The Matter Workspace
The matter workspace is the screen you live on while you work a case. Every matter opens to the same page — a header you control, a progress strip that shows where the work stands, quick actions to produce or transform a document, and a running list of everything you have created. This page is the spine of the workflow: client → matter → outline → draft → review → export all happen from here.
You reach it at /drafty/cases/:caseId — open a matter from the dashboard, the Matters list, or a client's record, and this is where you land.
Where the matter sits in your workflow
A client is the person or entity you represent. A matter is one engagement for that client — a petition, a waiver, a brief, an RFE response. One client can have many matters; each matter is its own container. For the full picture of that two-record model, see Clients & Matters.
The matter is where everything saves back. Outlines, drafts, letters, translations, improved documents, linked client files, the case status, and a running event history all live on the matter and surface on this page. You do not assemble a filing across scattered tools — you work one matter, and the page keeps the pieces together.
Opening a matter is free. The per-case charge is deferred to your first chargeable AI generation on that matter; creating the matter itself costs nothing. See Plans & Billing for how a matter is charged.
The header and status control
The header names the matter — the matter type is the title — and shows the client and when the matter was last touched. A status pill sits beside the title.
You set the status from here as the case moves: not started, in progress, review, filed, approved, denied. Status is part of what saves back to the matter, and it feeds the progress strip below. Archiving a matter is a separate action.
To the right of the header, count badges summarize the matter at a glance:
- Need review — drafts that have sections waiting for your read.
- Finalized — drafts that have produced a Word document.
- Drafts — the total number of drafts on the matter.
- Outlines — whether a primary outline is set.
When there is nothing yet, the header says so plainly rather than showing empty counts.
The Matter Progress strip
A strip labeled Matter Progress runs across the page: Outline → Draft → Review → Drafts ready. It is a map of where the case stands, not a checklist you must complete in order.
Two of the stages are tool-backed, and two are derived:
- Outline and Draft are stages you act in. Click either node to go straight to that work — the Outline node opens the outline, the Draft node takes you to produce a document.
- Review and Drafts ready are virtual stages. The system derives them from the state of your drafts and the matter's status; there is nothing to launch. Review lights up when a draft has sections waiting; Drafts ready reflects finalized Word documents.
There is no forced order and no "skipped" badge. If you draft without building an outline first, the Outline node simply stays an open circle — still there, still clickable, never marked as missed. A stage shows as in progress or done based on what you have actually produced. You control the pace.
The primary outline card
Below the header sits the matter's outline card. An outline is the risk-first strategy pass for the matter — it maps your evidence to the legal framework, flags deadlines and bars, builds an evidence matrix, detects the forum, and surfaces the gaps to address before you draft. For how to build one, see Step 1 — Build the Case Outline.
A matter can hold more than one outline, but exactly one is the primary — the one that seeds drafting. The card shows the primary outline up top with earlier outlines tucked below, and you can switch which outline is primary at any time. When no outline exists yet, the card invites you to build one, and the matter nudges you to start there.
Two ways to act: produce and transform
Below the progress strip are two quick-action clusters. They are the document choices for the matter — pick what you need and the matter's context comes with you.
Produce a document — create something new for this matter:
- Outline — open or start the strategy outline.
- Petition / brief — the matter-aware main draft. One action; the system resolves the right drafting backend for the case type.
- Motion — offered only for court, EOIR, and removal-defense matters, where a motion makes sense. It asks the motion type, then drafts it.
- Expert letter — draft an expert opinion letter for the matter.
- Affidavit/Declaration — draft a sworn statement.
- Exhibit list — assemble an exhibit list.
- RFE response — build a response to an RFE, NOID, or NOIR.
Transform a document you already have — work from an existing file:
- Improve a document — refine a document you bring in.
- Translate — produce a translation.
The Motion action appears only when the matter's case type calls for it; for an employment or family matter, it would be noise, so it stays hidden.
One Draft action, the right flow underneath
You do not pick a "tool." When you draft from a matter, you take one Draft action, and the system routes it to the correct flow based on the matter's case type.
- A generic matter goes to the Drafting Studio interview — a short, turn-based set of questions that asks only what it needs.
- A specialized case type — asylum, an I-601A waiver, an RFE/NOID/NOIR, and others — goes straight to its dedicated flow, with your client and matter context carried over.
Either way, you experience a single Draft action, not a menu to choose from. The matter's primary outline is seeded into the draft; a finalized outline hands off straight to generation and skips the question-and-answer step. For how the draft is assembled, see Step 2 — Draft the Document. For what changes by case type, see Specialized Matter Types.
What saves back to the matter
Everything you produce lands back on the matter and shows on this page. That is the point of working a matter rather than a collection of one-off documents.
- Outlines — every strategy pass you run, with one set as the primary that seeds drafting.
- Drafts — grouped on the matter into Drafts, Letters, Translations, and Improved Documents. Each carries a badge for its state: a Review badge when it has sections waiting for your read, and a Doc or Download badge once it has produced a finished Word document.
- Client files — documents you upload or link through the matter's documents panel, used to ground both drafting and outline analysis.
- Status — the case status you set from the header.
- Event history — a running, cross-tool timeline of what has happened on the matter. It feeds the Recommended next line, which suggests a sensible next step based on where the matter stands.
Drafts you create without attaching them to a matter live in your Draft History instead, and are not charged. Working inside a matter is what keeps everything connected — and what ties the single per-case charge to the case.
The Documents created for this matter panel lists those drafts, letters, and translations. Click any one to keep working on it — open a draft with sections back into review, or download a finished document.
How you get here
The matter-first dashboard is the front door. It asks what you are working on, routes you into the right matter or flow, and is where you add clients and matters and pick up recent work. From there you open a matter and land on this page.
There is an older /tools path that still resolves for direct links, but it is off the main navigation and is not the way in. DraftyAI is not a menu of standalone tools — it is one guided workflow built around the matter. Work from the dashboard and the matter page, and the right flow finds you.
Important: you review and own every filing
DraftyAI accelerates the work of preparing a matter — it does not replace your review or judgment. You read every draft, edit it as needed, confirm every authority, and are solely responsible for what you file.
DraftyAI accelerates drafting; it is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. You review, edit, and are solely responsible for every document you file.