Playbook Deviation Flag

Legal / AUTOMATE.md

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

This is the whole automation. Run it as it is, or change any word, including the tools it names.

  • Deviations decided in two days
  • Fallback wording suggested

How it runs

  1. 1. Starts

    When a clause deviates from the playbook

  2. 2. Reads

    deviates

  3. 3. Delivers to

    Email

  4. 4. You decide

    Approve each time, or let the steps you trust run. Your choice.

Why legal and compliance teams set this up

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.

See the whole job: Playbook Deviation Review

Use it as is. Or make it yours.

Edit it the way you would edit a note to a colleague. It follows the new version from the next run.

  • Change when it runs

    Move it to another day or time, or start it when something arrives, like a new email.

  • Add your own rules

    Limits, exceptions and what good looks like go in the same file, in plain words.

  • Decide what waits for you

    Mark the steps that need your OK, and let the rest run.

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.

Playbook Deviation Flag

Approve before it 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.

Other setups for the same job.

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

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