Tips for Building Effective Playbooks

Overview

A Playbook works best when its rules are explicit and action-based. This article explains how to phrase and structure playbook rules so that Harvey's review and redlines match your intent.

For step-by-step instructions on building a playbook, refer to Create & Edit Playbooks.

For more details on running playbooks for contract review, refer to Use Playbooks to Review Contracts.

Understand Each Playbook Field’s Function

Harvey does not take every playbook field into account when you’re running a playbook review: some fields act as instructions to Harvey; others are for your team or for the counterparty.

Because of this, it’s important to understand each field’s purpose and ensure that you’re putting guidance in the right place.

The table below details each playbook field, its function, and whether or not it’s used by Harvey when you’re running a playbook.

Keep AI Guidance Consistent with Your Positions

Harvey reads your General AI Guidance when it reviews and edits. This means that if your AI guidance is too generic, it can silently override a specific position.

For example, boilerplate guidance such as "Treat any provision that addresses this concept as compliant and make only the minimum redline necessary" contradicts a position that says "Delete this provision." Harvey may read the clause as compliant and make no change, or make a minimal edit instead of the deletion you asked for.

Keep Comments Addressed to the Counterparty

Comments appear in the contract alongside your redlines and are visible to the Counterparty. As such, any internal reasoning, rationale, or negotiation strategy should not be included in comments, and instead should live in a rule’s Internal Notes section.

Write Positions as Actions, Not Stances

Write each position the way you would instruct a junior associate marking up a contract for the first time: be specific about what to look for and what to do about it.

In other words, each position should detail exactly what you want Harvey to execute.

✅ Examples of strong, action-based positions:

• "We do not accept the counterparty's Privacy Policy applying to us or our subcontractors. Delete the counterparty's Privacy Policy provision in its entirety, along with any references to it."
• "We cannot accept a non-solicitation provision. Delete the non-solicitation provision in every agreement."
• "Ensure the NDA does not restrict our ability to use artificial intelligence. If it does, add the following carve-out: [XYZ]."

❌ Examples of stance-based positions include:

• "We do not accept the counterparty's Privacy Policy applying to us."
• “Ensure the NDA does not restrict our ability to use artificial intelligence.”

Provide Full-Scope Deletion Instructions

A provision is usually mentioned in more than one place across a playbook; it can appear as a heading, subsections, a defined term, and cross-references scattered through the document, and it may be written out in full or incorporated by reference.

Because of this, a vague deletion instruction like “Delete X” can cause Harvey to remove the main clause while leaving those other mentions behind.

When you instruct a deletion, tell Harvey three things:

1. The full scope of what to remove.
2. Both forms the provision can take (written out or incorporated by reference).
3. To sweep the document for anything left over.

✅ Examples of full-scope deletion instructions include:

• "Delete the confidentiality provision in its entirety, including its heading, subsections, the defined term 'Confidential Information' if used only there, and any cross-references in the survival clause. If confidentiality is incorporated by reference rather than written out, delete the incorporating sentence. Then sweep the document for any remaining reference."
• “If the contract attaches or links the counterparty’s Acceptable Use Policy, delete the exhibit or hyperlink and every sentence that binds us to it. Then confirm that no remaining clause incorporates the policy by reference.”

❌ Examples of incomplete deletion instructions include:

• “Delete the confidentiality provision.”
• “Delete the Acceptable Use Policy.”

Write Edits as Changes, Not Standalone Clauses

When a position is written as a complete clause, Harvey's default way to apply it is to insert that text. This can create a duplicate provision even while Harvey also edits the existing one. Telling Harvey to "edit the existing language" is often not enough on its own; the format of the position is what pulls it toward inserting.

To edit an existing clause instead of drafting a new one:

• Write the position as the change you want, not a full clause to drop in. For a definition: "Add the following sentence to the existing '[Defined Term]' definition: [...]. Do not restate the full definition or create a second defined term."
• Add a no-duplicate instruction to the AI Guidance: "If a provision addressing this concept already exists, edit it in place via tracked changes. Do not insert a new or parallel provision. Insert a new provision only if none exists."
• Name likely alternate titles and locations so Harvey recognizes the existing clause. A security provision may appear as "Information Security," "Data Security," "Safeguards," or "IT Controls," or inside a schedule or addendum. Harvey often drafts new because it did not recognize the existing clause under a different name.

List Every Term that Matters

For example, if both "agents" and "representatives" matter, list them both. If you find Harvey treating certain words as interchangeable when it should not, make the distinction explicit in the rule.

For example:

• "The confidentiality obligation should apply to each party's employees, agents, representatives, contractors, and subcontractors. Each entity must be listed in the contract to be compliant."
• For a notice provision: "Written confirmation is not the same as certification."

Choose Between Conceptual and Verbatim Language

Decide whether you need Harvey to match a concept or exact wording, and say so.

Use conceptual language when the overall meaning is what matters:

• "Must address the concept of..."
• "The contract should provide for mutual indemnification covering third-party claims arising from a party's breach, regardless of how the obligation is phrased."
• Append to the rule: "Exact wording is not required; contract language should be substantially consistent with this position. Only flag if the language materially departs from it."

Use verbatim language when specific phrasing is required. Put the required text in quotation marks, which anchors Harvey to the exact wording:

• "The NDA must contain the following language: '[insert text]'."
• "Must contain language substantially similar to..."
• Append to the rule: "This is required contract language and must appear verbatim in the contract."

Use "If... Then" for Conditional Logic

When a rule depends on a condition, phrase it as an explicit if... then so the dependency is clear.

For example: "If the contracting party is a U.S. entity, governing law should be New York; otherwise, governing law should be England and Wales."

Avoid Firm-Specific Terms and Shorthand

Spell out internal terms, abbreviations, acronyms, and house style rather than relying on shorthand Harvey cannot interpret. If you use a defined term in multiple rules, define it in each rule.

Keep Each Rule to One Concept

Harvey performs best when a rule addresses a single concept. It can struggle when similar, interrelated concepts are combined in one rule.

• If two elements require Harvey to evaluate different questions, split them into separate rules.
• If they require Harvey to evaluate the same question from different angles, keep them together.

Example: NDAs have two temporal concepts that are easy to conflate: the agreement term (how long the NDA lasts) and the confidentiality tail (how long information stays protected after it ends). Combined in one rule, Harvey often solves one and misses the other, for instance treating a five-year tail as satisfying a rule that the agreement term be no more than five years. Create a separate "Term" rule and a separate "Confidentiality Tail" rule.

Mark Rules as Optional or Required Intentionally

Mark a rule as optional when you only care what the clause says if it appears, the way you would think about rules for riders:

Mark a rule as required when the absence of the clause is a problem:

Test and Iterate

Refining against real contracts is the fastest way to catch phrasing that Harvey interprets differently than you intended. After tuning a rule, run it against a representative contract and check the output.

When you finish building a playbook, the Playbook Builder will suggest next steps that you can run in the same thread:

• Refine your playbook rules: Choose the rules to refine, or select all. Harvey walks through each one and proposes refinements such as adding guidance or clarifying language.
• Add more playbook rules: Harvey suggests additions based on what your playbook covers and what might be missing. You can also describe rules you want to add, and Harvey proposes language for each.
• Test your playbook: Upload a document to test against and select the rules to test. You can test all rules or only the ones you want to check.

FAQs