User guide

Your first Scope proposal,
step by step.

This guide takes you from raw brief to signable proposal. Plan on a 15-minute read, then half a day of hands-on practice to ship your first client deliverable.

Before you start

Get your sources ready. The richer the input, the sharper the scope Scope generates.

A transcript or structured notes

Ideally a 20–60 minute transcript from Otter, Notta, Tactiq or Fireflies. If that is not available, a 200–800 word written recap works perfectly well.

The RFP or statement of work

If the client sent over a PDF, keep it on hand. Scope reads standard RFP formats from US procurement (SAM.gov, RFx) and European public tenders (UGAP, BOAMP, OJEU).

Known constraints

Budget cap, target deadline, mandated tech stack, GDPR, regulated industry. Capture everything you already know — Scope will cross-check these constraints against the brief.

Pre-sales tip

If your discovery call ran shorter than 20 minutes, run Scope anyway. The pipeline will surface more clarification questions — exactly the material you need to prep for the next meeting.

Import a brief

Three accepted source types. You can stack multiple inputs (transcript + RFP + email) on a single scope.

PDF (RFP, SOW, brief)

Up to 60 pages, parsed in your browser via pdfjs-dist: your PDF never reaches a third-party conversion service. Only the extracted text is sent — encrypted in transit — to our EU servers.

Audio (MP3, M4A, WAV, OGG)

Up to 90 minutes, transcribed by Gladia (Paris). The audio file is deleted within 24 hours of transcription; only the text is retained.

Pasted text

Recap email, Notion or Google Docs notes: paste up to 50,000 characters. Often the fastest way to get started.

PDF parsing privacy

PDFs are parsed directly in your browser using the pdfjs-dist library. The PDF binary never leaves your device. Only the extracted text — already laid out by your browser — is sent encrypted (TLS 1.3) to our EU servers.

Review the extraction

Scope identifies objectives, constraints, stakeholders, and grey areas. Your job is to validate or correct.

Reading confidence scores

Every extracted item ships with a 0–100 confidence score. Items below 60 are flagged: they map to ambiguous or contradictory passages. Click any item to see the source(s) it came from, highlighted in the original document.

≥ 85Reliable item, validate at a glance.
60 to 84Read carefully, adjust if needed.
< 60Grey area: clarify or flag as an assumption.

Editing a grey area

In the Grey areas column, each entry offers three actions: convert to an assumption (will appear as such in the scoping document), request a clarification (generates a prioritized question), or dismiss (removes it from scope).

Tip: do not try to resolve everything. A scoping document that explicitly lists 5 to 10 reasonable assumptions reads more professionally than one that hides uncertainty.

Answer the clarification questions

Scope generates 3 to 7 prioritized questions. Focus on the blockers.

Blocking

Without an answer, the scope is wrong.

An assumption at this level can swing the estimate by 30% or more. Either answer it, or explicitly flag it as an assumption to validate at kickoff.

Examples: How many concurrent users at peak? Is this an on-premise or cloud deployment? What is the exact scope of the legacy migration?

Major

Affects accuracy, not viability.

The project remains scopable without it, but a clear answer tightens the estimate by 10 to 20%. Best addressed in your next discovery session.

Examples: Is SSO mandatory, or can we ship with magic links first? Are all 12 languages required for V1, or can we phase the rollout?

Minor

Detail to nail down later.

Not urgent. Make a reasonable assumption and list it in the scoping document — to be confirmed during project initiation.

Examples: Tone of voice preference (formal vs. conversational)? Preferred format for monthly status reports?

Recommended workflow

Tackle the blockers during or right after the client meeting (answers are still fresh). Push major questions to the next discovery iteration. Make assumptions on minor items and list them in the document.

Customize the scoping document

The Scope editor gives you full control over formatting and tone, without breaking the structure of the 9 required sections.

Slash menu (/)

Type / in any block to insert a heading, list, table, callout or estimate block. Fully keyboard navigable.

Improve with AI

Select a paragraph and click Improve. Choose: shorten, expand, make more formal, translate, or simplify for a non-technical buyer.

Traced sources

Every generated paragraph keeps a link back to its origin. Hover to highlight the passage in the transcript or RFP that produced this sentence.

Versioning

Every export or share creates a timestamped version. Roll back to a previous version in two clicks.

The 9 required sections (context, SMART objectives, in-scope, out-of-scope, RACI, deliverables, timeline, risks, commercial terms) keep their structure locked but stay fully editable in content. You can add custom sections.

Calibrate the estimate

Three levers to master: your day-rate matrix, your confidence ranges, and the engagement model.

Day-rate matrix by role

Configure your day rates by role (junior, mid, senior, staff, principal/architect) and by stack (React, Java/Spring, data, DevOps, design, PM). Scope applies the rates inside the editor and computes the cost per work package automatically.

The default reference is calibrated on average day rates observed across European consultancies in 2025. Override them in two clicks for your local market.

Confidence ranges

Each work package is estimated as optimistic / realistic / pessimistic. By default, the spread between optimistic and pessimistic is set to 30% on packages with significant assumptions, and 15% on well-scoped ones.

You decide which range to share with the client. Common practice: lead with the realistic figure, hold the pessimistic one internally for a margin of maneuver.

Fixed price

Commit to a deliverable and a price. Best when scope is clear and stable. Scope computes a recommended price that includes a risk margin weighted by your assumptions.

When to use it: MVP builds, site rebuilds, standard integrations, scoped audits.

Time & materials (day rate × days)

Commit to a volume of person-days per role, without a deliverable commitment. Ideal when scope is expected to evolve. Scope produces a recommended volume per role per month.

When to use it: Ongoing maintenance, embedded product teams, agile engagements with fluid scope.

Have a question?

Reply within 2 business days, by the person who builds the product. For questions on the pipeline or the models we use, see the Methodology page.

Your first Scope proposal,step by step.