Set up GCA

Government Clause Automation (GCA) is as flexible as any application developed on the Appian Platform. To make sure your application remains scalable and aligns with best practices, we have provided instructions to guide you through some of the most common changes.

After you have installed GCA, there are several configurations you need to perform for customizing the application for your organization’s processes.

We recommend the sequence for configuring the default application to work for your organization after installing GCA. However, all of these instructions can be used to modify the application at any time.

Updates in Appian Designer must be done with caution by someone familiar with Appian development.

Step 1: Configure user groups and security

Configuring user groups and security for Government Clause Automation (GCA) is a good place to start.

You need to know:

• Whether your organization has any additional business roles that are not covered in the default business groups.
• Which users must be members of each business group.

For more information on groups and security, see Groups Reference Page.

Step 2: Configure fields and UI text

Certain fields and UI text throughout the Government Clause Automation (GCA) setup process likely will not exactly match the terminology your organization uses for its clause automation process. You can modify the solution to fit your organization's processes and data requirements by configuring a number of the fields and labels.

The following fields and UI text are configurable:

• Create clause set wizard labels.
• Contracting personnel labels.

If you need to perform a mass update of the UI text, you can perform a bulk update by creating a custom bundle file that overrides the values in the default bundle files. When you create a custom bundle file, GCA retains the values during future upgrades. See Modifying UI Text for more information on performing the bulk operation.

Alternatively, if you need to modify a small number of UI texts for your GCA solution, these modifications are best done using the Solution Customization Suite. You can find more information about customizing UI text for your solution in the Solution Customization User Guide.

Step 3: Configure templates

After you configure your Government Clause Automation (GCA) solution, you can create templates for use during the create clause set process. The template you select determines which clauses are automatically assigned to the clause set when each clause set is initiated.

You need to know:

• What templates are needed
• What clauses must be added to the templates

When users start a new clause set, they can select from the available templates listed in the first step of the Create Clause Set wizard.

Step 4: Configure questionnaire and questionnaire rules

After you configure your Government Clause Automation (GCA) solution, you can create questions and questionnaires for use during the create clause set process. The questions selected for use in the questionnaire determine the questions asked when each clause set is started.

You need to understand your organization's current clause selection processes including:

• What question categories can occur.
• What questions or groups of questions helps narrow the clause selection process.
• What clauses must be added to the clause set based on question answers.

Step 5: Configure rules

After configuring templates and questionnaires in Government Clause Automation (GCA), you can create rules that automatically determine which clauses are included or excluded in a clause set based on specific conditions.

You need to understand your organization's clause selection requirements including:

• What conditions trigger the inclusion or exclusion of specific clauses
• Which clause set details or questionnaire answers must drive rule logic
• What clauses must be automatically included or excluded for different contract scenarios

GCA offers two methods for creating rules:

Manual rule creation: Configure rules by manually selecting clause data, operators, and values to build condition logic. The manual method provides complete control over rule structure and is ideal when you need precise configuration.

AI-powered rule creation: Describe your rule requirements in natural language and let AI generate the structured rule logic. The AI method significantly reduces rule creation effort and complexity.

Active rules automatically evaluate the clause set details and questionnaire responses to include or exclude the appropriate clauses when users create a new clause set.

Step 6: Set up Acquisition.gov integration

You need to set up Acquisition.gov integration for Government Clause Automation (GCA). The Acquisition.gov integration enables you to retrieve FAR and DFARS clause data and FAR Smart Matrix data from Acquisition.gov. Clauses that are synced go through alternate clause text processing where the alternate clause text are merged based on the instruction in the clause text. For instructions on how to set up Acquisition.gov integration, see Setting Up Acquisition.gov.

Step 7: Map the data source

In Government Clause Automation (GCA), you need to map the datasource that holds your business data to a constant.

To map the data source when it is configured in the Admin Console:

1. Access your Admin Console and copy your datasource name.
2. Access your Appian Designer.
3. In your application, select AS GCM Full Application.
4. Under Object Type, select Constant.
5. Select AS_GCM_TXT_DATA_SOURCE.
6. In the Value field, paste the datasource name from step 1.
7. Click SAVE.

To map the data source when it is configured as a connected system:

1. Access your Appian Designer.
2. In your application, select AS GCM Full Application.
3. Under Object Type, select Connected System.
4. Make a note of your datasource name.
5. Under Object Type, select Constant.
6. Select AS_GCM_TXT_DATA_SOURCE.
7. In the Type field, select Connected System.
8. In the Value field, search for your datasource name noted in step 4 and select it.
9. Click SAVE.

Step 8: Configure alternate clause processing

After setting up the Acquisition.gov integration for Government Clause Automation (GCA), configure the alternate clause processing settings. Alternate clause processing uses a hybrid approach (rule-based and AI-assisted) to automatically merge alternate instruction text into base clause bodies, producing clean standalone clause text.

You need to know:

• Whether your organization has existing clause data that requires a one-time bulk cleanup.
• The confidence threshold your organization requires for AI-generated text (if configurable in your deployment).
• The session timeout duration for the review screen (default is 4 hours).

Run one-time bulk cleanup

If your organization has existing clause data imported before this release, you need to run a one-time bulk cleanup action. The bulk cleanup action processes all existing alternate clauses that contain raw content and generates clean merged text for review.

To run the bulk cleanup:

1. Access your Appian Designer.
2. In your application, select AS GCM Full Application.
3. Under Object Type, select Constant.
4. Select AS_GCM_BOL_ONE_TIME_BULK_ALTERNATE_TEXT_PROCESSING_ENABLED.
5. In the Value field, select True.
6. Click SAVE.

Configure session timeout

The review screen uses a single-user lock to prevent conflicts when multiple Privileged Users attempt to review clauses simultaneously. The session timeout determines how long the lock is held before it expires automatically.

The default session timeout is 4 hours. Your implementation team can adjust the timeout value based on your organization's needs.

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