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

# Playbooks

> Write down how your team writes assessment comments, and apply it automatically by vendor tier and tag.

A **playbook** tells AI drafts how your team writes assessment comments: what to lead with, how to phrase conditions, which data types to name. You can keep several playbooks, for example a strict one for Critical vendors and a light one for low-risk tools, and VendexLabs picks the right one for each vendor. Find playbooks under **Assessments → Playbooks**.

![Playbooks list showing the default playbook, published playbooks with the tiers and tags they apply to, and drafts](https://mintcdn.com/vendex-labs/TaraXYWE2PbpKXO9/images/playbooks.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=TaraXYWE2PbpKXO9\&q=85\&s=b15ab0c789d4d989de47c1f347341d6c)

## How a playbook is chosen

When someone drafts a comment, VendexLabs uses, in order:

1. The playbook they **picked** for that draft.
2. A published playbook whose **dependency tier and tags** match the vendor.
3. The **default** playbook, which covers every vendor no other playbook matches.

If a playbook sets both tiers and tags, a vendor must match a tier **and** a tag. Tags come from your [vendor list](https://docs.vendexlabs.com/guides/add-vendors.md#tags-and-active-status).

## What's in a playbook

> [accordion] Applies to
>
> The dependency tiers and tags the playbook matches. The editor shows how many of your vendors currently match.

> [accordion] Instructions
>
> One set of instructions each for the security risk, compliance, and privacy comments. Write them the way you'd brief a colleague. Built-in rules always apply on top: every fact is cited, nothing is invented, and only the compliance comment suggests an outcome.

> [accordion] Reference document
>
> Optionally attach a text PDF (up to 5 MB), such as your vendor risk policy, for drafts to follow.

> [accordion] Sources
>
> What drafts may draw on besides the assessment's own evidence review: business context, enrichment research, and past comments to write like.

> [accordion] Freshness
>
> **Search the web for recent findings** adds cited breach, certification, and enforcement news. Drafts are slightly slower with it on.

> [accordion] Structure
>
> The length and shape of every comment drafted with this playbook.

> [accordion] Template
>
> Optionally, the [template](https://docs.vendexlabs.com/guides/templates.md) that usually goes with this playbook.

## Drafts and publishing

| Who | Can |
| - | - |
| **Editors** | Create playbooks as drafts and edit their drafts. |
| **Admins** | Publish, archive, and set the default playbook. |

Drafts aren't used automatically until an admin publishes them. Only admins can change a published playbook, so to propose a change, create a new playbook as a draft. Archiving a playbook stops drafts from using it.

> [!TIP]
>
> Not sure where to start? Ask Claude to write one. With the [Claude connector](https://docs.vendexlabs.com/integrations/claude.md), Claude can read your past assessments and save a playbook draft for an admin to publish.


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.