Write each section in the shared editor or with AI, reuse approved library answers, assign sections to authors, take them through review and approval, and publish the finished response to the tender's vault.
Tender responses are written in the same document editor that QMS uses, so formatting, saving, comments and version history work the same way. This topic covers what is specific to Tenders: where the text comes from, how each section moves from draft to approved, and how the finished response is published.
Product location: /tender/workspaces/{workspaceId}/documents/{documentId}/sections (fallback: /tender/workspaces). Open the tender's Output documents tab and select the output document; Section progress is on the Sections tab.
Task | Who |
|---|---|
Read response documents and their sections | Team members with View Tenders ( |
Write and edit sections, use Write with AI, insert library answers, submit sections for review, approve them or return them | Team members with Create & Work on Tenders ( |
Assign a section's owner and due date | Team members with Manage Tender Team ( |
Publish a response document | Team members with Submit Tenders ( |
Promote sections to the Answer Library | People with Manage Answer Library & Past Submissions ( |
Administrators can do all of these on every tender. Everyone else works only on tenders whose team they belong to. Buttons you cannot use are not shown.
Product location: /tender/workspaces/{workspaceId}/documents/{documentId}/editor (fallback: /tender/workspaces). Open the output document from the tender's Output documents tab and choose Open editor.
From the Document Sections page of an output document (see planning the response):
Choose Open editor to open the whole document.
Use the edit-content action on a section in the tree to open the editor at that section. A Diagram section opens in the diagram editor.
Use the editor exactly as described for QMS:
Edit and save content, including Save Draft, automatic saving and edit conflicts.
Ask the AI Assistant for targeted changes and review AI changes in Track Changes.
Discuss a section with comments and compare or restore earlier versions.
Export a working copy as PDF or Word, for example to send to a colleague outside ComplyTrain.
Three things differ in Tenders. Each section's Purpose, and the output document's About this document, tell you what to write. Review and approval happen section by section under Section progress on the Document Sections page, not through a document approval workflow. And the finished response is filed with Publish, either in the editor header or on the Document Sections page, described below.
Product location: /tender/workspaces/{workspaceId}/documents/{documentId}/sections (fallback: /tender/workspaces). Open the tender's Output documents tab and select the output document; Section progress is on the Sections tab.
Write with AI drafts the response for you, using what the tender knows.
On the Document Sections page, choose Write with AI. The editor opens with AI Write for Me.
Choose a Writing Tone: Formal, Professional, Concise or Detailed.
Tick Refine existing content to improve text that is already there instead of starting again.
Optionally, add Additional Instructions (Optional), such as "Emphasise our 24/7 control room and the 15-minute response time".
Choose Generate Content.
The request goes to the editor's AI Assistant, which works through the document. For each section it uses the section's purpose, the requirements linked to it, the dispositions recorded for them, the output document's description and the tender's own documents, such as the RFP.
AI-written sections show AI draft under Section progress. Read every one against the RFP before you submit it for review: check figures, names and commitments, and remove anything your organisation cannot stand behind.
The AI history tab on the Document Sections page lists the in-editor AI Assistant conversations for this document, with their date, status (Active, Completed, Paused, Failed or Abandoned), a preview and the number of messages. Select one to read it, then Back to conversations. Choose Continue in editor to pick the conversation up where it stopped.
Product location: /tender/workspaces/{workspaceId}/documents/{documentId}/sections (fallback: /tender/workspaces). Open the tender's Output documents tab and select the output document; Section progress is on the Sections tab.
Your organisation's Answer Library holds approved, reusable answers to recurring questions. See the Answer Library.
Under Section progress, choose Insert from library on the section.
Insert a library answer into the section opens. Enter words from the question in Search approved answers… and choose Search.
Each result shows the answer's title, the question it answers and how many times it has been used. Choose Insert on the one you want.
If the section is empty, the answer becomes its content. If the section already has content, choose whether to replace it or add the answer after it.
Only Approved answers can be inserted. No approved answers means nothing approved matches your search. The inserted section shows AI draft, so it goes through review like any other drafted text, and the answer's usage count in the Answer Library goes up by one.
Tailor the inserted answer to this tender: change the client's name, the contract scope and any figures that differ.
Product location: /tender/workspaces/{workspaceId}/documents/{documentId}/sections (fallback: /tender/workspaces). Open the tender's Output documents tab and select the output document; Section progress is on the Sections tab.
Section progress on the Sections tab lists every section of the document with its linked requirements, state, owner and due date. The heading shows the percentage of sections approved, with a progress bar.
State | Meaning |
|---|---|
Not started | The section has no content yet |
Blocked | The section has been marked as blocked in the editor; it has nothing to review |
Drafting | Someone has written content |
AI draft | The content was written by AI or inserted from the Answer Library |
In review | Submitted for review |
Approved | Approved by a reviewer; editing it returns it to In review |
A section moves from Not started to Drafting as soon as someone saves text in it, and back to Not started if all its text is removed.
Product location: /tender/workspaces/{workspaceId}/documents/{documentId}/sections (fallback: /tender/workspaces). Open the tender's Output documents tab and select the output document; Section progress is on the Sections tab.
Under Section progress, choose the author in the owner list on the section's row. The list holds the people who use Tenders; type to search. Choose Unassigned to clear it.
Optionally, set the due date.
Choose Assign.
The new owner receives the notification "Section assigned" with the tender's name, and a task "Author tender section" in their inbox that links to the tender. You are not notified when you assign a section to yourself. Clearing the owner cancels the task, and approving the section completes it.
The section owner and due date are separate from the output document's Owner & deadline, which covers the whole document.
Product location: /tender/workspaces/{workspaceId}/documents/{documentId}/sections (fallback: /tender/workspaces). Open the tender's Output documents tab and select the output document; Section progress is on the Sections tab.
Each section moves through review with the buttons on its row:
Button | Available when the section is | Result |
|---|---|---|
Submit for review | Drafting or AI draft | In review. The section owner and the tender's team lead are notified that it is ready for review |
Approve | In review | Approved. The section owner is notified, and their inbox task is completed |
Return for changes | In review or Approved | Back to Drafting. The section owner is notified that it was returned for changes |
Approving needs Create & Work on Tenders. The author of a section can approve it. If your organisation wants a second person to approve, agree who reviews before you start.
Use comments in the editor to explain what needs changing before you return a section.
If anyone edits an Approved section, it returns to In review as soon as the change is saved, so an approval always matches the wording. The section owner and the tender's team lead are notified. Approve it again once the change has been checked; the author may approve it.
If someone else changed the section while you were looking at it, This section was changed by someone else. The list has been refreshed — please try again. appears. Check the section's new state and try again.
Product location: /tender/workspaces/{workspaceId}/documents/{documentId}/sections (fallback: /tender/workspaces). Open the tender's Output documents tab and select the output document; Section progress is on the Sections tab.
Publishing turns the response document into a file and files it in the tender's vault.
Choose Publish, either on the Document Sections page or in the editor header. Both do the same.
Confirm, and choose whether to publish as Word or PDF.
When publishing finishes, ComplyTrain shows the file that was created.
Publishing uses the current text of every section, whatever its review state, so finish the review first. The file is named after the response document and filed in the tender's vault, where it is indexed for the Tender Assistant. The output document's status changes to Final, and the file becomes its produced document, which the Submission package list on the Submission tab shows as produced.
You can keep editing after publishing, and publishing again files a new file and links the output document to it. Once the tender is submitted, the response is read-only: only the outcome, the debrief and clarifications can still change. See preparing the submission.
Product location: /tender/workspaces/{workspaceId}/documents/{documentId}/sections (fallback: /tender/workspaces). Open the tender's Output documents tab and select the output document; Section progress is on the Sections tab.
After a bid, Promote to library on the Document Sections page copies the approved sections of this response into the Answer Library as new draft entries for review. It reports what it created and skips sections already in the library. See recording the outcome.
Product location: /tender/workspaces/{workspaceId}/documents/{documentId}/sections (fallback: /tender/workspaces). Open the tender's Output documents tab and select the output document; Section progress is on the Sections tab.
The bid manager for a hospital transport tender assigns Technical Approach to the operations lead, due 3 March, and chooses Assign. The operations lead gets the notification and an inbox task.
The operations lead opens the section in the editor, inserts the library answer "Fleet maintenance regime" with Insert from library, then adapts it for the hospital's sites and saves.
They choose Submit for review. The section shows In review, and the bid manager, who is the tender's team lead, is notified.
The bid manager adds a comment asking for the vehicle replacement cycle to be stated in years, and chooses Return for changes.
The operations lead adds the figure, saves and submits the section again.
The bid manager chooses Approve. The inbox task closes, and Section progress rises by one section.
When every section is approved, the bid manager chooses Publish, picks PDF, and the Technical Proposal appears in the tender's vault with the output document set to Final.
