Manage Clauses

Government Clause Automation (GCA) ships with a clause database that users can browse and update directly from the Clauses tab. When creating a clause set for a contract, users can search the clause database, identify specific clauses, select them, and add them to a clause set.

View clauses

From the Clauses tab in Government Clause Automation (GCA), you can view a list of all existing clauses for your organization, including the clause name, type, source, and effective date for each clause. You can also search and filter the clause list to find a specific clause or all clauses that match certain criteria.

Click the clause name to view more details about that specific clause.

Clause summary view

The clause summary view provides a detailed view of the clause, including its type, source, prescription, text, and history.

Clause reporting

Click Reporting to see how a clause is being used. Get information related to the clause sets that incorporate the selected clause, and see what rules and templates include the clause.

Clause history

To see a log of the clause history, click Clause History. The history provides a log of all updates made to the clause, the user who made the update, and the time of update.

Add clauses

Government Clause Automation (GCA) provides a few options for adding clauses to your environment. Clauses can be added through the Acquisition.gov sync, by manual creation, and by importing from a spreadsheet.

Sync clause data from Acquisition.gov

GCA integrates with Acquisition.gov to ensure your clause data reflects the most recent data available. A weekly sync brings any updates to FAR and DFARS clauses directly into your application. You can also trigger an individual sync from the Summary page of each clause.

GCA uses smart sync logic that compares clause name, number, effective date, and clause text before overwriting records. Only clauses where the source content has actually changed are updated, preserving your previously reviewed and approved clause text. After the sync completes, GCA automatically triggers alternate clause text processing for any updated clauses.

Manually creating clauses

You can manually add clauses that the system cannot retrieve from the Acquisition.gov FAR and DFARS repositories using the +ADD action on the Clauses page. When creating a clause, you can tag additional fill-ins that don't follow the standard FAR or DFARS tagging.

To add a clause manually:

1. Click +ADD.

   

2. Fill in the clause properties:
   • Clause Number: The clause identifier. Clause numbers must be unique. Alternate clauses (another version of the same clause) sync through a weekly sync process for FAR and DFARS clauses. Local clauses (clauses created by manually adding or importing) that have alternates require an identifier appended to the clause number.
   • Type: The type of clause: Clause or Provision.
   • Title: The title of the clause.
   • Deviation: Whether the clause deviates from the base clause.
   • Fill-ins: Whether the clause includes fill-ins.
   • Source: The source of the clause: FAR, DFARS, Department, or Agency.
   • Included By: The options are Full Text or Incorporated By Reference (IBR).
   • Clause Sections: The clause section for each of the supported contract formats. Select the appropriate values for each.
   • Editable: Whether the clause is editable.
   • Effective Date: The date when the terms of the clause begin.
   • Status: The status of the clause: Active or Inactive.

   

3. Click NEXT.
4. Add the clause text under Clause in the rich text editor provided. If you plan on tagging fill-ins in your clause, remove all formatting from the text to prevent errors while tagging.

5. Click CONFIRM CHANGES.

   

6. Use AI to automatically identify and tag fill-ins from the clause text:

   Tip:  

   • AI gives better results when the clause text is under 1,000 words.
   • When using AI, use unformatted text and avoid special styling or complex formatting.
   • Running the AI multiple times may yield slightly different results, as the model dynamically interprets context each time.
   • Tables are identified more accurately by AI when they are in plain format.
   • AI suggestions replace all existing fill-ins in the clause text.

   1. Click Identify Fill-ins.

      

   2. Click REFRESH on the loading screen to view the fill-ins extracted by AI from the clause text.

      • Note: AI might take some time to process the clause text. Click REFRESH after a few seconds.
   3. Select the fill-ins identified by AI using the checkbox.

   4. Click ADD FILL-INS.

      

   5. Verify the fill-ins added by AI. If necessary, change the Fill-In Type for the AI-identified fill-ins.

      

7. To manually add fill-ins:
   1. Drag your cursor over the fill-in text and instructions, then highlight the selection in any color.
   2. Repeat step 7a for each fill-in in your clause.
   3. Tag Fill-in(s): Click TAG FILL-IN(S) if your clause did not already have fill-ins. Click CONFIRM CHANGES if the clause had existing fill-ins. GCA populates your tagged fill-ins in the list.
   4. Choose the Fill-in type: Classify each fill-in in your list by selecting an option under Fill-in Type. The fill-in types can be Single Line, Multi Line, or Checkbox. If you added a table fill-in, the type is automatically identified.

   

8. To remove the fill-in, click Blue Trash icon next to the fill-in.

   

9. Define recommendations or auto-populate value: Provide custom recommendations for the fill-in or define a value to be auto-populated during clause set creation.

   

10. Click the Prescription tab to add the clause prescription information:
    • Prescription Number: Where the clause is prescribed.
    • Prescription Text: The prescription text.

    

11. Click ADD to create the clause.

Import clauses from a spreadsheet

You can also bulk import clauses to quickly add a large group of clauses to your GCA environment. GCA provides a template file to help simplify and guide you through the import process.

To import clauses using a template:

1. On the Clauses page, click IMPORT.

   

2. Complete the import wizard steps.

   1. Click Any Clause Using a Template.

      

   2. Download the template file, add your clause data to the spreadsheet, and upload the completed file.

      

   3. Map your file data fields to the system clause fields.

      

   4. Preview your clause data and fix any errors.

      

3. Click IMPORT.

Import Acquisition.gov data with ZIP file

You can also retrieve clause data from Acquisition.gov without using a direct integration. Users can download a ZIP file from the Acquisition.gov FAR or DFARS GitHub page and import the file directly into their GCA environment.

To add Acquisition.gov clause data with a ZIP file:

1. Click IMPORT from your Clauses page.

   

2. Follow the steps in the import wizard.

   1. Click Clauses Using a ZIP file.

      

   2. Navigate to the GSA Acquisition.gov GitHub repository and download the repository as a ZIP file by clicking Code > Download ZIP. Do not modify the ZIP file after downloading it to avoid upload failure or other issues.

      

   3. Upload the GitHub Repository ZIP file.

      

   4. If the upload is successful, click IMPORT AND CLOSE to initiate the import.

      

Edit clauses

In Government Clause Automation (GCA), privileged users can update the clause properties and clause text from the clause summary view.

To update a clause:

1. Click EDIT CLAUSE in the clause summary view.

   

2. Make updates to the Clause Properties. The clause number is the only field that cannot be updated. For descriptions on each clause property, see Step 2 of the Manually creating clauses section.

   

3. Click NEXT.
4. Update the clause text under Clause.
5. Tag or update Fill-ins:
   1. Highlight Fill-in and instructions: Drag your cursor over the fill-in text and instructions and highlight the selection in any color. Repeat step 5a for each fill-in in your clause.
   2. Tag Fill-in(s): Once you have highlighted the fill-ins, click TAG FILL-IN(S), if the clause did not already have fill-ins, or Confirm Changes, if the clause had existing fill-ins. You must see your tagged fill-ins populate in the list.
   3. Choose the Fill-in type: Classify each fill-in in your list by selecting an option under Fill-in Type. The fill-in types are Single Line, Multi Line, or Checkbox. If you added a table fill-in, the type is automatically identified.
   4. Remove fill-in: To remove a fill-in, click the remove icon next to the fill-in.
   5. Define a recommendation: To define a recommendation, click the plus icon next to the fill-in, and provide the required information.

   

6. Click the Prescription tab to update the clause prescription number and text.
7. Click SAVE.

Alternate clause processing

Government Clause Automation (GCA) automatically processes alternate clause text after clauses are imported or synced from Acquisition.gov. The processing strips alternate instruction blocks from base clause records and merges them into clean, standalone alternate clause bodies using a hybrid rule-based and AI-assisted approach. Privileged users review the AI-updated text before it becomes available in clause sets.

Processing banner

When alternate clause text processing is in progress, a processing banner displays at the top of the Clauses page. The banner indicates the current processing status and the number of clauses being processed.

While processing is active:

• Clause set creation is enabled. The edit clause and the sync with Acquisition.gov actions are not available for the clauses that are in inprogress or pending review.
• The clause grid displays Processing status indicators on affected clause rows.

Clause processing status indicators

After processing completes, each affected clause displays a status indicator on the clause grid. You can filter the clause list by status using the status filter dropdown.

GCA uses the following processing statuses:

• Processing: The clause is being processed. No action is available until processing completes.
• Pending Review: Processing completed successfully. The AI-updated text is awaiting review by a privileged user.
• Needs Manual Update: The AI could not produce a valid result from the alternate instructions. A privileged user must manually edit the clause text.

To filter clauses by processing status:

1. On the Clauses page, click the Status filter dropdown.
2. Select one or more statuses to display only clauses matching those statuses.

Error banner and rerun actions

When processing fails for one or more clauses, an error banner displays at the top of the Clauses page. The error banner provides the following actions:

• Rerun Failed Clauses: Reprocesses all clauses with a Failed status. GCA distinguishes between two failure types:
  • System errors: Infrastructure or connectivity issues that prevented processing. Rerunning typically resolves these.
  • Instruction failures: The AI could not produce a valid result from the alternate instructions. These clauses are flagged as "Needs Manual Update" after rerun if the failure persists.
• Start Review: Opens the sequential review screen to begin reviewing processed clauses. The failed clauses that are marked as needing a manual update, can still be reviewed and can be manually edited by the user.

One-time bulk cleanup

If your environment contains alternate clauses that were imported before the alternate clause automation feature was available, you can run a one-time bulk cleanup to process all existing alternate clauses.

To run the one-time bulk cleanup:

1. On the Clauses page, click START PROCESSING.
2. Confirm the action when prompted.

GCA processes all existing clauses with alternates through the same hybrid rule-based and AI-assisted pipeline. A processing banner displays while the bulk cleanup is in progress. After processing completes, review the updated clauses through the sequential review screen.

Start a review from the Clauses page

You can access the sequential review screen from two entry points on the Clauses page:

• Processing banner: Click Start Review in the banner that appears after processing completes.
• Individual clause: Click a clause with Pending Review or Needs Manual Update status to open its summary, then click Review to enter the review screen for that clause.

Both entry points acquire the single-user review lock. Only one privileged user can access the review screen at a time.

For detailed information about the review screen, including navigation, filter tabs, review actions, and session management, see Reviewing Alternate Clauses.

Generate the clause usage report

The Clause Usage Report provides insights into how the clauses are used in the Government Clause Automation (GCA) solution, which streamlines the process of updating clause sets, rules, or templates to reflect changes to a specific clause.

To generate the clause usage report:

1. From the Clauses tab, click GENERATE.

   

2. Enter a Report Name.

   

3. In the Clauses section, click SELECT CLAUSES.

   

   1. In the Available Clauses section, select the checkbox for each clause you want to include in the report.

      • Search the clause list for specific clauses or filter by clause source, status, or type.

      Selected clauses appear in the Selected Clauses section.

      

   2. Click ADD.

4. In the Display section, select or clear the checkbox for the data points for the report. By default, all data point options are selected.

5. Verify the generated report in the Preview section.

   

6. Click EXPORT to export the report in XLSX format.

   1. Click DOWNLOAD to download the report file.

      

7. Click CLOSE to return to the clauses grid.

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