Edit Documents with the Word Add-In

Ask August to change your open Word document and it proposes each change as a review card in the sidebar. You apply or dismiss each card, choose whether it lands as a tracked change or a direct edit, and keep giving instructions until the document is right. Nothing changes in your document until you approve it.

This video demonstrates editing with the Word Add-in.

Review Cards

Each proposed change appears as a card in the Assistant tab showing the old and new text. Cards stream in as August writes them, in document order.

• Apply puts the change into your document.

• Dismiss sets the change aside. Click Undo dismiss to bring it back.

• Apply all applies every pending card in the response.

• Click a card to jump to the text it changes.

• When August offers alternatives, pick one from the labels on the card before you apply it.

• If August gave a reason for a change, expand it on the card.

You don't need to review cards before your next message. August sees which cards you applied or dismissed and doesn't re-propose dismissed changes. If you edit the text under a pending card by hand, the card warns you, and Apply checks the document again before writing.

Redline vs Direct

Every apply action lets you choose how the change lands:

• Redline applies the change as a tracked change, so it appears in Word's Review pane with insertions and deletions marked.

• Direct applies the change without tracking. Use it when you want a clean copy without revision markup.

The selector appears on each card and next to Apply all, so you can redline some changes and apply others directly. It starts on Redline and remembers your last choice. Applying a review card leaves Word's own Track Changes setting as it was.

When to Use Each

• Use Redline when you want to review each change in Word, share markups with colleagues, or keep an audit trail for negotiations.

• Use Direct when the edits are ready for the final document or you are producing a clean deliverable for a client.

Changes That Need Your Permission

Some changes can't be shown as a text diff, such as building a table, changing styles or formatting, inserting a list item, adding comments, merging paragraphs, or translating the whole document. For these, August shows a permission card describing what it wants to do.

• Click Allow to run the change, or Deny to skip it.

• If you deny a change, August doesn't retry it and asks what you'd prefer instead.

• While a permission card for a document change is waiting, the composer is paused until you choose.

Translating the whole document from chat replaces the document body, which removes pending tracked changes and comments. To keep the original, use the Translate tab and choose Open as a new document; see the Word Add-In Overview.

Iterating on a Draft

Give follow-up instructions at any point, such as "make the tone more formal" or "only fix clear errors." August reads the document again on each message, so edits you make by hand in Word are reflected in its next proposals.

You can stop a response mid-run. Cards already proposed stay in the sidebar for you to review, and you can continue the conversation later.

Work With Your August Files

Attach files, folders, or tabular reviews from your August project folders to a Word chat, and August draws on them while it edits the open document.

Inputs you can combine:

• Firm templates and precedent agreements

• Opposing counsel's redline

• Prior drafts

• Client term sheets

For more on attaching files and folders, see Assistant Overview.

What August Understands in Your Document

August reads the structure of your Word document, not just its text, so its edits fit your existing layout:

• Lists and numbering: numbered sections, lettered sub-clauses, bulleted lists, and nested structures

• Tables: table structure and cell content

• Headings: outline levels and document hierarchy

• Fields, footnotes, endnotes, and comments: August edits around them without breaking them

• Headers and footers

• Pending tracked changes: who made them and what they changed

• Formatting: bold, italics, strikethrough, and paragraph styles

For large documents, August works from the heading outline and reads sections as it needs them. Review cards change text only, so numbering, styles, and formatting stay as they are unless you ask for a formatting change.

When an Edit Can't Be Applied

If Word can't apply a card, the card says why:

• The document changed under the edit: the target text was edited or moved after August proposed the change. August re-proposes it on your next message.

• The document isn't editable: the document is read-only or opened in Protected View. Enable editing (or save the recovered copy), then ask August to try again.

• Word was briefly busy: ask August to try the edit again.

• Word couldn't apply the edit: August takes another look on your next message.

Example Workflows

• Reformat an existing agreement. Standardize inconsistent headings, defined terms, sub-clauses, and fonts across a document.

• Respond to a counterparty redline. Ask August to summarize the other side's tracked changes, then propose responses.

• Conform to a precedent. Attach your standard agreement and ask August to align the open draft with it.

• Tighten language across a lease or engagement letter. Refine phrasing while keeping structure intact.

• Rename a defined term everywhere. August proposes one card per occurrence so you can check each one.

Prerequisites

Install the Word Add-in and sign in first. See Word Add-In Overview for setup and system requirements.