How to ask AI questions about a contract

Contracts get read carefully once, at signing, and then consulted in a hurry. The software subscription is about to renew and you need the cancellation notice period. A client is late paying and you want the exact payment terms. The landlord has proposed an increase and the lease has a clause about that somewhere around page nineteen. The answer is in the document, written in language that takes a few passes to parse.

This guide covers how people usually look things up in contracts, and how to ask Fabric’s AI assistant questions about one so you can find the clause that matters quickly. Fabric reads the contract and points you to the relevant text. Judgments about what a clause means for your situation, or whether to sign, belong with you and, where the stakes call for it, a lawyer.

How people usually look things up in a contract

Reading the whole document again is the thorough option, and for a short agreement it’s reasonable. For a 40-page master services agreement with schedules and amendments, it can take an hour to answer a single question, and the answer may depend on how a schedule modifies a clause in the main body.

Find in a PDF reader is faster when you know the term to search for. Contracts often use defined terms, so the cancellation rule may sit under “Term and Termination” and refer to the “Renewal Period” defined three pages earlier. Searching for “cancel” can miss it.

Pasting the contract into ChatGPT is increasingly common. It gives a quick reading, and people reasonably ask where a confidential document goes when they do this. How to use AI on confidential documents safely covers the questions to ask of any AI tool. Businesses with many contracts often use dedicated contract management software, and asking a lawyer remains the right step for decisions with real consequences.

Step 1: Put the contract and its related documents in one folder

Drag the contract into Fabric, or click Upload a file. If it arrived by email, forward the attachment to your Fabric email address. PDFs are text searchable, and search also covers photographed text, so a scanned signed copy can be read too.

Create a folder for each agreement and keep everything that changes its meaning in that folder: schedules, amendments, side letters, the order form, and the emails where terms were negotiated. If your contracts already live in Google Drive, the Google Drive connection syncs them both ways. Connections need a paid plan.

Step 2: Ask the assistant about the terms

Open the folder and open the AI assistant. It’s automatically limited to that folder, so its answers come from the contract and the documents beside it. You can also right-click the folder and add it to the assistant’s context.

Ask direct questions. “What is the notice period to cancel before renewal, and when is the next renewal date?” “What are the payment terms, and is there a late payment charge?” “Does the amendment change the liability cap?” “List every obligation that applies to us, with the clause number.” “What happens to our data if the agreement ends?”

Every answer comes with clickable references to the text it used. Open them and read the clause yourself before acting on an answer, especially where defined terms or cross-references are involved. Follow-up questions help here: ask how a defined term is defined, or whether anything in the schedules overrides the clause the assistant quoted.

Step 3: Find exact wording with search

When you need the precise text, use search. Click Search or press Cmd+F (Mac) / Ctrl+F (Windows), and put words in quotes for exact matching, such as “Renewal Period” or “force majeure”. Results open at the exact page, which is quicker than scrolling a long PDF.

Dates found this way are worth recording somewhere you’ll see them. How to keep track of renewal dates covers a simple routine for that.

Step 4: Mark up the contract and bring in a reviewer

PDFs in Fabric can be highlighted and commented on directly. Highlight the clauses you’ve checked and add a comment with what the assistant found, so the next time you open the contract the important sections are already marked.

To get a colleague or lawyer’s view, share the folder with them as a commenter. Commenters can highlight text and add comments, and any comment can be marked completed, which turns a review into a list you can work through. People outside your workspace can use the shared link without signing up. Roles and permissions explains viewer, commenter, editor and admin access.

Step 5: Protect the folder

For sensitive agreements, add password protection. Right-click the folder, or open it and click the three-dot menu, choose Add password protection, and enter a password. Anyone with access then has to enter it, and access lasts six hours before it’s asked for again. A password on a folder also covers files added to it later.

There’s no password reset, so save the password in a password manager. Password protection is on the Pro and Team plans. The privacy and security page describes how Fabric handles data; confirm it meets your own organization’s requirements with your legal or security team.

Frequently asked questions

Can AI review a contract for me?

Fabric’s assistant can read a contract, answer questions about it and cite the clauses it relied on. It doesn’t provide legal advice, so decisions about signing, negotiating or enforcing a contract should involve a qualified lawyer.

How do I find the cancellation notice period in a contract?

Ask the assistant in the contract’s folder, then open the cited clause to confirm. You can also search for the defined term in quotes.

Can AI compare two versions of a contract?

Put both versions in the same folder and ask the assistant what changed. Check each difference it reports against the cited text.

Will the AI account for amendments and schedules?

It analyzes everything in the folder, so keep amendments and schedules with the main agreement and ask whether they change the clause in question.

Can I ask questions about a scanned contract?

Yes. Search covers text inside PDFs and photographed text, so a scanned copy can be searched and asked about.

Can I share a contract with my lawyer for comments?

Yes. Share it with commenter permission and they can highlight text and add comments without signing up for Fabric.

Can I password protect a contract in Fabric?

Yes, on the Pro and Team plans. There’s no password reset, so store the password in a password manager.

Where should I keep signed contracts?

One folder per agreement, with its amendments and related emails, works well for asking questions later. How to store important documents securely online covers storage more broadly.