Sessions
Prep tab
Build the pre-work for a specific live session — a copy of the template's prep that you can refine without affecting the template or other sessions.
The Prep tab is where you build (or refine) the pre-work for a specific session. If the session was instantiated from a template, the prep starts populated with the template's structure — and the editor on this tab lets you tailor it to this particular session without disturbing the template or any other session.
This page focuses on what's specific to runtime prep editing. The same builder, used on the template side, is covered in Building Pre-work templates — and the catalogue of task types you can add lives in Pre-work task types.
What you can do on this tab
Add tasks
Pick from the full set of task types — text questions, opinion scales, polls, video, embedded documents, file uploads, and more.
Reorder
Drag tasks to set the order participants see them in. The order matters — it shapes the prep journey.
Edit any task
Open any task to change its title, description, content, or media. Edits are session-only — no template propagation.
Generate with AI
Have AI draft prep based on the session's context — its purpose, the playbook, prior prep responses. See AI-powered pre-work generation.
Edits here don't propagate back to the template
Anything you edit on the Prep tab applies to this session only. Changes don't ripple back to the template the playbook was instantiated from, and they don't ripple sideways to other sessions in the same playbook.
This is by design. A live engagement is its own thing — the team running it should be able to refine prep based on what's working without worrying about polluting the template or affecting other sessions. If you want a change to apply to future sessions instantiated from the same template, edit the template directly.
The corollary is that running playbooks pin to the version of the template they were instantiated with — see Instantiating a playbook. Updates to the template after instantiation don't reach back into the playbook either.
When to edit prep at runtime
The most common reasons to use this tab:
- Tailor for a specific session. Drop a task that doesn't apply to this client / this audience; add one that does.
- Respond to what came back in prep. If the first round of responses surfaced a topic that needs deeper exploration, add a follow-up task before the next round.
- Patch a typo or unclear framing. Quick fix to the wording of a question after spotting it on the Preview page.
- Generate with AI as a starting point. For sessions without strong template prep, kick off with AI generation and refine.
AI-assisted prep generation
Some sessions can have their prep generated by AI from the session's context (its purpose, the playbook it sits in, prior responses, attached documents). When this kicks off, the Prep tab shows realtime "generating prep" placeholders that fill in as the AI works.
You can wait, then edit; or you can edit one section while another is still hydrating. As with agenda generation, AI output is a starting point — the final shape is yours.
The full mechanics of AI prep generation — what it draws on, how to prompt it, what it's good at — live in AI-powered pre-work generation.
Walkthrough
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1
Open the Prep tab
From the Session Planner, switch to Prep. If the session came from a template, the prep is pre-populated; if it was created standalone, it starts empty.
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2
Add tasks
Use the Add control to insert tasks. Pick from the full task type catalogue — see Pre-work task types.
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3
Reorder for the journey you want
Drag tasks into the order participants will see them. Generally: light tasks first to build momentum, harder tasks in the middle, an opinion / synthesis task at the end.
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4
(Optional) AI-generate
If the session has the AI-generation control, kick it off. Wait for placeholders to hydrate; refine the output.
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5
Preview before publishing
Use the Preview action on the planner header to open the participant prep page in a new tab. Read each task as a participant would. Adjust anything that doesn't land.
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6
Watch the time budget
Keep the total estimated prep duration under 20 minutes — see Why pre-work matters. The Prep tab shows the running estimate as you build.
Tips & pitfalls
Edit at runtime for one session; edit the template for many. A typo on this session: fix it here. A framing problem you'll want fixed for every future session of this template: fix the template. Don't edit ten sessions when one template edit would do.
AI-generated prep is a draft, not a delivery. AI will write you a passable prep flow in seconds — but the difference between passable and excellent is the human edit pass. Don't ship AI output to participants without reading it like a participant would.
Use Preview, not the planner, for the visual reality check. The Prep tab is the editor view. The Preview opens the participant view. They look different and behave differently — always preview before publishing.