A playbook is a reusable configuration that defines the document types, checks, and key terms for a data room or project. Instead of setting these up from scratch in every deal, you build a playbook once and apply it wherever needed. To manage playbooks, go to Settings > Organization settings > Playbooks.
Types of playbooks
M&A — for due diligence data rooms. Supports document types, checks, and key terms.
Matrix (Projects) — for project workspaces. Supports document types and key terms.
Creating a playbook
Click New playbook and choose one of the following options:
Create blank — start from scratch. Give the playbook a name, an optional description, and choose the type (M&A or Projects).
From Emma playbook — start from one of Emma's built-in templates.
From data room — copy the current configuration of an existing data room.
You can also Import xlsx (M&A playbooks only) to bulk-import document types from a spreadsheet.
Sharing a playbook
By default, a new playbook is personal — only you can see and apply it. To make it available to everyone in your organization, click Share with organization in the playbook detail view. To make it personal again, click Make personal.
Playbooks created by other people are visible but read-only for you unless you are the owner.
Applying a playbook to a data room
Playbooks are applied from the data room's own settings page — see Data room general settings. When applied, existing documents are recategorized to match the new document types. This action cannot be undone.
If the playbook is updated later, you can choose which linked data rooms receive the changes.
Document types
Document types tell Emma what category each document belongs to (e.g. "Share Purchase Agreement", "Employment Contract"). Each document type belongs to an area (a broad topic group like "Corporate" or "HR").
Adding document types
In the playbook detail view, go to the Document Types tab. Click Add document type to create a new one, or Add predefined doc types to pick from Emma's built-in catalog.
For each document type, you can set:
Area — the topic group it belongs to. You can create new areas directly in this field.
Name — the document type name.
Description — helps Emma identify and classify documents correctly. Click the AI wand icon to generate a description automatically.
Key terms
Key terms are the specific data points Emma extracts from documents of this type (e.g. "Governing law", "Notice period", "Purchase price").
Auto-generate key terms: Enable the toggle Auto-generate key terms from documents at the top of the Document Types tab. When active, Emma automatically extracts relevant key terms from each document when it is processed — no manual setup needed.
Manual key terms: If the toggle is off, you can add key terms yourself per document type. For each key term, provide:
Name — the term to extract (e.g. "Termination date").
Description — what to look for in the document.
Type — the data type (text, date, number, etc.).
Checks
Checks are questions or criteria Emma evaluates against documents to identify risks or verify compliance. To manage checks, go to the Checks tab in the playbook detail view.
Adding checks
Click Add check to create a custom check, or Add predefined checks to pick from Emma's built-in library.
For each check, you can configure:
Topic — the legal or business area (e.g. Commercial, HR, Tax, Data Privacy).
Title — a short name for the check.
Description and/or Question — what Emma should evaluate. You must provide at least one.
Jurisdictions — limit the check to specific legal jurisdictions. Leave empty to run on all jurisdictions.
Scope — which areas and document types this check applies to. You can also enable all files scope, which requires explicit confirmation.
Risk levels
For each check you can define what constitutes a risk and how severe it is:
Golden Standard Clause — the ideal contract language for this check.
High / Medium / Low risk descriptions — what Emma should flag at each risk level.
Click Detect risks to have Emma auto-generate these descriptions based on the check's question.
Propagating changes to linked data rooms
When you save changes to a playbook that is already applied to one or more data rooms, Emma will ask you which data rooms should receive the update. You can select all, some, or none. Data rooms you deselect keep their current configuration until the next time you explicitly propagate.
If you need additional help with playbooks or encounter any other problem, don't hesitate to reach out to us through the chat bubble in the bottom right or contact [email protected].