# Create SignUpGenius sign-ups with an AI agent

> Describe the shifts once and get a SignUpGenius draft with every date, role and head count, or last year's sheet rebuilt on this year's dates.

Source: https://cotlet.dev/integrations/signupgenius-api-mcp-server/create-signups-from-a-prompt

The event is settled in a group chat ("three shifts, four people each, setup at eight"), and then someone has to type it into the SignUpGenius Slots tab one date and one role at a time. For the yearly book fair or conference week, that someone starts from last year's sheet and fixes every date by hand.

Cotlet does it in your own SignUpGenius account with list\_groups, list\_signups, get\_signup, create\_signup and add\_slots, called by your AI agent, an n8n workflow or a script.

[Request access](https://cotlet.dev/app/signup?app=signupgenius) [All SignUpGenius tools](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/signupgenius-api-mcp-server)

Hosted · nothing to install or maintain

Official options

## Can SignUpGenius do this on its own?

SignUpGenius helps with templates, the Add Recurring Days and Add Time Slots generators and a Duplicate option, but each still ends with you entering or correcting slots on the Slots tab. Its API reads sign-ups and reports and cannot create sign-ups or slots (checked 11 Oct 2026), and the Zapier app only creates, finds or deletes group members (checked 12 Oct 2026).

By hand

## How you do it in SignUpGenius today

1. Click Create a Sign Up, then on the SignUpGenius Design tab enter the title, pick a group from the dropdown (or click + to make one), choose a theme and write the description.
2. On the Slots tab, select a format and click Add Dates, then pick days from the calendar or use Add Recurring Days or Add Time Slots to generate the dates and times.
3. Click Add Slots for each role: title, Help Comment, the dates it applies to and the Number Wanted, then Save or Save and Add Another, paging through the Slots tab when the list runs long.
4. For a yearly event, open the Created tab, set the filter to Past, click the ellipsis (...) and choose Duplicate, enter a new title and click Create Copy; the copy waits under Drafts.
5. Open the copy from the ellipsis menu with Edit, change every old date and time to this year, then set reminder preferences on the Settings tab and click Publish on the Publish tab.
6. Every slot is typed or edited by hand, and a duplicated sheet keeps last year's dates until each one is changed, so one forgotten date publishes a shift nobody can take.

With an agent

## How to create SignUpGenius sign-ups with an AI agent

Prompt

```
Make a sign-up for the spring bake sale on May 9: three two-hour shifts from 9:00, four volunteers each, plus two people for setup at 8:00. Assign it to the PTA group and leave it as a draft.
```

1. 01  
### Turn the message into roles, dates and counts  
The agent splits the request into one role per slot title, each with its own date-times and head count. When a time, a time zone or a count is missing it asks instead of guessing, because SignUpGenius needs a fixed Number Wanted for every slot.
2. 02  
### Pick the right group  
list\_groups is matched against the group you name. Two close matches ("PTA" and "PTA Board") or none at all stop the run with a question; the agent never invents a group, and with no group named it leaves the draft unassigned and says so.
3. 03  
### Reuse last year's sheet when you point to one  
For "like last year", the agent finds the old sign-up with list\_signups set to past and reads its roles, counts and locations with get\_signup. It moves each date to the same weekday of the new year rather than the same calendar date, and shows you the old and new dates side by side.
4. 04  
### Build the draft role by role  
create\_signup opens the draft, then add\_slots runs once per role with all of that role's dates in one list. A role with no date, such as "Bring paper plates", gets an empty date list instead of a made-up day.
5. 05  
### Stop at the draft and say what is left  
The run ends with the draft link and the slot count per role. Theme, custom questions and reminder settings stay at your account defaults, so the agent lists them as the things to check before you ask it to publish.

### What you get back

Example data

```
Draft "Spring bake sale 2027" in group PTA, 4 slots added.
Setup crew: 8:00 on Sun 9 May, 2 wanted.
Bake sale shift: 9:00, 11:00 and 13:00 on Sun 9 May, 4 wanted each.
Location on every slot: School lobby.
Not set: theme and reminder emails (account defaults). Publish when ready.
```

### Other ways to ask

- Rebuild last year's Teacher conferences sign-up for 2027 on the same weekdays, keep the 20-minute slots, and show me the date changes before you save anything.
- Make a meal train for the Lee family: one dinner a day from June 2 to June 15, one person each, assigned to the Small Group list.
- Create a slots-only potluck sign-up with Main dish x6, Salad x4 and Dessert x4, no dates, as a draft.
- Add Saturday morning shifts from 8:00 to 12:00 in one-hour blocks for every weekend in October to my food bank draft.

Before you automate it

## What SignUpGenius allows, and what to know first

- SignUpGenius no longer accepts an unlimited Number Wanted; every slot needs a specific quantity, and a duplicated old sign-up with unlimited slots throws a quantity error until each one is edited.
- Publishing a SignUpGenius sign-up does not invite anyone: the organizer still sends invites with Compose Message, by text on paid plans to members who opted in, or by sharing the link.
- A SignUpGenius content filter can block a word in the event title, item description, slot entry or a custom question on save or publish, and the help center asks you to contact Support rather than guess your way around it.

create\_signup and add\_slots change only your own SignUpGenius data and reach no one else, so they run without asking first.

Sources: [SignUpGenius Help: Create a Sign Up](https://support.signupgenius.com/hc/en-us/articles/29435544326679-Create-a-Sign-Up) · [SignUpGenius Help: Duplicate a Sign Up](https://support.signupgenius.com/hc/en-us/articles/29465392039831-Duplicate-a-Sign-Up) · [SignUpGenius Help: Entering Slot Quantity](https://support.signupgenius.com/hc/en-us/articles/29465359086231-Entering-Slot-Quantity) · [SignUpGenius Help: Why Certain Words Might Get Blocked](https://support.signupgenius.com/hc/en-us/articles/41778851709847-Why-Certain-Words-Might-Get-Blocked-When-Creating-a-Sign-Up)

REST

## Call add\_slots from a script

curl

```
curl https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/signupgenius/add_slots \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"signup_id":"50463821","title":"Bake sale shift","quantity":4,"dates":["2027-05-09T09:00:00-04:00","2027-05-09T11:00:00-04:00","2027-05-09T13:00:00-04:00"],"location":"School lobby","help_comment":"Bring a float of small bills."}'
```

Example response

```
{
"signup_id": "50463821",
"status": "draft",
"slots_added": 3,
"slots": [
{
"slot_id": "3381902441",
"start": "2027-05-09T09:00:00-04:00",
"title": "Bake sale shift",
"wanted": 4,
"filled": 0
},
{
"slot_id": "3381902442",
"start": "2027-05-09T11:00:00-04:00",
"title": "Bake sale shift",
"wanted": 4,
"filled": 0
},
{
"slot_id": "3381902443",
"start": "2027-05-09T13:00:00-04:00",
"title": "Bake sale shift",
"wanted": 4,
"filled": 0
}
]
}
```

MCP: add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 with the same key; the tool is signupgenius\_add\_slots. Example data.

[Schedule it in n8n, Make, Zapier or cron](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/signupgenius-api-mcp-server#automations)

Tools

## SignUpGenius tools this automation uses

__Cotlet SignUpGenius tools used to create SignUpGenius sign-ups with an AI agent__
| Tool | Parameters |
| -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| list\_groups | none |
| list\_signups | status, limit, cursor |
| get\_signup | signup\_id, open\_only |
| create\_signup | title, description, group\_id |
| add\_slots | signup\_id, title, quantity, dates, location, help\_comment |

[All 15 SignUpGenius tools with descriptions](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/signupgenius-api-mcp-server#tools)

## Frequently asked questions

### Why rebuild last year's sign-up instead of duplicating it?

SignUpGenius Duplicate copies the old dates, and changing them means editing each date on the Slots tab. Cotlet's duplicate\_signup makes the same kind of copy, so when the dates change the agent builds a fresh draft from the old roles. If the old sheet has a custom theme or custom questions, ask for duplicate\_signup instead and fix the dates in SignUpGenius.

### Can it publish and invite in the same run?

Only when you ask. publish\_signup asks for your OK by default and returns the public link; inviting the group is a separate send\_message call, because SignUpGenius publishing sends nothing.

## More SignUpGenius automations

- [Remind SignUpGenius group members to fill open slots](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/signupgenius-api-mcp-server/remind-people-to-sign-up)
- [SignUpGenius API and MCP server: every tool](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/signupgenius-api-mcp-server)
- [All use cases](https://cotlet.dev/use-cases)

## Give your agent access to SignUpGenius.

Free 7-day trial with 5,000 credits, no card needed. Cotlet is independent and not affiliated with SignUpGenius.

[Request access](https://cotlet.dev/app/signup?app=signupgenius)