Playbook Deviation Review

Escalates clauses that fall outside the approved position with the wording, the risk, and a named decision owner.

macOS — coming soonSee the 4 automations
Legal / AUTOMATE.md

Pre-review each contract that arrives at legal@acme.inc: compare it with our review checklist, quote any deviations, and send me a summary.

## Check every contract for
ClauseOur standard
LiabilityCapped at 12 months of fees
Notice period30 days or more
Governing lawOur home jurisdiction
## Rules
-Quote the clause for each deviation.
-Flag missing **renewal dates**.
-Leave every legal decision to me.
Ready-made: Contract pre-review

The job, and what good looks like.

What breaks: the playbook lives in a document nobody can search, so reviewers work from memory. The same liability cap gets pushed back twice in one week by two different people, and the business never learns which positions it keeps losing. Deviations also stop at the individual reviewer instead of reaching the person who owns the position, so the next deal starts from the same argument. What the workflow does: it compares each clause as it is marked up against the recorded position, lists the wording we wanted next to the wording we received, and names the risk in one line. Repeated push-back on the same clause is grouped so the pattern is visible. Anything needing a decision is routed to the position owner with the deviation, the precedent, and a suggested fallback. What a person still approves: a lawyer accepts, rejects, or amends the fallback, and only that decision updates the playbook.

When it is handled

  • Deviations decided within two business days
  • Every exception has a named decision owner
  • Repeated push-back tracked by clause
  • Playbook updated from approved positions

Works with tools like

  • Luminance
  • Robin AI
  • Ironclad
  • Conga

Ready-made automations. Pick the one that fits.

Each one is a plain-language document. Run it as it is, or change the timing, the rules and the tools to match your team.

Contract pre-review

Pre-review each contract that arrives at legal@acme.inc: compare it with our review checklist, quote any deviations, and send me a summary.

Each new contract

Deviation Weekly Review

Every Friday at 4:00pm, pull the contracts with open clause deviations and email one line per contract with the owner and the next step.

Every Friday at 4:00pm

Liability Cap Escalation

When a liability cap lands above the playbook limit, flag the clause, state the exposure, and post it to the review queue.

When a liability cap exceeds the playbook limit

Playbook Deviation Flag

When a clause deviates from the playbook, write the position we wanted next to the position we got, then email the deputy general counsel.

When a clause deviates from the playbook

You stay in charge.
At every step.

It compares and flags. Every legal call stays yours.

  • It never signs or advises

    It quotes deviations against your playbook. Accepting, signing and advising stay with a lawyer.

  • Every flag shows its source

    Each deviation quotes the clause it is about, every step is recorded, and a file change can be put back.

  • Confidential stays contained

    Each automation reaches only the folders you connect for it, and a local model keeps processing on your machine.

Contract pre-review

Approve before it saves the document and sends the email?

ReviewApprove

Before you download.

Where does it run?
On your Mac or Windows computer, in the background. It keeps working after you close its window, and only reaches the folders and apps you connect for each automation.
How does it connect to our CRM and other tools?
Through each app's own connection where it offers one, signed in once by you, or by using the app in a browser the way you would. Each automation gets only the connections you give it, and the tools a page names are examples you can swap for your own.
Does it run when my computer is asleep?
It keeps your computer awake while a job runs and just before a scheduled one. While the computer is closed or off, nothing runs; when it wakes, it checks the inbox, calendar and other sources it watches for anything that arrived meanwhile.
How does my team use it?
Each person who runs automations installs the app. Keep a project in a shared folder, such as Google Drive or a network drive, and teammates can open it and follow every run, while one person owns it and runs it.
Do I need anyone technical to set it up?
No. Download the app, add an automation in plain words, and connect only what that job needs. Nothing runs until you switch it on.

Already have tools for this? Here is the difference.

Contract management systems

Storing signed contracts and running approval routes.

Their rules can't read new paper against your playbook or explain a deviation in plain words.

Flowchart automation tools

Moving records between apps.

Clause-level judgment does not fit into branches, and every exception becomes another one to maintain.

AI chat assistants

Summarizing a contract when you paste it in.

Nothing happens until someone asks, and the playbook lives in a chat instead of a document you control.

AUTOMATE.md

Your routine, written in plain words. It runs on its own, follows your rules, handles the exceptions a flowchart can't, and asks you when it matters. The file stays yours, whichever AI model runs it.

Related workflows.

Contract review

Compares incoming clauses against the recorded positions and returns the exceptions as a short list, so a reviewer opens a document with the argument already framed.

1 automation

Contract Intake Triage

Routes every contract request to the right lawyer with the type, value, and risk already read off the document.

3 automations

Redline Negotiation Tracker

Keeps the current version, the open clauses, and who owes the next turn visible on every live negotiation.

3 automations

Start with one job.
Make it your own.

macOS — coming soon
  1. 1

    Get the app

    It runs on your computer, next to your files.

  2. 2

    Add the automation

    Paste the instructions into the app, or save them as a file next to your work.

  3. 3

    Try it, then turn it on

    Run it once and check the result. It only runs on its own once you switch it on.

macOS — coming soon