific keywords) |133| Template sections empty | Meeting lacked relevant discussion | Remove irrelevant sections from template |134| Recipe not appearing | Not saved to workspace | Save recipe in Settings > Recipes |135| Pre-meeting notes lost | Typed in wrong app | Ensure you type in the Granola notepad, not a separate editor |136137## Template Design Best Practices1381391. **Use clear section headers** — Granola's AI parses headers to organize content1402. **Include bracketed hints** — `[Owner, task, due date]` guides the AI output format1413. **Keep templates under 10 sections** — too many sections dilute content1424. **Add a "Verbatim Quotes" section** for customer-facing meetings — captures exact language1435. **End with "Action Items" and "Next Steps"** — the AI reliably fills these144145## Resources146147- [Customize Notes with Templates](https://docs.granola.ai/help-center/taking-notes/customise-notes-with-templates)148- [Introducing Recipes](https://www.granola.ai/blog/say-hello-to-recipes)149- [Get the Best from Granola](https://www.granola.ai/blog/get-the-best-from-granola)150151## Next Steps152153Proceed to `granola-core-workflow-b` for post-meeting processing and sharing workflows.154155---156157**Source:** [`jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills`](https://github.com/jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills) → `skills/.curated/granola-core-workflow-a/SKILL.md`158159**Also appears in:** `jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills/plugins/saas-packs/granola-pack/skills/granola-core-workflow-a/SKILL.md`