Running a Playbook Review

A playbook review is the core of Pactly’s contract review workflow. The AI reads your contract, compares it to your organization’s negotiation standards (defined in a playbook), and tells you where the contract falls short—with specific guidance on what to do about it.

This guide covers the complete review process: starting a review, understanding results, and taking action on issues.

Use playbook review when:

• You receive a contract drafted by someone else (third-party paper)
• You need to verify a contract meets your organization’s standards
• You want consistent, documented review across your team
• You’re training someone on contract review

Playbook review is for incoming contracts—documents you need to review and potentially negotiate. For contracts you’re creating, use templates instead.

Open the contract document in Microsoft Word. The contract should be a Word document (.docx) or a format Word can open.

Click Pactly Assist in your ribbon to open the panel. If you’re not signed in, sign in first.

1. Click Review on the home screen
2. Select a playbook from the dropdown

Choosing the right playbook: Select a playbook that matches your contract type. Using a vendor agreement playbook on an NDA will produce poor results. If you’re unsure which playbook to use, ask your legal team.

3. Click Start Review

The AI now analyzes your contract. This typically takes 30–90 seconds depending on document length. You’ll see a progress indicator.

When the review completes, you see a list of positions. Each position represents one topic from your playbook (like “Limitation of Liability” or “Governing Law”) with a compliance assessment.

Compliant: The AI found a relevant clause and determined it satisfies your playbook’s requirements. You can skim these but they generally don’t need action.

Non-Compliant: The AI found a relevant clause but it doesn’t meet your requirements. You need to either negotiate a change, accept the deviation with justification, or escalate.

Uncertain: The AI found something relevant but couldn’t confidently assess compliance—maybe the clause is ambiguous, or the guidance has multiple interpretations. You need to make the call.

Not Found: The AI didn’t find a clause for this topic. This might be fine (not all contracts need every clause type) or it might be a problem (a critical protection is missing). Check whether the clause should exist.

Click any position to expand it and see:

Your organization’s rule for this topic. This is what you defined in the playbook—the standard the AI used to evaluate the contract.

The text the AI identified as relevant to this position. This is what was evaluated. The clause is highlighted in your document when you select the position.

The AI’s reasoning: why it assessed this clause as compliant, non-compliant, or uncertain. This helps you understand the assessment and decide if you agree.

Pre-approved alternative language from your playbook. If you need to negotiate a change, you can insert a fallback instead of drafting from scratch.

• ← / → arrow keys: Move between positions
• The document automatically scrolls to show the relevant clause

Filter the position list to focus on what needs attention:

• All: Show every position
• Issues: Show only non-compliant and uncertain positions
• Non-Compliant: Show only non-compliant positions

Start with the Issues filter. Review non-compliant and uncertain items first, then skim compliant items if time permits.

When you select a position, Pactly highlights the relevant clause in your document. This helps you see exactly what the AI evaluated and where it appears in context.

For each non-compliant position, you have several options:

Your playbook may include fallback clauses—pre-approved alternative language. To use one:

1. In the expanded position, find the Fallbacks section
2. Click Generate to create an adapted version

The AI adapts the fallback to match your contract’s terminology (using the same defined terms, party names, etc.).

3. Review the generated text
4. Click Insert to add it to your document

The fallback is inserted with track changes enabled. The counterparty will see your proposed edit clearly marked.

If you disagree with the AI’s assessment or decide to accept the deviation:

1. Click the compliance status badge (Compliant/Non-Compliant/Uncertain)
2. Select the status you believe is correct
3. Add a justification explaining your reasoning

Why justification matters:

• Creates an audit trail for compliance and governance
• Helps future reviewers understand the decision
• Provides feedback that can improve playbook guidance

Example justifications:

• “Client is strategic; business approved higher cap”
• “Clause uses different wording but achieves same protection”
• “Missing clause is addressed in separate DPA already signed”

Click Chat to discuss this position with the AI:

• “Why is this non-compliant?”
• “What specific change would make this compliant?”
• “Draft a comment explaining our position to the counterparty”
• “What’s the risk if we accept this as-is?”

The AI has context about your playbook guidance and the specific contract clause, so its answers are relevant to your situation.

Sometimes you want to flag an issue for discussion rather than immediately proposing changes:

1. Select the relevant text in Word
2. Use Word’s Review → New Comment
3. Or ask the AI: “Add a comment asking about the liability cap rationale”

When a position shows “Not Found,” the AI didn’t locate a relevant clause. Decide:

Is this clause required? Check your playbook guidance. Some positions are must-haves; others are nice-to-haves.

Should the clause exist? Some contracts legitimately don’t include certain provisions. An NDA doesn’t need a limitation of liability clause (though some have them).

Is it there under different wording? The AI might have missed it due to unusual terminology. Search manually or refine your playbook’s keywords.

Do you need to add it? If a required clause is missing, insert one from your clause library or use a fallback.

After working through all positions:

1. Verify each position has a status (even if unchanged)
2. Ensure non-compliant items have either been addressed or have documented justification
3. All inserted fallbacks appear in the document with track changes

Your document now contains your proposed edits, ready to send back to the counterparty.

The panel shows a summary of your review:

• Total positions reviewed
• Compliance breakdown (how many compliant, non-compliant, etc.)
• Actions taken (fallbacks inserted, statuses overridden)

Contract negotiation often involves multiple rounds. After the counterparty responds to your redlines, you can run another review to see what changed.

1. Open the revised contract
2. Start a new review with the same playbook
3. The AI identifies changes between versions

For each position, you’ll see:

• Unchanged: Clause is the same as before
• Modified: Clause was changed
• Added: New clause appeared
• Removed: Clause was deleted

This helps you focus on what’s new rather than re-reviewing everything.

Start with issues. Filter to non-compliant positions first. Don’t spend time on compliant items unless you have reason to question them.

Trust but verify. The AI is highly accurate but not infallible. If an assessment seems wrong, investigate before overriding.

Document everything. Always add justification when overriding. Future you (and auditors) will appreciate it.

Use chat for context. If you’re unsure about an assessment, ask the AI to explain its reasoning.

Review fallbacks before inserting. AI-adapted fallbacks are good but not perfect. Read before you insert.

Match playbook to contract. Wrong playbook = wrong results. A vendor agreement playbook won’t help with an NDA.

• Using AI Chat — Get help with specific questions
• Using the Clause Library — Insert approved language
• What is a Playbook? — Understand playbook concepts
• Creating Your First Playbook — Build your own playbook