GitLaw How-To guides

Use playbooks and negotiation posture

To steer GitLaw Agent's negotiation behaviour, use two things together: a playbook, your saved set of preferred clauses, fallback positions and non-negotiables that the Agent checks every contract against, and a negotiation posture, which you set simply by telling the Agent in chat how hard to push. GitLaw auto-builds playbooks from your uploaded documents, and you tune them by hand.

Before you start: a GitLaw account. Playbooks build automatically from the contracts you upload.

What is a playbook in GitLaw?

A playbook captures your organisation's standard positions for a given contract type, for example an NDA playbook or a SaaS MSA playbook. When you review an incoming document, the Agent compares each clause against your playbook and flags deviations: clauses that are missing, weaker than your standard, or that your playbook marks as non-negotiable.

The Agent uses the playbook to:

Identify where the counterparty's draft deviates from your preferred language.
Propose redlines that bring the contract back in line with your positions.
Suggest alternative wording drawn from your standard clauses rather than generic templates.
Highlight any clause the counterparty has changed that touches a non-negotiable item.

Playbooks are private to your organisation. The counterparty's agent works only from their own playbook: your positions, tactics and internal notes are never shared. See Negotiate and redline a contract for how data isolation works across parties.

How do I set the negotiation posture?

There is no posture slider to configure. Instead, you tell the Agent in chat how you want to negotiate: how hard to push, where to compromise, and what matters most. It shapes its redlines and counter-proposals accordingly. For example:

"Take a collaborative approach - look for compromise wording both sides will accept."
"Be assertive on liability and IP, but flexible on everything else."
"Hold a firm line and propose minimal concessions."

You can change tack at any point in the conversation. Adjusting your instructions does not change which clauses the Agent flags; it changes how the Agent words its proposed redlines and what kind of counter-proposals it suggests. Ask it to push back harder and it will challenge most counterparty changes; ask it to find middle ground and it will look for compromise language both sides are likely to accept.

How playbooks and posture work together during a negotiation

Drafting (your document): the Agent checks your draft against your playbook before you send it, flagging anything that falls short of your standard positions.
Receiving a counterparty draft: the Agent analyses the incoming document, identifies deviations from your playbook, and proposes redlines. The aggressiveness of those redlines is shaped by your chosen posture.
Responding to counterparty edits: when the counterparty returns a marked-up version, the Agent summarises what changed, assesses risk, and suggests responses. Again, the posture controls whether the Agent recommends accepting a compromise or holding the line.
Final checks: once both sides converge, the Agent can assist with cross-references, signature blocks and exhibit attachments before the document goes to execution.

For step-by-step guidance on running a full negotiation cycle, see Negotiate and redline a contract. For general document review without a negotiation workflow, see Review a document using Agent.

Best practices

Let GitLaw build the playbook, then tune it. GitLaw auto-creates playbooks from the documents you upload, and you can edit them by hand whenever you like. You do not need to spell out industry-standard positions, the Agent already applies those, so focus your playbook on the unique deviations you want from the market standard.
Mark true non-negotiables explicitly. The Agent will flag these regardless of posture, keeping your must-haves visible throughout the negotiation.
Tell the Agent how assertive to be. Ask it to push harder for high-stakes deals, or to favour compromise when preserving the relationship matters more than squeezing every term.
Always review AI-generated redlines before sending. The Agent proposes edits as tracked changes; you accept or reject each one. Nothing leaves your document without your approval.

Frequently asked questions

Can the counterparty see my playbook?

No. Playbooks are private to your organisation. The counterparty's agent works only from their own playbook, and your positions, tactics and internal notes are never shared.

Does changing posture change what the Agent flags?

No. Posture changes how the Agent words its proposed redlines and what counter-proposals it suggests. The clauses it flags are driven by your playbook, and non-negotiables are flagged regardless of posture.

Do I have to write my playbook from scratch?

No. GitLaw auto-creates playbooks from the documents you upload. Edit them by hand to capture the unique deviations you want from the market standard.

Reviewed by the GitLaw team. Last updated 29 July 2026.