Research Templates
A research template is a saved brief: a name, a description, and an ordered list of focus areas. Each focus area has a name and a sentence saying what to look at. Run the template and Judicio works through every one of them against the documents you selected.
Research templates are not a separate system. They are the Templates feature filtered to Research, so everything true of a Document Review or Timeline template is true here. This page covers what is specific to Research.
What a template carries
| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| Name | What the card reads, and what the run is titled once it starts |
| Description | A line under the name on the card |
| Focus areas | The ordered list the run works through. Each has a Focus area name and a Description |
| Output format | How the answer should be shaped. Read-only, and shown only on templates that carry it |
| Tone & style | How the answer should read. Read-only, and shown on the same terms |
| Jurisdictions | Which jurisdictions this template appears under. Empty means it appears under all of them |
| Tags | One practice-area tag, used by the library's filter |
A template carries no documents, no jurisdiction scope and no result. You choose the files each time you run it.
Output format and Tone & style appear on the Template details pane in the library. Neither is a field in the create wizard: they arrive with a template generated by Judicio, extracted from a file, or shipped in the built-in catalogue. A template's tone, where it has one, takes precedence over the Tone you set in the Research settings band for that run.
Where templates come from
The Research library has three categories, each a pill above the grid.
| Category | What is in it |
|---|---|
| Judicio templates | The built-in catalogue Judicio maintains. Read-only, and filtered to your jurisdiction |
| My templates | Templates you created or saved |
| Shared with me | Templates a colleague shared with you. Read-only |
Judicio templates leads and is selected first, because it is the only category guaranteed to hold something on a new account.
The built-in catalogue is tagged by jurisdiction, and the server only ever returns the templates tagged for your active jurisdiction plus the ones tagged for none. Switch jurisdiction in the top bar and the list changes. There is therefore no single, fixed list of built-in templates to reproduce here. Open Judicio templates and read the ones you actually have.
Starting a run from a template
Two routes reach the same templates.
From the Research home
Open Research and select Templates, the third of the three modes above the composer. Its caption reads "Browse research templates". The section below is headed Start from a template and carries a count.
Starting from a template needs at least one document. Without one the start control on an open card is disabled, with the tooltip Add at least one document to start. Choose your files in the band above the composer first.
Select a card and it opens into a panel below its row, headed Saved template. The panel names the template, says how many focus areas it holds, and lists them numbered.
Templates, filtered to Research
The three category pills sit above the grid, and the open card's panel sits below its own row with the focus areas numbered in the order the run works through them.
| Control | Where | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Back | Top left of the panel | Closes the panel and returns to the grid |
| Edit template | Right of the template's name | Opens this template in the library |
| Focus area list | Middle of the panel | Read-only. A template always runs every focus area it holds |
| Deep Mode | Panel footer, left | The per-run thoroughness toggle |
| Start research | Panel footer, right | Starts the run |
A saved template's focus areas cannot be ticked, edited or removed here, and the panel says as much: it uses every focus area in the template, and to change what is included you use Edit template. That is different from a Smart Suggestions card, whose items you can shape before you run them. See Composing queries for the full grid and its controls.
Six cards fit a page. Previous page and Next page step through the rest, with a range beside them. Where a category holds nothing the grid reads "Nothing saved in this category yet." and offers Create template.
Selecting documents changes more than the gate: with files selected, Judicio ranks the templates by how well each one fits them and returns the grid in that order. With no files selected the grid is the plain library list.
Once a run starts it behaves like any other research run. It is titled after the template, it is stamped with the jurisdiction that was active when you sent it, and follow-ups in the same session continue from it.
From the library
Open Templates in the top bar, then the Research tab. Selecting a template fills the Template details pane on the right, and Use in Research takes you back to the Research home with that template already open.
The library is where renaming, sharing, duplicating and deleting happen, for every feature's templates. See Browsing the template library.
Saving a template of your own
From a suggestion
The quickest route starts from work you have already done. Under Smart Suggestions, open a card, untick any focus area you do not want, and select Save as template. What you save is exactly the focus areas left ticked.
The dialogue asks for a name and lets you edit, add or drop focus areas before saving. On an organisation plan it then asks who can see it. See Sharing templates.
From scratch
Create template, the plus icon in the section header, opens the creation dialogue with three methods.
| Method | What it does |
|---|---|
| Generate with AI | Describe the template in a sentence and Judicio proposes the focus areas. Needs at least 10 characters |
| Build Manually | Opens the wizard on an empty template |
| Extract from file | Reads a document you upload and builds a template from it. PDF, DOCX, DOC, TXT or MD, under 50MB |
All three land in the same wizard, titled Create Research template, with three steps.
| Step | What you fill in |
|---|---|
| Template details | Template name, Template description, Jurisdictions and Tags |
| Focus areas | The list itself. Add focus area opens a dialogue with a Focus area name and a Description, both required |
| Share template | Choose visibility: Personal, or Organization with a member list |
Jurisdictions starts on your active jurisdiction. Tick Generic: show in every jurisdiction to clear it, and the template then appears whichever jurisdiction you are working in.
The footer carries Cancel and Continue, and Save Template on the last step. Each focus area row can be expanded to read its description, and hovering one reveals controls to edit or delete it.
Manage templates, the gear icon beside Create template, opens the library filtered to Research without starting anything.
Credits
Templates are free. Runs are not.
Creating, generating, extracting, editing, sharing, duplicating and deleting a template all cost nothing. Browsing the library is free.
What costs credits is the research run you start from the template, charged at the ordinary Research rate for the mode you run it in. See Credits Explained.
Next steps
- Composing queries - the three modes, the card grid, and every control on the Research home.
- Templates - the library, the creation routes, and sharing, across all features.
- Understanding results - reading the answer a template produced.