Running an analysis
Starting the AI review and understanding what happens during each phase.
Once your RFP and bid documents are uploaded and parsed, you're ready to run the analysis.
Before you start
Quick checklist:
- All RFP documents show Completed status
- The bid has at least one document with Completed status
- You have enough credits (check your balance in the sidebar)
Optional but recommended:
- Evaluation criteria are configured (gives you scoring and comparison data)
Starting the analysis
Click the Analyze button on the bid you want to review. The analysis starts immediately and runs in the background - you can watch it or navigate away and come back later.
Analyzing multiple bids
If you have several bids ready, click Analyze All on the procurement page. This runs each bid's analysis one after another. You don't need to babysit it.
What happens during analysis
The analysis moves through four phases. You'll see which phase is active and a counter showing progress.
Phase 1: Preparation
The AI reads your RFP documents to understand the requirements. If you've configured evaluation criteria or lots, it pulls those in too. This phase is building a map of what the vendor needs to deliver.
Phase 2: Specialist review
Sub-agents jump in to extract specific information from the proposal. If you have evaluation criteria set up, they'll pull out values for each one - "Does the vendor have ISO 9001?", "How many years of experience do they claim?", etc.
Phase 3: Main analysis
This is where the heavy lifting happens. The main agent compares what the RFP asks for against what the proposal says. It reads specific sections, searches across documents for evidence, and raises findings when it spots gaps, contradictions, or missing information.
You'll see the progress counter climbing as the agent works through its checklist.
Phase 4: Verification
A separate AI reviews the most serious findings (Critical and Major). Think of it as a second opinion. The verifier re-reads the evidence and either confirms the finding, downgrades its severity, or flags it as a false positive.
This phase exists because AI can make mistakes, and you want the high-severity stuff double-checked.
How long it takes
This depends on document volume and complexity:
| Scenario | Typical time |
|---|---|
| Small procurement (30-50 pages total) | 5-10 minutes |
| Medium procurement (100-200 pages) | 15-30 minutes |
| Large procurement (500+ pages, many criteria) | 30-60 minutes |
The progress indicators give you a sense of how far along things are. If you navigate away, the analysis keeps running.
Clarification requests
Sometimes the AI hits something ambiguous and needs your input. When this happens, the analysis pauses and you'll see a question on the bid page. Answer it, and the analysis resumes with your input factored in.
These are rare, but they happen. Check back periodically if you're not watching the progress live.
Credit cost
Each analysis uses credits. The amount depends on:
- How many pages of documents there are
- Whether you've configured criteria (more criteria = more work for the AI)
- Whether verification runs (it does by default for critical/major findings)
A typical analysis of a medium-sized procurement uses 10-30 credits. See pricing for more detail.
You can't cancel an analysis once it starts - it runs to completion. This is by design: partial results would be misleading. Make sure your documents are ready before hitting Analyze.
When things go wrong
If an analysis seems stuck (no progress for a long time):
- Check if there's a clarification request waiting for you
- Refresh the page - the analysis runs server-side, so your browser just needs to reconnect
- If it's been more than 2 hours with no progress, contact support
See troubleshooting for more common issues.