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Use these best practices to get the most value from libraries in Epiq AI and ensure consistent, high‑quality results across workflows.

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Plan libraries before you run workflows

  • Build libraries before running workflows whenever you already know key people, organizations, or prompt content.
  • Treat libraries as shared inputs, not workflow‑specific fixes.
  • Start with high‑confidence entries to avoid introducing noise early.

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Use the right library type

  • Person libraries. Use for known individuals who are likely to appear repeatedly in the data.
  • Organization libraries. Use for known companies, firms, domains, or other organizations.
  • Prompt libraries. Use for approved, reusable prompt text that should remain consistent across workflows.
  • Custom libraries. Use for reference data the other three types cannot represent — matter codes, deal names, product identifiers, custodian groupings.
Do not mix content types across libraries. Each library type serves a distinct purpose. Reach for a custom library only when the built-in types genuinely do not fit. A person recorded in a custom library is invisible to the workflow components that read person libraries, so representing people or organizations in a custom shape costs you the automatic enrichment and tag sync that make libraries worth building.

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Scope libraries at the level the data belongs to

  • Client for anything true of the client rather than of one matter: its in-house counsel, its subsidiaries and domains, its regular outside firms, its approved prompt language. One library then serves every matter for that client, including matters that do not exist yet.
  • Project for reference data that is genuinely specific to one matter — an opposing party’s counsel, a custodian list for this collection.
Set client organizations deliberately rather than relying on the default. A library created inside a project inherits that project’s client automatically, which is usually what you want — but it also means the library cannot later be applied to another client’s matter. Leave the client organizations field empty if the library is meant to be shared more widely.

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Design custom library columns before you import

  • Choose the key field first. It is what Overlay imports match on and what the library is searched by, so a poorly chosen key produces duplicates every time you re-import.
  • Prefer a stable identifier over a display name for the key field. Names get re-spelled; codes do not.
  • Set each column’s type rather than leaving everything as text. Dates and numbers filter and sort correctly only when typed correctly.
  • Use Import from file to seed columns from a spreadsheet’s headers, then correct the types. It is faster than defining a dozen columns by hand, but it replaces every existing column, so use it when starting out rather than to add one field.
  • Download the library template before preparing an import file. Its headers are exactly the columns you defined.

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Keep entries clean and normalized

  • Use a single, canonical version of each person or organization name.
  • Avoid duplicate entries that represent the same entity.
  • Remove outdated or incorrect entries during periodic reviews.
  • Prioritize clarity over completeness. Large, unreviewed libraries can reduce accuracy.

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Update libraries during review cycles

  • Add new people or organizations discovered during workflow review.
  • Feed corrected workflow output back into libraries where appropriate.
  • Update prompt libraries when prompt guidance changes or improves.
  • Treat library maintenance as part of the review process, not a one‑time setup step.

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Reuse libraries across workflows and matters

  • Share libraries across workflows that involve the same participants or objectives.
  • Reuse prompt libraries to enforce consistent instructions and outputs.
  • Avoid creating duplicate libraries for the same purpose unless required by data separation needs.
  • Prefer one client library applied broadly over the same list rebuilt per matter. Client scope exists precisely so that curation done once carries forward.
  • Feed verified entities back with Save to Libraries at the end of a matter. The work a review team did establishing who an attorney is should not have to be redone on the next matter for the same client.

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Version and govern prompt libraries carefully

  • Store only approved or validated prompt content in prompt libraries.
  • Make prompt changes deliberately and document the reason for changes outside the library if required.
  • Avoid experimental or workflow‑specific prompts in shared prompt libraries.

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Review libraries regularly

  • Schedule periodic reviews to:
    • Remove duplicates
    • Correct errors
    • Retire unused entries
  • Validate that libraries still reflect current matters and workflows.

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Common mistakes to avoid

  • Uploading incomplete or unverified lists
  • Treating libraries as disposable, one‑off inputs
  • Allowing uncontrolled growth without review
  • Mixing experimental data into shared libraries
  • Creating a custom library and closing the dialog before adding columns, leaving it unusable
  • Re-importing corrections with Append, which skips every row whose key already exists and silently applies none of them. Use Overlay to update