Learn how trial access, role-aware workflows, safe changes, billing, seats, and troubleshooting work from signup through everyday use.
Getting started
Begin with a small, low-risk review. CrystalSlate is most useful when you load a focused set of Smartsheet data, understand what the app is showing, and then decide whether any action is needed.
Create and verify your CrystalSlate account.
Choose monthly or annual billing and the number of distinct authorized users.
Connect Smartsheet through the available access method.
During the trial, start with the read-only Assets workflows shown on Start.
Export results before making major decisions so your team has a review record.
Trial and paid activation
The seven-day trial does not require a card and is intentionally narrower than paid access. Trial users receive Settings plus supported read-only Assets workflows: Metadata Explorer, search, Cell History, and Bulk Export.
Write tabs and administrator-only workflow cards are omitted during the trial.
Users, Groups, Activity, and supported Assets write tools appear only after paid activation and only when the connected Smartsheet role can use them.
Add a payment method before the trial ends to continue. Without one, the trial subscription ends and the workspace locks.
Connecting Smartsheet
The current launch path uses a Smartsheet Personal Access Token entered in the secure CrystalSlate Workspace after account sign-in. OAuth is planned later and is not the current launch connection.
Use a work account that has the Smartsheet role needed for the review.
Start with test sheets, sandbox workspaces, or low-risk examples when possible.
Never send your Smartsheet token, password, or session cookie to support.
If access is blocked before you reach the app, contact support with your approved work email and intended role, not any secret value.
Start screen and navigation
Before connection, Start presents one connection step. After a successful connection, it becomes a tailored workflow launcher.
Only workflows allowed by both the CrystalSlate entitlement and the connected Smartsheet role are shown.
Inaccessible workflows are omitted; there are no locked cards to work around.
Each card opens the exact tool it describes, such as Match Format, Bulk Columns, Formula tools, Groups, or Activity.
You may still use the main navigation to move freely among every section available to you. Browser Back and Forward return through recently visited sections and workflow destinations.
On narrow screens, the sidebar becomes a horizontally scrollable bottom navigation and wide tool tabs remain scrollable.
Role-based access
CrystalSlate shows workflow tools based on the connected Smartsheet role and the CrystalSlate access context. If a tool is unavailable, the most common reason is that the connected Smartsheet account does not have the role required for that workflow.
Regular users
Regular users typically focus on the assets they can access, metadata review, exports, and personal cleanup tasks.
Group admins
Group admins can review group membership and group-related workflows when Smartsheet allows that access.
System admins
System admins can use the broadest launch workflows in Users, Groups, Assets, and Activity.
CrystalSlate pricing does not change by Smartsheet role. Role determines what Smartsheet permits the connected account to do, not what the seat costs.
Read-only tools and write actions
CrystalSlate is designed to put review before change. Read-only tools load and analyze information. Write actions change something in Smartsheet and should be used only after you understand the results.
Trial read-only examples: Assets inventory, search, Cell History, and exports.
Write examples: selected user, group, and asset updates supported by the launch product.
Typed confirmations: high-impact writes use a CrystalSlate dialog and require deliberate confirmation so a fast click does not create a broad change.
Activity logging: CrystalSlate-initiated writes are recorded with useful context so the team can review what happened later.
Assets
Assets is the best first stop for understanding the sheets, folders, and workspaces visible to the connected Smartsheet account.
Use Assets to
Search inventory by name, owner, path, date, or access-related signals.
Export review data for cleanup planning.
Inspect sheet metadata before running bulk actions.
Review cell history, attachments, filters, references, or summary-field details where available.
Paid Assets tools include Metadata Explorer, Bulk Columns, Bulk Rows, Sheet Summary, Find & Replace, Formula replacement, Cross-Sheet References, Cell Links, Cell History, Match Format, Sync Filter, Bulk Export, and Bulk Rename. The Start cards deep-link into the most relevant tool.
Tip
Load a smaller workspace first. Once you trust the workflow, expand to larger inventory reviews.
Users
Users helps authorized team leads and admins review license, provisioning, offboarding, and user-to-asset questions. The exact data depends on what the connected account can access.
Use license audit views to identify users who may need review.
Use provisioning-gap review when comparing expected access against visible Smartsheet state.
Use offboarding support to understand what should be checked before removing or changing access.
Export findings before taking action so HR, IT, or business owners can approve next steps.
Groups
Groups is for reviewing managed groups, membership, and domain-based cleanup needs.
Load groups before reviewing membership.
Check whether members belong to expected domains.
Use add or remove workflows carefully and only after reviewing the group purpose.
Export group membership when another owner needs to approve changes.
CrystalSlate intentionally favors review and selected group actions over broad one-click cleanup across every group.
Activity
Activity is an organization-level System Admin area that records CrystalSlate writes. It helps authorized administrators answer “what did we do from CrystalSlate?”
Review Activity after any approved write workflow.
Export Activity when you need an operational handoff record.
Use Activity together with Smartsheet’s own records when investigating a question.
Settings
Settings covers connection, session, and app preferences that are safe for the current testing context.
Check connection status before running a review.
Use diagnostics only when support asks for the non-sensitive information shown in the app.
Review privacy and security guidance before sharing screenshots.
Billing and authorized-user seats
CrystalSlate has one product with two billing intervals: $7.99 per authorized user each month or $79.99 per authorized user each year, paid upfront.
One seat belongs to one distinct CrystalSlate account. The subscription owner uses seat 1.
Buying five seats creates one organization subscription with quantity five, not five separate subscriptions.
The owner can invite people into open seats and purchase additional prorated seats.
Removing a person frees their seat after the documented reassignment rules; it does not reduce the purchased quantity.
Payment methods, invoices, billing address, and tax IDs are managed in Stripe. Self-service interval changes and quantity decreases are not available yet.
Larger-team discounts are sales-assisted and are not automatically applied by checkout.
See the pricing page for example totals and the exact role caveats for each launch area.
Troubleshooting
A section is missing
Missing sections are normally intentional. Confirm whether the account is still in the read-only trial and whether the connected Smartsheet role permits that area.
CrystalSlate says configuration is unavailable
The workspace now blocks safely when secure server configuration cannot be loaded. Retry once; if the message remains, contact support without entering or sending a Smartsheet token.
Data looks incomplete
Check whether the data source was loaded, whether the connected account can see the relevant assets, and whether a CSV snapshot or date range is stale.
A write action is blocked
Review the confirmation text, your Smartsheet role, and whether the action is enabled for your testing access.
Exports do not match expectations
Re-run the review with a narrower filter, then compare the export against what is visible in the app before escalating.
What to send support
Good support details help without exposing sensitive access information.
Helpful to include
Your approved CrystalSlate account email.
Your Smartsheet role, such as Regular User, Group Admin, or System Admin.
The CrystalSlate section you were using.
The action you expected and what happened instead.
A screenshot with tokens, passwords, customer-sensitive sheet data, and personal data removed.
The browser and approximate time of the issue.
Never send
Smartsheet API tokens.
Passwords, session cookies, or one-time login links.
Customer data that is not necessary to explain the issue.
Unredacted screenshots that expose sensitive sheet contents or collaborator lists.
