> ## Knowledge Base Index > Fetch the complete knowledge base index at: https://docs2.emma.legal/sitemap.xml > Use this file to discover available pages before exploring further. > Pure-Markdown content can be obtained by appending a '.md' suffix to the content URLs listed in the sitemap (without the trailing slash). # Projects Overview Projects lets you analyse and compare contracts outside the context of an M&A data room. Where a data room is built around a specific deal, a Project is a flexible workspace for any contract review task — regardless of whether a transaction is involved. In this video we give a quick overview on what Projects are about. ${frame}[](https://www.youtube.com/embed/0sxwSFO_qF8) # What can you use Projects for? Projects are designed for situations where you need to review, benchmark, or extract insights from a set of contracts without tying that work to an active deal. **Identifying risks in a contract portfolio** Upload a batch of similar contracts — such as a company's employment agreements, supplier agreements, or loan facilities — and run checks across all of them at once. Emma surfaces risks and missing clauses consistently, so you can spot patterns that a manual read-through would miss. Examples: * Reviewing **employment agreements** for non-compete clauses, garden leave provisions, or severance terms that create unexpected exposure * Analysing **commercial contracts** to flag uncapped liability, automatic renewal clauses, or unusual termination rights * Checking **lease agreements** for break rights, rent review mechanisms, or landlord consent requirements that could affect a transaction or refinancing * Running an **investment due diligence** review with a specialised venture capital or private equity playbook, to assess a target quickly and flag potential deal breakers early **Comparing contracts side by side** When you have multiple versions of the same contract type — across counterparties, jurisdictions, or time periods — Projects lets you compare them on a structured set of criteria rather than reading each one in full. Examples: * Comparing **Share Purchase Agreements (SPAs)** from different deals to benchmark representations & warranties, indemnity caps, or earn-out mechanics * Mapping differences across **distribution or reseller agreements** to understand which counterparties have received more favourable terms * Reviewing a portfolio of **loan agreements** to identify which ones contain cross-default clauses or financial covenant variations * Benchmarking your own **standard-form agreements** (NDAs, T&Cs, DPAs) against executed versions, using the reference heatmap to see which clauses get negotiated most often * Comparing successive **versions of the same agreement** — for example a shareholders' agreement across investment rounds — to track how rights and obligations evolved * Running a **compliance review**, comparing a contract portfolio against a reference requirement such as new legislation, GDPR, or an internal policy **Standalone contract review engagements** Not every legal review is part of a deal. Projects cover standalone advisory work such as: * Conducting a **contract health check** for a client ahead of a refinancing or restructuring * Reviewing a company's **standard form contracts** to flag clauses that are out of step with current market practice * Performing a **post-merger integration review** to compare the acquired company's contracts against the buyer's standard templates --- # Getting started: step-by-step ## 1. Create a project Click **New project** from the Emma homepage or from the projects list in the sidebar. A new project is created immediately — you can rename it afterward from the Matrix header. ## 2. Add your documents Inside your project, open the **Matrix**. You can add documents directly from there: * **Drag and drop** files onto the Matrix, or * Click the **Upload** button in the Matrix toolbar to browse and select files Emma starts processing documents as soon as they are uploaded — classification and AI extraction happen in the background. → [Project integrations and files](https://docs.emma.legal/en/articles/15234137-project-integrations-and-files) ## 3. Apply a playbook A playbook defines the document types and key terms Emma uses to organise and extract data from your contracts. Applying one saves you from setting everything up manually. In the **Matrix**, click the **playbook button** next to the project name. Pick a **Projects** type playbook from your organization's library, then click **Save** on the right side of the toolbar to confirm. Emma will categorise your documents and set up key terms automatically. You can watch the progress in the dialog — or close it and let it run in the background. If you want to build your own playbook from scratch, go to **Settings > Organization settings > Playbooks**. → [Project general settings](https://docs.emma.legal/en/articles/15234136-project-general-settings) · [Playbooks](https://docs.emma.legal/en/articles/15234134-playbooks) ## 4. Add or select checks Checks are questions Emma evaluates against every relevant document to surface risks — for example, _"Does this contract contain a non-compete clause?"_ or _"Is there an uncapped liability provision?"_ In the **Matrix**, select a document type in the sidebar and click the **checks button** in the toolbar. From there you can: * Click **Add predefined checks** to pick from Emma's built-in library grouped by topic (employment, IP, finance, etc.) * Click **Add check** to write a fully custom question with your own risk level definitions Each check you add becomes a column in the **Risks** tab of the Matrix, showing a risk level (High / Medium / Low / No risk) per document. → [Checks — overview](https://docs.emma.legal/en/articles/15303859-checks-overview) · [Using predefined checks](https://docs.emma.legal/en/articles/10516582-using-predefined-checks) · [Creating a custom check](https://docs.emma.legal/en/articles/11554418-creating-a-custom-check) ## 5. Review and manage key terms Key terms are specific data points Emma extracts from each document — things like governing law, notice periods, contract value, or effective date. They appear as columns in the **Key terms** tab of the Matrix. If you applied a playbook, key terms are already set up. To add more, open the **Matrix**, select a document type in the sidebar, and go to the **Key terms** tab. Click the **+** icon at the right end of the column headers to add a term, or click the settings icon to manage existing ones. You can also click **Generate key terms** (the sparkle icon) and Emma will suggest additional relevant terms based on your documents. To compare key terms across documents — for example to spot which contract has the longest notice period — select a reference document and use the **Compare** view. → [Key terms](https://docs.emma.legal/en/articles/11785695-key-terms) · [Comparing key terms](https://docs.emma.legal/en/articles/15260031-comparing-key-terms) ## 6. Ask questions with Chat Emma's AI chat lets you ask free-form questions across all the documents in your project. Open **Chat** from the main sidebar and type your question — for example: * _"Which contracts have a termination-for-convenience clause?"_ * _"What is the highest liability cap across all agreements?"_ * _"Summarise the key obligations in the employment contracts"_ Answers include inline citations that link directly to the relevant passage in the source document. You can also chat from within the **Matrix** — the chat bar at the bottom of any document type table lets you ask questions scoped to just those documents. → [Chat](https://docs.emma.legal/en/articles/14821652-chat) · [Matrix chat](https://docs.emma.legal/en/articles/15273035-matrix-chat) --- # Continue learning The articles below each include a video walkthrough — a good starting point to explore the full functionality of Emma Projects: * [Document viewer overview](https://docs.emma.legal/en/articles/15260025-document-viewer-overview) — reading documents and reviewing AI findings inline * [Matrix overview and Info tab](https://docs.emma.legal/en/articles/11711987-matrix-overview-and-info-tab) — the structured view of summaries and risks by document * [Checks — overview](https://docs.emma.legal/en/articles/15303859-checks-overview) — how to define and run risk checks across documents * [Playbooks](https://docs.emma.legal/en/articles/15234134-playbooks) — reuse your check configurations across Projects and data rooms * [Chat](https://docs.emma.legal/en/articles/14821652-chat) — ask questions directly about the documents in your workspace --- If you need additional help on Projects or you encounter any other problem, don't hesitate to reach out to us through the chat bubble in the bottom right or to contact [[email protected]](/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9feceaefeff0edebdffaf2f2feb1f3faf8fef3)