The whole lifecycle of a legislative item — from authoring to workflow review to placement on an agenda to being adopted by the body — ultimately culminates in the moment the item is introduced on a published agenda. That moment is when the item becomes part of the official record: the agenda is public, the item is on it, the body will consider it.

What "introduction" means

A few definitions, because this gets confused:

Item is on an agenda — the item has been placed on a meeting's agenda by a clerk via the agenda builder. The agenda might still be a draft.

Item is introduced — the agenda the item is on has been published to the public portal. This is the official moment.

A single item can be on multiple agendas (e.g., introduced on one Council meeting, then carried over to a later meeting if discussion is continued). The Agenda Inclusions section shows every published agenda the item has appeared on.

Where to find Agenda Inclusions

On any item display page, the Agenda Inclusions section appears as one of the section cards in the item layout, with a "between-horizontal-start" icon (a custom icon Govinity uses for the agenda-context concept).

IMAGE: An item display page showing the Agenda Inclusions section with one or more agenda entries.

When the section is hidden

The Agenda Inclusions section only renders when the item has at least one introduction — i.e., the item has been on at least one published agenda. For items that haven't been introduced yet (Draft, Review, Deliberation, on a draft agenda), the section is absent.

This means:

A newly authored item that hasn't been routed to an agenda — no section.
An item in Deliberation that's been added to a draft agenda — no section (the agenda hasn't been published yet).
An item on a published agenda — section appears with that agenda listed.

Reading the Agenda Inclusions section

Each agenda the item has been introduced on is shown as a card:

Card header

Meeting title — clickable, opens the meeting's Agenda tab (/meetings/{id}/agenda). Has an "external link" icon to signal it leaves the item context.
Date and time — when the meeting was/will be held, in your government's timezone.

Clicking the meeting title navigates you to the meeting's Agenda tab so you can see how the item appears in context.

Generated Documents subsection

Below the meeting metadata, if generated documents exist for this item on this agenda, they appear in a Generated Documents subsection:

IMAGE: The Generated Documents subsection listing PDFs with status badges and View/Download icons.

Each document shows:

Document name — typically the item's documents (Staff Report, Resolution, etc.) as they were combined into the agenda's package.
Status badge — Processing (spinner), Failed (red), or no badge for Completed.
Security Level badge — Public, Internal, Confidential, Restricted.
View button (eye icon) — opens the document in an in-app preview dialog.
Download button — opens the signed URL in a new tab.

What these documents are

These are the agenda-specific versions of the item's documents — the snapshots captured at the moment the agenda was published. They're distinct from:

The original Documents on the item (in the Documents section above) — those are the live versions, editable in SharePoint.
The Public Documents on the item (in the Public Documents section) — those are item-level published snapshots.

Agenda-specific documents are part of the agenda's record. They're typically PDF renders of the item's documents combined into the agenda's package PDF.

For full coverage of agenda-side documents, see Auto-Generated Meeting Documents in the Meetings docs.

Reading the connections

The Agenda Inclusions section answers a few practical questions:

"Where has this item been formally introduced?" Look at the cards. Each card represents one introduction. A single item with three cards means it's been on three published agendas.

"When is the next meeting where this item will be discussed?" Look at the date on each card. Future-dated cards are upcoming; past-dated cards are completed meetings.

"What was the agenda packet PDF for this item?" Look at the Generated Documents on the relevant card. Click View or Download.

"Has this item been carried over from one meeting to another?" If you see multiple cards spanning different dates, yes. Carried-over items are a common pattern for complex matters that need multiple sessions to resolve.

The relationship between item status and agenda inclusion

Item status and agenda inclusion don't move in lockstep — they're related but independent:

Item in Deliberation, not yet on an agenda — eligible to be placed but not yet picked up by a clerk.
Item on a draft agenda — still Deliberation; placed but not yet introduced.
Item on a published agenda — still Deliberation; introduced (and the Agenda Inclusions section starts showing).
Body votes at the meeting — item transitions to Processing for post-deliberation admin work (signing, recording, publication).
Post-deliberation work complete — item closes (Approved, Rejected, or Cancelled).

A common sequence:

Author submits item → Review.
Workflow completes → Deliberation.
Clerk places on agenda → still Deliberation (item on draft agenda).
Clerk publishes agenda → still Deliberation, now Introduced. The Agenda Inclusions section starts showing this agenda.
Body votes at the meeting → item transitions to Processing for the post-vote administrative steps (mayor's signature, official recording, publication of the adopted ordinance, etc.).
All post-deliberation work complete → Closed (Approved, Rejected, or Cancelled).

After step 4, the Agenda Inclusions section persists forever — every published agenda this item has been on is permanently recorded here.

Why it matters

The Agenda Inclusions section is a small but critical audit trail:

Compliance — government records typically require showing which items were on which official agendas. This section provides that record.
Public transparency — when a citizen asks "when was Resolution 2025-42 considered?", staff can answer immediately by looking at the Agenda Inclusions on the item.
Cross-meeting coordination — for items that span multiple meetings (carry-overs, joint sessions, continuations), the section ties them all together.
Document continuity — agenda-specific PDFs are preserved alongside the live editable versions, giving you point-in-time snapshots.

Common patterns

A few patterns that come up:

"I need to confirm this item was introduced at last month's meeting." Open the item. Look at the Agenda Inclusions section. The card for last month's meeting should be there with the date and time.

"The agenda packet PDF for this item — where can I get it?" Open the item's Agenda Inclusions section. Find the relevant agenda card. Click View or Download in the Generated Documents subsection.

"This item is going to be discussed at two upcoming meetings." After both agendas are published, you'll see two cards in the Agenda Inclusions section.

"The item was withdrawn before introduction. Will it still show in Agenda Inclusions?" No. The section shows only published agenda introductions. If the item was withdrawn before publish, the section doesn't render.

"The agenda was unpublished after the item appeared there. Is the item still 'introduced'?" This is a nuanced case. The Agenda Inclusions section reflects the current state — if the agenda is unpublished, the introduction is no longer publicly visible. The exact handling depends on Govinity's interpretation; check the section to confirm.

Common questions

Can I add an item to an agenda directly from the Agenda Inclusions section? No. Placing an item on an agenda happens on the Meetings side (see Building the Agenda: Placing Legislative Items). The Agenda Inclusions section is a read-only record of where the item has been.

Can I remove an item from an agenda from this section? No. Same as above — the Meetings side is where removal happens.

Will the Agenda Inclusions section update automatically? Yes. When you publish a new agenda containing this item, the section appears (or adds a new card if it was already showing). When you unpublish, the section reflects the change.

What if the item is on a private (non-public) meeting? The Agenda Inclusions section shows the meeting and its details to staff with access, but the agenda itself isn't on the public portal. The "introduction" concept still applies; it's just that the introduction is to a private meeting.

Can I see the order of items on the agenda from this section? No. The Agenda Inclusions section shows that the item is on the agenda but not the position. Click the meeting title to navigate to the full agenda and see the structure.

What if the item appears on a "Revised Agenda"? There's no separate "revised" concept in Govinity — agendas are unpublished and republished as a single agenda. The Agenda Inclusions section reflects whatever the current state is.

What this article doesn't cover

Building the agenda — see Building the Agenda: Sections and Structure and Placing Legislative Items.
Finalizing and publishing the agenda — see Finalizing and Publishing the Agenda.
The meeting's auto-generated documents — see Auto-Generated Meeting Documents.

Need help?

If you expect to see Agenda Inclusions on an item but the section is missing, double-check that the relevant agenda is published — only published agendas trigger the section to appear. If the documents shown look wrong, the source documents on the item may have changed; agenda-specific snapshots are taken at publish time. For anything else, reach out to Govinity support.

Agenda Inclusions: How an Item Connects to Meetings