By DK, Riverd Founder. Last updated: 2026-09-25.
Client intake forms are now part of Riverd, and they are included on every plan, the free Brook plan included. You email a new client their intake before the first session. They open it on their phone, answer questions about health conditions, medications, pregnancy status, areas of concern, and how much pressure they want, then sign with their typed name. The signed form lands on their client record and on the booking, where you can open it in the app or as a PDF. Available to US practices at launch.
Until now, a first session in a solo practice started one of two ways. Either the client spent the first ten minutes of an hour they paid for filling in a clipboard, or the practitioner paid for a second subscription to a form product so it could happen beforehand. Neither is a good trade. The first spends session time on paperwork; the second spends money on something a practice management tool should already do.
What it is, and what it deliberately is not
If you offer massage or bodywork, a clinical massage intake is ready the first time you open Intake forms. It covers what AMTA's guidance on client communication says an intake should cover: surgeries, medical conditions, current medications, injuries, pain, skin conditions, allergies, sensitive areas, whether the client is or may be pregnant, and where they do and do not want you to work. If your sessions are something else, you start from a shorter general form instead. If the starting form fits your practice, you never have to touch it. Sending can start the same day you sign up.
Three things it is deliberately not. It is not a form builder: there is no palette of fields to drag around, because you change the form by describing the change in plain words to Reed, Riverd's AI. The intake editor works on your form's questions, wording, and order, and it never reads what clients write. It is not a client login: there is no account to create, no password, and no app to download. And it is not everywhere yet. Client intake forms are available to US practices at launch, and in this first version the form goes out by email.
How it works, from both sides
From your client's side it is short. They get an email with a link, tap it, and answer the questions in their phone's browser in a few steps. They check an attestation box, type their full name as their signature, and submit. Right after signing, they can download their own copy once. That is the entire client experience, and it is the part that decides whether the form actually comes back filled in.
From your side it is quieter still. Set a form to go out when a new client books their first session, and to ask again after a number of months you choose, so a client you have seen for three years is not working from health details they gave you in 2023. Gentle email reminders follow up until the form is done. While an intake is outstanding, both the client's record and the session show a clear warning, so you find out before you are standing at the table rather than after. You can always send or re-send by hand from the client page or the session page.
When the signed form arrives, the parts you need before a session get surfaced where you prep: flagged conditions, medications, pregnancy status, and stated preferences. The full form is one tap away in the app, or as a PDF.
You edit it by talking, not by dragging
This is the part that is different from everything else in the category. Every other tool ships a form builder, and a form builder is a small piece of software a practitioner has to learn during the week they are least able to learn anything.
So Riverd does not ship one. Type "add a question about neck injuries" and Reed makes the change and saves it to your form's draft. Undo is one click if it is not what you meant, and clients get the new version only when you publish it. If a request comes back wrong, say what is wrong, the way you would tell a colleague.
Three guardrails are worth naming, because a feature that involves an AI and client health information should say exactly where the line is. The intake editor works on your form's questions, wording, and order, and it never reads what clients write. Riverd does not use your clients' answers to train AI. And nothing a client sees changes until you publish it. If you want the fuller picture of how that assistant is bounded, meet Reed covers the design and the limits in detail.
What it costs
Intake forms are included on every plan, and there is no monthly send limit on any plan.
| Plan | Form types | Sends per month |
|---|---|---|
| Brook (free) | 3 | Unlimited |
| River | 3 | Unlimited |
| Fjord | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Two things about those numbers. Editing the form by chat is included on every plan, including Brook. And reminders are included too, so chasing a form that has not come back costs nothing.
Updated 2026-08-29: Brook moved from one form type and ten sends a month to three form types with unlimited sends, the same as River.
This is the same posture we took with card payments earlier this year: ship the small honest version of a thing and put it in front of everyone, rather than holding it behind a tier and calling it a premium feature. The rest of what has shipped recently sits in the product updates hub, and the full detail on this one lives on the client intake forms page. For how intake fits with booking and session notes in a massage practice, see Riverd for massage therapists.
Key Takeaways
- Client intake forms are live and included on every Riverd plan, including the free Brook plan. Available to US practices at launch.
- A clinical massage intake is set up on day one, covering the fields AMTA's guidance says an intake should cover.
- Clients fill and sign on their phone with a typed name. No account, no login, no app.
- You change the form by describing the change in plain words. The intake editor changes the questions and never reads what clients write.
Riverd is a practice management tool, not a medical provider. Intake forms support your own professional judgment. This is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.
Ready to simplify your practice? Start Free →
