Harvey for Word: Playbooks Guide
Learn how to apply playbooks to review contracts directly in Word using Harvey.
Last updated: May 2, 2026
Overview
Note before you begin:
- Playbooks require Harvey for Word. If you haven't set this up yet, follow the steps in Harvey for Word: How to Download and Install.
- Playbooks are uploaded and maintained within your workspace by designated Playbook managers. Read Harvey for Word: Managing Playbooks for more details.
Playbooks in Harvey streamline contract review in Word by automatically applying your company’s established positions on documents. Each playbook defines what is acceptable, what needs review, and what is unacceptable based on your company’s standards.
What Happens When You Use a Playbook
When you upload a contract and run a playbook review, Harvey reviews each clause against the rules in the playbook. For every rule, you’ll see one of three possible outcomes:
Result | What it Means |
|---|---|
Needs review | The clause doesn’t match the standard position, but aligns with a fallback (an acceptable alternative). A lawyer should review before approving. |
Not acceptable | A red flag or dealbreaker was found or the contract does not conform to any standard or fallback positions. These rules must be addressed or reconciled to conform to the playbook. |
Acceptable | The clause matches your organization’s standard position. No action needed. |
How to Run a Playbook
Follow the steps below to begin reviewing a contract against a playbook.
Tip: Enable notifications for Playbooks to get notified when the Harvey completes its review.
- Open a contract in Harvey for Word, then select Playbooks from the bottom navigation bar.
- Select the playbook you’d like to apply.
- Select Run playbook to run all rules, or select specific rules then choose Run selected rules.
- [Optional] Before your playbook runs, use the Customize playbook review options to tailor the review. For example, choose a representing party, paper type, or additional context.
- After the Playbook review processes, review Harvey’s suggestions.
Note: During your Playbook run you’ll see a progress bar that indicates time remaining and how many rules have completed.
How to Review Suggestions
Once a playbook run is complete, Harvey’s suggested edits show up as recommended language to conform the clause to your Standard position or any applicable Fallback positions. You can review the recommendations from the rules view (default) or suggestions view.
When to Use
- Rules view: use this view for a thorough review of suggested changes
- Suggestions view: quickly review suggestions via a summarized view
Using the Rules View For Playbook Review
From the Rules View, Harvey’s suggestions will sort rules by the order of appearance in your document.
Tip: Use filters and search to focus your review.
- Use the filter menu to adjust sorting based on your review needs
- Use the search bar to quickly find a specific rule
Choose Apply all suggestions to review all suggestions in a single redlined document or select a rule to review each one, following the steps below.
- Check the flag type.
- Needs review: Read the clause carefully. It may be acceptable depending on context, but requires your judgment.
- Unacceptable: Treat as a dealbreaker. These require negotiation or revision.
- Acceptable: Contract meets playbook rule standards.
- Review the explanation of the differences between your document and the playbook rule, and Harvey’s recommended language to address the gap.
- Select the Recommended language to expand it and jump to the corresponding text in your document.
- [Optional] Mark a rule as reviewed by checking off the flag type. As rules are marked, the suggestion will grey out and the top progress bar will update.
- Apply, dismiss, or re-generate the suggested edits.
- Apply the recommendation as is, or edit the drafted language directly first. For AI-assisted edits, select the magic edit option and describe what edits you’d like Harvey to make. Once you select Apply, the revision will show as a redline in your document.
- Dismiss a recommendation if it does not suit your positions.
- Choose Ask for revision to describe how you want Harvey to adjust review, and re-run the rule.
- If you have edit access to the Playbook, you can edit the rule by selecting Review positions and guidance. Use this to quickly adjust the Playbook, then re-run rule using Ask for revision.
Tip: Use the Include comment toggle to quickly add a comment before applying edits. When applied, comments will attach to the redlined changes, making it easy for other parties to review.
Tip: To review all suggestions in a single redlined document, choose Apply all suggestions. Use the down arrow to include comments in bulk.
Using the Suggestions View For Playbook Review
Suggestions view shows a condensed summary of all suggested changes.
- Select the Suggestions view
- Select a suggestion as needed to expand details.
Refer to the steps under the Rules View to complete your review in this view.
Export your Summary
Refer to the steps in export a playbook to download your results.