PublicInput automatically imports information from your Legistar system, so you don't need to manually recreate meetings. The integration can:

Once set up, the sync runs automatically, and you can trigger manual syncs if needed.

Navigate to: Customer Settings → Integrations → Legistar

You will enter:

Imported as Events and include:

If Auto-import committees is turned on, PublicInput will also create a matching board/project for each committee in your chosen department. Once a committee is linked to a board, PublicInput starts pulling in that committee's meetings and agendas into that board.

Imported as structured PublicInput agendas with:

The Legistar integration imports agenda items (called "EventItems" in Legistar) into PublicInput meeting agendas. Two key settings control how items are imported and organized:

These settings are configured under Customer Settings → Integrations → Legistar.

This toggle controls whether PublicInput imports only items linked to a Legistar "Matter" or all items on the agenda.

Only agenda items that are linked to a Matter record in Legistar are imported. This is the standard behavior and works well for jurisdictions that associate each agenda item with a Matter (motion, resolution, ordinance, etc.).

Best for: Most Legistar customers where agenda items are linked to Matter records.

All agenda items are imported, regardless of whether they have a linked Matter. Formatting artifacts like "PAGE BREAK" and "E N D" are automatically filtered out.

Best for: Jurisdictions that use Legistar's EventItems as standalone agenda entries without linking them to Matters. When this is off, those items are invisible to PublicInput.

What gets filtered: Items with the titles "PAGE BREAK", "E N D", or blank/empty titles are automatically removed during import. These are Legistar formatting artifacts used for PDF generation and have no value as agenda items.

When "Automatically create agenda sections in PublicInput" is enabled, this dropdown controls how imported items are organized into sections within the PublicInput agenda.

Groups items by their Matter Type field from Legistar (e.g., "Resolution", "Ordinance", "Report"). This is the same behavior as the "Group" option.

Example result:

Best for: Jurisdictions that categorize their matters by type and want sections to reflect those categories.

Groups items by the Legistar EventItemMatterType field. This is the Matter Type associated with each agenda item.

Each unique MatterType value becomes a section. Items sharing the same MatterType are grouped together.

Example: If your Legistar instance uses Matter Types like "Consent", "Discussion", "Public Hearing", and "Presentation", each becomes a section in PublicInput.

Best for: Same as Default. Use this when you explicitly want to group by Matter Type rather than relying on the system default.

Groups items by the Legistar EventItemMatterStatus field (e.g., "Approved", "Pending", "Tabled").

Each unique MatterStatus value becomes a section. Items with the same status are grouped together.

Example result:

Best for: Jurisdictions that want their PublicInput agenda organized by the current status of each item, rather than by category. Useful when the agenda structure should reflect where items are in the legislative process.

All items are placed in a single default section with no section headers.

Items appear as a flat list in the order they were received from Legistar. No section organization is applied.

Best for: Simple agendas that don't need section divisions, or when you prefer to manually organize sections in PublicInput after import.

Uses artificial intelligence to automatically identify which items are section headers and which are agenda content, then groups items under the appropriate sections.

How it works: When the agenda syncs, PublicInput sends the list of item titles to an AI model that analyzes the text and classifies each item as either a "section header" (a heading that organizes the agenda) or a "content item" (an actual agenda item, procedure, or topic). Items are then grouped under the section header that precedes them.

Example: Given these raw Legistar items:

The AI identifies items 3, 5, 9, and 10 as section headers and produces:

Why use AI instead of a fixed rule? Different jurisdictions format their agendas differently. Some jurisdictions use Roman numerals ("I. PRESENTATIONS"), others use ALL CAPS ("RESOLUTIONS"), ALL CAPS with colons ("REPORTS OF COMMITTEES:"), or letters ("A. Regular Session"). The AI handles all of these conventions without needing custom configuration per jurisdiction.

AI Section Guidance (optional): When using the AI option, an additional text field appears where you can provide hints to help the AI make better classification decisions for your specific jurisdiction. For example:

This guidance is optional. The AI works well without it for most agendas, but it can improve accuracy for jurisdictions with unusual formatting.

Fallback behavior: If the AI service is temporarily unavailable, items are imported into a single default section (same as the "None" option). The sync does not fail — items are always imported regardless of whether section classification succeeds.

Cost and performance: The AI classification adds a small amount of processing time to each sync (typically 1-3 seconds per meeting). Agendas with more than 100 items skip AI classification and fall back to flat import to ensure reliable performance.

PublicInput checks Legistar for updates during every 20-minute sync cycle. A meeting will update automatically unless:

If the meeting is outside this protected window, PublicInput will refresh:

Updates only run when something in PublicInput differs from Legistar.

To prevent accidental overwrites during active meetings, PublicInput will not update any meeting that:

This protects in-progress agendas and meeting content. PublicInput will resume normal updates 30 minutes after the meeting ends.

Deleting the integration:

Q: What happens to existing agenda items when I change the section grouping setting?

A: The new setting applies on the next sync. Existing items are re-organized into sections based on the new grouping logic. No items are deleted.

Q: Can I manually edit sections after they're created by the sync?

A: Yes. Sections created by the sync can be renamed, reordered, or modified in the Meeting Admin page. However, the next sync may re-create or update sections based on the current setting.

Q: What is a "Matter" in Legistar?

A: A Matter is Legistar's term for a legislative item — a resolution, ordinance, motion, report, or other formal action. Each Matter has properties like Type, Status, and File Number. Some jurisdictions link every agenda item to a Matter; others use agenda items as standalone entries.

Q: How do I know if my jurisdiction needs "Import All Agenda Items" enabled?

A: If your PublicInput agenda shows few or no items after a Legistar sync, but the Legistar website shows a full agenda, your jurisdiction likely doesn't link items to Matters. Enable "Import All Agenda Items" to bring in all items.

Q: Is there an additional cost for the AI-powered section grouping?

A: The AI processing cost is negligible (fractions of a cent per meeting sync) and is included in your PublicInput subscription. There is no additional charge for using this feature.

Q: Can I preview what the import will look like before syncing?

A: Yes. On the Legistar connection settings page, click the Test Import button. This shows a side-by-side preview of raw Legistar items and how they would be organized into sections, without making any changes to your meetings.

Check:

By default, PublicInput only imports agenda items that are linked to an official legislative Matter in Legistar (such as a bill, resolution, ordinance, or other formal agenda item). If your jurisdiction uses Legistar EventItems as standalone agenda entries without linking them to Matters, enable the "Import All Agenda Items" toggle under Customer Settings → Integrations → Legistar to bring in all items.

The meeting may be live or near-live (30 minutes). If you need to make a change during this time frame, you can edit fields temporarily from the committee board page in PublicInput.

That just means you'll see extra committee boards in PublicInput:

Your environment may require an API token.