This article will walk you through what the Clause Library is, how it differs from playbooks, and how to access it.
A clause, or clause type (also called a provision), is a section, phrase, or paragraph in a legal document—such as a contract, deed, will, or constitution—that addresses a specific point. Clauses are typically 8 words or more and are written as one or more sentences.
In Ironclad, you can manage your global clauses through the Global Clause Library. Now, instead of having each clause live only within a specific workflow configuration, you can use global clauses to manage and edit clauses across multiple workflow configurations. Any changes you make to global clauses from the Clause Library will be automatically applied to the relevant workflow configurations within Ironclad.
The Clause Library consists of two main components: types and clauses.
- Types are the category labels.
- Clauses contain the actual text.
Playbooks vs. Clause Library: What’s the Difference?
Clause Library and Playbooks both work with clauses, but they serve different purposes and are not connected at this point in time.
Clause Library is used during workflow setup to help you build and maintain your clause configurations—it’s focused on governance and standardization, not document review or redlining. Clauses in the Clause Library cannot be inserted into a document or used during review or negotiation.
In contrast, Playbooks are designed specifically for review and negotiation: it provides clause-level guidance and recommended fallback language when a Playbook is configured for a workflow. If you're reviewing a document and looking for clause guidance or insertable language, you'll need to use a Playbook.
Access the Clause Library
To access the Clause Library, click on your profile icon located in the top right corner of Ironclad. Navigate to Company Settings > Clause Library.
Permissions for the Clause Library
By default, administrators will have access to the Clause Library while everyone else will not. Administrators can give other groups of users access to the Clause Library as a separate permission in Company Settings > Groups. Click on the group that you want to give access to, then click Configure Group.
Getting Started with the Global Clause Library
To start using the Clause Library, it's best to work clause-by-clause rather than configuring each workflow separately.
Choosing a Clause to Globalize
Start with a clause that:
- Appears in multiple workflow configurations.
- Needs occasional or regular updates.
- Contains only text (since properties within clauses aren’t supported yet).
For a quicker setup, choose a clause without conditional variations. However, conditional clauses can also be used.
Adding a Clause to the Clause Library
- Identify a clause you want to globalize.
- Find and tag one instance of it in Workflow Designer. Doing so from Workflow Designer will add it to your Clause Library and tag it in the workflow at the same time.
- Edit and tag the same clause in other workflow configurations.
Once completed, all instances of the clause will be linked and editable from one central location in the Clause Library.