How to create a contract review assistant in Microsoft Copilot

João Barros 30 de August de 2026 4 min read

This tutorial shows how to create an assistant in Microsoft Copilot that helps review contracts: it identifies critical clauses, suggests changes and points out common risks. Having an automated assistant speeds up review and reduces human errors in contract analysis.

Prerequisites

Account with access to Microsoft Copilot (or Copilot for Microsoft 365) and permissions to create agents or custom prompts.
Contract documents in Word (.docx) or PDF format uploaded to OneDrive/SharePoint or accessible via local file.
Basic knowledge of contractual terminology (clause, obligation, indemnity, liability).

Step 1: Define the assistant's objective

Before configuring Copilot, write what you want the assistant to do. For example: identify confidentiality clauses, termination periods, indemnity obligations and suggest clearer wording. Defining the scope avoids vague answers and helps create precise prompts.

Step 2: Prepare examples and rules

Gather 3–5 sample contracts and manually mark some clauses that represent typical situations (e.g., a termination clause that does not provide for prior notice). Create a simple list of rules the assistant should follow, for example: flag clauses that increase liability, suggest minimum notice periods of 30 days, indicate absence of mandatory insurance.

Step 3: Create a base prompt in Copilot

Open Microsoft Copilot or Copilot Studio (if available) and create a new assistant/prompt. Use a base prompt that describes the objective, the rules and the examples. A clear prompt improves response accuracy.

System: És um assistente de revisão contratual. Objetivo: identificar cláusulas críticas e sugerir melhorias.
User: Analisa o contrato e devolve:
- Sumário das cláusulas críticas (lista com localização/linha ou título quando possível)
- Risco (baixo/médio/alto) e justificação curta
- Sugestão de redação alternativa curta
Regras:
- Prioriza cláusulas de responsabilidade, indemnização, confidencialidade, resolução e prazos
- Se faltar prazo de notificação, indica "Falta prazo de notificação"
Exemplos: [anexa 3 excertos marcados de contratos]

Step 4: Test with a real contract

Upload a real contract into the Copilot context (drag into the chat or point to a OneDrive/SharePoint link). Ask the assistant to analyze it. Use direct questions:

User: Analisa o ficheiro "Contrato_X.docx" e devolve as cláusulas críticas, risco e sugestões.

Review the response and check whether the assistant correctly locates the sections and whether the suggestions are actionable. If responses are vague, refine the prompt with more detailed instructions or additional examples.

Step 5: Adjust the output formatting

Define a structured output to ease integration with other processes (for example, JSON format or bullet lists). Ask Copilot to return results with a fixed structure for easy reading or ingestion by scripts.

User: Fornece a análise em JSON com campos: clause_title, location_hint, risk_level, justification, suggestion.

Step 6: Automate document ingestion (optional)

If you have many contracts, automate ingestion. Use Power Automate to move files from a SharePoint folder into a flow that calls Copilot (or a trigger that opens Copilot). Another option is to copy and paste in batches into the Copilot chat or use Copilot Studio connectors if available.

Verify the result

Confirm that the assistant correctly identifies critical clauses by comparing the analysis with human reviews on 5–10 contracts. Check that the JSON (or chosen format) contains the expected fields and that the suggestions are practical. Common errors: responses too generic (refine the prompt), not identifying sections with non-standard titles (provide examples) and issues with scanned PDFs (use OCR first).

Conclusion

After validating the contract review assistant in Microsoft Copilot, you can expand it to include compliance checks, integrations with legal workflows or create a Power BI dashboard with risk metrics. Tip: keep an updated set of sample contracts to re-train the prompt and reduce false positives — which clauses do you want the assistant to identify first?