> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.libratech.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Create a Playbook

> Build the Playbook a Review runs against: add Topics, write the Starting and Not acceptable positions, and attach Ideal language.

<video autoPlay muted loop playsInline src="https://mintcdn.com/libra-4206ec93/azhR9hqtFjs66ITC/assets/videos/features/review-templates.webm?fit=max&auto=format&n=azhR9hqtFjs66ITC&q=85&s=8968549535baab9ba1e1e91c5a1bd815" className="rounded-xl border w-full" data-path="assets/videos/features/review-templates.webm" />

A **Playbook** is the structure your firm uses to evaluate one kind of contract — an employment contract, an NDA, a service agreement. It holds the Topics you negotiate, the Positions you'd accept for each, and the Rules that test whether a contract meets each Position. Every Review runs against a Playbook, so writing one is how you turn *"our standard terms"* into something Libra can check.

Playbooks live in the [Templates library](/en/features/templates/about) under the **Reviews** tab, and any project can run them.

<Note>
  This page is about *building* a Playbook. To run a Review and read what comes back, see [Review basics](/en/features/review/basics) and [Understanding Review results](/en/features/review/results).
</Note>

Before you start: Playbooks are a **Professional** capability. On a **Starter** plan the **Reviews** tab of the Templates library shows *Reviews are a Professional feature* instead of your Playbooks, and both the **Create new → Reviews** item and the project **New Playbook** button are disabled with an **Upgrade to Professional** prompt. See [Subscription](/en/resources/subscription).

**How the page is laid out:**

1. [Open the editor](#open-the-editor) and name the Playbook.
2. [Add a Topic](#add-a-topic) — one for each clause you negotiate.
3. [Write the Positions and Rules](#write-the-positions-and-rules) — a Starting position, an optional Fallback or two, and a Not acceptable position.
4. [Save it, then run it](#save-it-then-run-it) on a contract.

<div className="libra-buddy-callout">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/libra-4206ec93/wgVZXcGnHS4aJk9T/assets/images/libra-buddy/clipboard.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=wgVZXcGnHS4aJk9T&q=85&s=cde036cf23ea2d67cd50f1c295db549a" alt="Libra mascot with a clipboard" width="725" height="605" data-path="assets/images/libra-buddy/clipboard.png" />

  <div className="libra-buddy-callout-content">
    Write multiple narrow Rules, not one big one. *"≤ 40 h/week AND ≤ 10 overtime"* should be two; you'll see which condition broke, not an opaque *Not met*.
  </div>
</div>

## Open the editor

There are two ways in, and they are not quite the same.

<Steps>
  <Step title="From the Templates library — the full-page editor">
    Click **Templates** in the global part of the sidebar, open the **Reviews** tab, then click **Create new → Reviews**. The full-page Playbook editor opens. On an empty Reviews tab the **Create review template** button in the middle of the page is the same shortcut — a few older surfaces still say *review template*, but it's the same object.
  </Step>

  <Step title="From a project — the modal">
    On a project's **Review** page, click **New Playbook**. The same form opens as a modal on top of your Playbooks and Review runs, which is quicker when you are already in the matter.

    The one difference worth knowing: only the full-page editor carries the [chat panel](#build-and-edit-a-playbook-by-chatting-beside-it). If you want to build the Playbook by asking for it, take the Templates route.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name it">
    A new Playbook opens as **New playbook** with the title placeholder *Untitled playbook*. Type a name specific enough to find later: *"Employment contract, German law"*, *"Service agreement, Swiss employer side"*. Vague names are the single biggest reason a Templates library becomes unreadable.

    The **Playbook Configuration** panel beside the Topics holds the description, the **Practice area** and the **Tags**. Filling those in is what makes the Playbook findable once the library has thirty of them — see [Practice areas & tags](/en/features/templates/practice-areas-and-tags).
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Add a Topic

A **Topic** is one subject of negotiation: *Working hours*, *Place of work*, *Termination*. A Playbook usually has one Topic per clause you actually negotiate — typically 6 to 10 for an employment contract, 3 or 4 for an NDA.

Click **Add topic** (or **Add first topic** on an empty Playbook) and give it the noun of the negotiation, not the action: *"Working hours"*, not *"Check working hours"*. The name is what shows on the Review result, alongside the risk badge.

A new Topic arrives with **two** Positions already in place — a **Starting position** and a **Not acceptable position** — each holding one empty Rule. A Fallback is not there by default; you add one only if you need it.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/libra-4206ec93/pnEt5D-f3JDzogZl/assets/images/app/review-empty-topic.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=pnEt5D-f3JDzogZl&q=85&s=c23e3400941225a378dff8a3776111a0" alt="A new Topic in the Playbook editor showing Positions 2 — a Starting position and a Not acceptable position, each with one empty Rule — plus the Add fallback, Add rule and Add ideal language controls" width="3800" height="2160" data-path="assets/images/app/review-empty-topic.png" />

<Tip>
  If you'd negotiate two things separately at the table, they're two Topics. *Working hours* and *Overtime compensation* might be one Topic if you always negotiate them together; otherwise split them.
</Tip>

## Write the Positions and Rules

Inside each Topic you describe what you'd sign, what you'd take under pressure, and what you'd refuse. Each Position holds one or more **Rules** — specific, testable conditions Libra evaluates against the contract. Use **Add rule** in the Position header for each extra one; once a rule box has text in it, an **Improve with AI** icon button appears in its top-right corner if you want Libra to tighten your wording.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Starting position">
    *A position you would accept for this clause.* The clause you'd love to see. Write at least one Rule; usually two or three. There is exactly one Starting position per Topic and it cannot be removed.

    Example for *Working hours*:

    * *Weekly working time does not exceed 40 hours.*
    * *The agreed gross monthly salary compensates for no more than 10 overtime hours per month.*
  </Step>

  <Step title="Fallback position (optional, and you can have several)">
    *A compromise you would accept if the Starting Position was not met.* Click **Add fallback** in the **Positions** header to add one; it slots in above the Not acceptable position. Fallbacks are the only Positions you can delete again.

    Example for *Working hours*:

    * *Weekly working time does not exceed 45 hours, with above-market overtime compensation.*

    The Fallback exists to surface real flexibility. If you copy your Starting position into it, the Playbook loses its diagnostic value.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Not acceptable position">
    *A position you would not accept for this clause.* Your red line — every Rule that triggers here tells you to negotiate. There is exactly one per Topic, and it cannot be removed.

    Example for *Working hours*:

    * *Weekly working time exceeds 50 hours.*
    * *Overtime is uncapped or uncompensated.*
  </Step>

  <Step title="Attach Ideal language (optional)">
    On a Starting or Fallback position, **Add ideal language** lets you attach the actual wording you'd accept — *the exact text Libra should use when suggesting edits*. The [Word add-in](/en/integrations/word/review) redrafts a failing clause from it, so treat it as wording your firm has actually approved, not a placeholder.

    Example for *Working hours*: *"The weekly working time is 40 hours. Reasonable overtime up to 10 hours per month is compensated by the agreed monthly gross salary."*

    The control is deliberately absent on the Not acceptable position: an "ideal" version of a clause you'd never sign is a contradiction.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  For Topics where you can't easily express your view as Positions and Rules — *"does this clause hold up under current case law?"* — switch the Topic to [Auto Mode](/en/features/review/auto-mode) with the book icon in the Topic header (its tooltip reads *Auto mode – ask Libra to conduct legal research to evaluate this topic*). Libra asks you to confirm, because **Switch to Auto Mode** replaces that Topic's Positions and Rules with a single research-backed question and a set of research sources.
</Tip>

## Save it, then run it

Add the next Topic (*Place of work*, *Salary*, *Termination*…) and write its Positions and Rules. Repeat until the Playbook covers the things you actually negotiate, then click **Save**.

On a Playbook you're creating, **Save** is the only header action. Once it's saved the editor switches into edit mode: the primary button becomes **Start Review**, with **Save** kept alongside for further changes. **Start Review** opens **Select Documents to review**, so you can go straight from writing the Playbook to running it.

The saved Playbook is filed under the **Reviews** tab of the [Templates library](/en/features/templates/about) and appears on the project **Review** page under **My Playbooks**. [Share it](/en/features/templates/starring-and-sharing) and anyone it reaches can run it too.

## Build and edit a Playbook by chatting beside it

You don't have to fill the form in by hand. The full-page Playbook editor carries the floating chat panel — on a Playbook you're creating and on one you're editing — so you can ask for structure instead of typing it.

<Steps>
  <Step title="On a new Playbook">
    Open the editor from the Templates library and describe what you want in the chat bubble: *"a Playbook for reviewing standard German employment contracts from the employer's side, covering working time, remuneration, probation and termination."* Once Libra creates the Playbook, the page moves you onto it — provided you haven't started editing the form yourself.
  </Step>

  <Step title="On an existing Playbook">
    The Playbook you're looking at is attached to the conversation automatically, as a locked chip. That attachment is what gives Libra the tools to read and change it, so *"add a topic on data protection"* or *"tighten rule 2 under Termination"* lands in the form you have open.
  </Step>

  <Step title="When you both edit at once">
    If a chat edit arrives while you have unsaved changes, Libra doesn't guess: a dialog titled **This Playbook changed in chat** offers **Reload the new version** or **Keep editing**. With no unsaved changes the form just refreshes itself.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  This works on Playbooks you can edit. On one you can only view — a public Libra template, or a Playbook shared with view access — the chat can't read or change it, so ask on a copy of your own instead.
</Note>

## Worked example: an employment-contract Playbook

Here's how a real Playbook might look:

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Topic 01: Working hours">
    **Starting position**

    * *Weekly working time does not exceed 40 hours.*
    * *The agreed gross monthly salary compensates for no more than 10 overtime hours per month.*
    * Ideal language: *"The weekly working time is 40 hours. Reasonable overtime up to 10 hours per month is compensated by the agreed monthly gross salary."*

    **Not acceptable position**

    * *Weekly working time exceeds 50 hours.*
    * *Overtime is uncapped or uncompensated.*
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Topic 02: Place of work">
    **Starting position**

    * *Place of work is named (city, region, or country).*
    * *Remote work is permitted up to 2 days per week.*

    **Fallback position**

    * *Place of work is named, but remote work is not permitted.*

    **Not acceptable position**

    * *Place of work is unspecified.*
    * *Employer can unilaterally relocate the employee with less than 4 weeks' notice.*
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Topic 03: Salary">
    **Starting position**

    * *Gross monthly or annual salary is specified in figures.*
    * *Payment cadence is monthly.*

    **Not acceptable position**

    * *Salary is described in vague terms (e.g. "competitive").*
    * *Payment cadence is irregular or undefined.*
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Tips for writing good Topics, Positions, and Rules

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Topics: one negotiation, one Topic">
    If you'd negotiate two things separately at the table, they're two Topics. *Working hours* and *Overtime compensation* might be one Topic if you always negotiate them together; otherwise split them.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Positions: be honest about your Fallback">
    The Fallback is the wording you'd actually accept under pressure, not what you'd hope for. Playbooks that pretend "Starting position or nothing" produce too many high-risk topics on real contracts.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Rules: testable, not aspirational">
    *"The clause is reasonable"* is aspirational. *"Notice period is at least 30 days"* is testable. Libra needs the testable kind.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Rules: prefer multiple narrow rules over one big rule">
    Two specific rules give you better diagnostics than one combined rule. If a Position has *"≤ 40 hours/week AND ≤ 10 overtime hours"*, write that as two rules; when the contract fails, you see exactly which condition broke.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Ideal language: write what you'd actually sign">
    Ideal language ends up as a Word add-in suggestion. Make sure it's wording your firm has actually approved, not a placeholder.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<div className="libra-buddy-callout">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/libra-4206ec93/wgVZXcGnHS4aJk9T/assets/images/libra-buddy/pointing.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=wgVZXcGnHS4aJk9T&q=85&s=fb9114facd16ecd4bc0c89bfbc7d660b" alt="Libra mascot pointing" width="856" height="585" data-path="assets/images/libra-buddy/pointing.png" />

  <div className="libra-buddy-callout-content">
    Ideal language drives Word redlines: on a failed Starting position, the add-in redrafts the clause from it. Use firm-approved wording, not a placeholder.
  </div>
</div>

## Next steps

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Review basics" icon="scan-search" href="/en/features/review/basics">
    Run your Playbook against a contract.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Understanding results" icon="chart-bar" href="/en/features/review/results">
    What the risk badges and Met counts actually mean.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Auto Mode" icon="bot" href="/en/features/review/auto-mode">
    Skip the rule-writing for research-driven Topics.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Reviews from chat" icon="messages-square" href="/en/features/review/from-chat">
    Run a Review, or draft a whole Playbook, without leaving the conversation.
  </Card>
</Columns>