> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://vaquill.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Drafting steps

> Generate a template-constrained legal document and save it to the Drafts surface

One step. It produces new legal text rather than analysing existing text, which makes it the highest-value and highest-risk step in the palette.

***

## Generate Legal Draft

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Kind" icon="robot">AI</Card>
  <Card title="Latency" icon="hourglass">Slow</Card>
</CardGroup>

Generates a template-constrained legal document (NDA, MSA, demand letter, complaint, and the rest) and saves it to the Drafts surface, where it becomes editable like any other draft.

**Config**

| Field                | Type            | Required | Default  | Notes                                                                       |
| -------------------- | --------------- | -------- | -------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Document type        | Select          | Yes      |          | What kind of document to draft.                                             |
| Title                | Text            | Yes      |          | The heading and filename of the saved draft. Up to 500 characters.          |
| Governing-law state  | Text            | No       |          | US state for the choice-of-law clause, or federal.                          |
| Tone                 | Select          | No       | Balanced | Protective favors your side, balanced is neutral, permissive concedes more. |
| Variables            | Key/value pairs | No       |          | Values for the template's placeholders: party names, dates, dollar amounts. |
| Special instructions | Long text       | No       |          | Free text for unusual clauses or deviations. Up to 10,000 characters.       |
| Template             | Template picker | No       |          | Leave empty to use the default template for the chosen document type.       |

**Outputs**

| Field         | Contents                                                               |
| ------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Draft Id      | The saved draft. **Wire into Save to Matter** to file it.              |
| Title         | The draft title.                                                       |
| Quality Score | A quality signal when available. Usable as a branch condition.         |
| Section Count | How many sections were produced.                                       |
| Body Markdown | The draft body. **Wire into Verify Citations and Export DOCX Report.** |

## Template-constrained, not freeform

The step generates against a template rather than from a blank page. That is the main defense against a model inventing structure, and it is why the document type field is required: it selects the template and its constraints.

Supplying a specific template overrides the default for that document type, which is how you get firm-standard output rather than generic output.

## Always verify the output

<Warning>
  A drafting step that quotes case law can fabricate citations. Follow every Generate Legal Draft with [Verify Citations](/docs/workflows/builder/steps/verification) wired to Body Markdown, and branch on the result rather than exporting regardless.
</Warning>

The pattern:

```
Search US Case Law
  → Generate Legal Draft
  → Verify Citations         (reads Body Markdown)
  → [branch on Has Fabricated Case]
  → Export DOCX Report  /  Save to Matter
```

Both the "Quick Case-Law Memo" and "Demand-Letter Skeleton" [starter templates](/docs/workflows/builder/templates) are built on exactly this shape.

## When to use a built-in instead

If you want a specific instrument with jurisdiction-aware structure, statutory prerequisites, and supporting documents, the [built-in drafting workflows](/docs/workflows/built-in) do considerably more than this step: a complaint with jurisdictional allegations, a motion with a proposed order and compliance checklist, a demand letter with the right state's retraction window.

Use this step when the drafting is one part of a larger custom chain. Use a built-in when the draft is the whole job.

***

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Drafting guide" icon="pen-nib" href="/docs/guides/drafting">
    The interactive drafting surface this step writes into.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Verification steps" icon="circle-check" href="/docs/workflows/builder/steps/verification">
    What must follow this step.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>