Use AI Precise Redlining to Review a Contract

This article will provide you with an overview of what AI Precise Redlining is, how to use it in workflows, and how to configure it.

What is AI Precise Redlining in Ironclad?

AI precise redlining helps lawyers review and edit legal documents more efficiently by scanning the contract language and proposing varying degrees of revisions to best match your preferred terms (as specified in the workflow's AI Playbook) with minimal adjustments to the contract language. This automated first review saves time while ensuring consistent adherence to your predefined legal standards—ultimately boosting productivity and minimizing human error.

How Do I Use AI Precise Redlining in Workflows?

To use AI precise redlining in your workflow, an admin must first configure your company’s Playbooks to enable this functionality. Additionally, you must be assigned the role of Clause Approver within the Playbooks. If you are not designated as a Clause Approver, you will continue to have access to the standard Playbook redlining experience.

During the Review stage of your workflow, AI Playbooks will automatically read, analyze, and flag any non-standard terms or necessary document changes based on your configuration in Workflow Designer. From the workflow page, AI Playbooks offer you two options to review document terms that need attention or review:

• Click on View to quickly review all content flagged by AI Playbooks that needs revisions or changes before approving the agreement.

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• Review the list of terms that require attention in the detailed Playbook Usage list located on the right hand sidebar beneath the Info section. Quick links are provided to each term.

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Once you locate the clause you want to update, you will see 1-2 options depending on your assigned permissions: Approve and Redline.

Click Approve to approve the non-standard language. To do this, you must be assigned as a clause approver, and non-standard language must be configured to be allowed with approval.

Click Redline and Ironclad will review your contract and provide a few versions of suggested redlines, displayed from least to most changes. Each suggestion displays the proposed change and a detailed explanation as to what changed, why it is important, and how Ironclad’s suggestion resolves the detected problem. To use a suggested redline, click Approve + Insert into document. Ironclad updates the document and tracks the change so you can easily reference it in the version history. Save the document as a new version, making sure to provide a detailed description as to what changes you made to the contract.

How Do I Configure AI Precise Redlining?

To complete these steps, you must be an administrator and have Workflow Designer access.

To configure Precise Redlining for a workflow, you must edit the workflow’s Playbook. Playbooks are linked to specific workflow templates and can be customized to fit the type of contract or business process for each workflow.

1. Enable AI Assist: To use Precise Redlining in your Ironclad instance, you must first enable AI Assist. Click on your profile icon located in the top right corner of Ironclad. Navigate to Company Settings > Settings. Toggle on Enable AI Assist, powered by OpenAI and save your changes. If this option does not appear in your company settings contact your Ironclad representative and they can assist you in getting you access to our generative AI offerings.
2. Click the Workflow Designer tab and select the workflow template you want to edit.
3. On the Document step, locate the panel on the left and click the Playbooks tab.
4. Click the plus sign or Add Clause.
5. Select the AI Clause Type from the dropdown menu. If your clause or term is not available in the list of AI-powered clauses, you can create AI Custom Clauses. Both Out of the Box AI Clauses and AI Custom Clauses will be displayed in this dropdown menu. For more information on AI Clause Types, refer to AI Clauses and AI Customer Clauses Overview.
6. Add Pre-Approved Language: In the Positions section, add your pre-approved language. This is where you will define your preferred position for this clause; the language you would ideally see in a contract if you wrote it yourself. In the Default Language field, add your pre-approved language. Toggle on Mark as preferred position and save your position.
7. Configure Non-Standard Language: Specify that non-standard language requires approval to use by clicking on the three stacked dots that display when you hover over the Non-standard language position.
8. Set Up Clause Approvers: Scroll down to the Clause Approvers section and add a group responsible for reviewing and approving this language. Since the Precise Redliner generates custom language, it is important those assigned to use it are able to judge and approve the AI-generated redlines as acceptable to the business. This role typically belongs to your legal team or specialists from departments like procurement.
9. (Optional) Set Presence Requirement: Scroll back up to the Trigger section and click on it to expand it. In the Presence Rule dropdown, select Clause is required in documents and will need approval to be excluded. This setting ensures that clause approvers are notified when an expected clause is missing from a document. This safeguard is important since AI models may occasionally miss key clauses. By enabling this rule, you ensure human oversight—allowing approvers to either confirm a clause's intentional omission or identify cases where the AI missed it.
10. Save the Configuration: Complete the setup by saving the clause configuration you just created and then publishing the workflow definition.