Import a Playbook from a Document

Most teams already have their standards written down somewhere. Sometimes that is a written playbook: a position paper or a checklist of what to look for. More often it is your standard contract template, the paper you send out, which encodes those standards clause by clause. Rebuilding either one into a playbook position by position is slow. Upload the document instead and let Pactly build the draft for you.

Importing used to accept a written playbook only. It now takes both kinds of document, and Pactly auto-detects which one you uploaded, so you no longer have to know in advance whether your file is a playbook or a template. From a written playbook it converts your existing positions; from a contract template it reads each clause as the position you would prefer to see. Either way the result is a draft you review and publish, never a change to anything live.

The document you already have usually decides the fastest route. Import from a document covers the two on-paper cases; the AI wizard and From scratch cover the two where you have nothing to upload.

If your standards are not written down anywhere, the AI wizard asks you a few questions and drafts the positions with no upload. To build a playbook by hand a position at a time, see Creating Your First Playbook.

• You need a single .docx file (Word format), up to 26 MB. Other formats are not accepted.
• For a written playbook, the document should describe your standards: topics, what is and isn’t acceptable, and any preferred wording. One topic per heading splits most cleanly into positions.
• For a contract template, upload your standard agreement itself. Pactly reads each clause as a preferred position, so a clean, current version of your paper gives the best result.
• You author playbooks in the Pactly web app, not the Word add-in. Any same-company user whose role grants the playbook permission can import.

Step-through All steps

Step 1 of 4

1

Open Playbooks

In the Pactly web app, open Playbooks from the left navigation. The list shows your existing playbooks.

2

Click Add Playbook

The Create Playbook dialog groups the ways to start into two sections. "From a document" is where you upload a file. "Build in Pactly" holds the Create with AI wizard, Create from scratch, and Clone an existing playbook.

3

Choose "From a document"

Under "From a document", pick the upload option. You do not choose between playbook and template here: Pactly works out which one you uploaded after it reads the file.

4

Upload your .docx

Drop your file onto the upload area, or click to pick a file. Only .docx files up to 26 MB are accepted.

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Once the file is in, Pactly reads it and decides whether it is an existing playbook (a document that already describes your standards) or a contract template (your paper, which encodes those standards as clauses). The two follow different paths from here, so the detection matters.

The detection is usually right, but not always. If Pactly guesses wrong, use the override link to switch modes: tell it to treat a file it read as a template as a written playbook instead, or the reverse. Set the mode before you continue so the extraction runs the way you intend.

When Pactly reads the file as an existing playbook, it converts your document into positions. It works in several AI passes, so each position is built from the relevant part of your source rather than the whole document at once:

1. Segment. It splits the document into the playbook name, an overall description, the individual positions, and any groups it detects, so related positions stay together.
2. Convert each position. Each detected position becomes a Pactly position: a name, the requirement description, and any notes or preferred wording found in your source. A running count tracks this pass.
3. Recommend a contract type. It suggests which category the playbook applies to, matched against your company’s existing categories.

The result is saved as a draft, visible only to you until you publish it.

When Pactly reads the file as a contract template, it does something different: it treats every clause in your paper as the position you would prefer to see, and builds the playbook around your standard language. Before it extracts anything, it needs a little context about how you negotiate.

Pactly asks a short set of questions so it can read the template from your side of the table rather than neutrally:

• Which side you are on. Your party or role in the agreement, for example the customer in a Vendor Agreement or the disclosing party in an NDA. This decides which direction each clause should lean.
• Your risk posture. How firm or flexible you are overall. A conservative posture produces stricter preferred positions and more approval flags; a flexible one leaves more room to move.
• Which contract types it applies to (optional). The categories this playbook should cover, such as NDA or MSA, which drive when it is offered during review.

With that context, Pactly reads the template clause by clause and turns each clause into a preferred position in the clause bank: your standard wording becomes the position you want to hold. For each one it also infers the supporting detail a reviewer needs:

• Fallbacks, the language you would accept if the counterparty pushes back on your preferred wording.
• Approval-required flags, marking positions where a deviation should go to an approver rather than being accepted at the reviewer’s discretion.
• Rationale, a short note on why the position matters, so reviewers understand the intent behind it.

Because some of this comes straight from your paper and some is Pactly’s inference, each element in the draft editor is badged so you can tell them apart:

• From your template means the element was taken directly from the document you uploaded, such as your preferred wording lifted from a clause.
• AI-suggested means Pactly inferred it, such as a fallback or an approval flag that was not written in the template.

Work through the AI-suggested elements with the closest eye. They are Pactly’s best inference from your paper and your clarify answers, not something you wrote, so confirm each one reflects how you actually negotiate before you publish.

When the recommended category matches one you already have a published playbook for, Pactly asks how to file the import rather than creating a duplicate. You’ll see “You already have a playbook for this category” with two choices:

• Add as a new version of an existing playbook. The import becomes a new draft version of the playbook you pick. This does not replace the live version: the current version stays in use until you publish the draft.
• Create a separate new playbook. The import stays on its own, unconnected to the existing one.

You can only attach to a published playbook. If Pactly finds no matching category, or you have no published playbook for it, you won’t see this prompt and the import saves straight to a new draft.

Whichever path you take, the import lands as a draft for you to finish:

• Review the draft. Check that positions split sensibly, the descriptions read as requirements, and the no-evidence setting is right on each. In template mode, give the AI-suggested elements an extra pass.
• Fill in what didn’t carry over. Suggested clauses (the fallback language reviewers insert, shown as Preferred clauses in the Word add-in), keywords, and notes often need adding by hand, especially after a playbook-mode conversion.
• Confirm the contract type so the playbook is offered for the right contracts during review.
• Publish when ready. Publishing moves the draft into use. If you imported as a new version, publishing makes it the live one and archives the previous version.

• Generate a Playbook with AI
• Writing Effective Positions
• Creating Your First Playbook
• What Is a Playbook?
• Choosing the Right Playbook