AI categorization: the right contract category, set automatically
When you upload a contract you usually already know what it is — the system just doesn't. Until now that meant moving every contract into the right category by hand. With 80 legacy contracts from onboarding, that is half an afternoon gone.
ContractHero now suggests the category itself, from the content of the contract, right after upload.
Your benefit
Categories are not decoration in ContractHero: they decide which fields a contract has, which team can see it and which report it turns up in. That is exactly why sorting by hand is the most tedious minute of every upload — and the first thing people skip during a bulk import.
AI categorization removes that minute. You upload, ContractHero reads the contract and sets the category. All you do is check it. During onboarding in particular, when 50 to 100 contracts arrive at once, most of the portfolio sorts itself.
How it works
The screenshots below show the German interface, with the English labels given in the text.
1. Upload contracts as usual
At the bottom left, click "+ New contract" [+ Neuer Vertrag] and choose "via upload" [via Upload]. The "Add contracts" [Verträge hinzufügen] dialogue opens. Drag your PDFs into the area "Select contracts in PDF format or drag them here" [Verträge im PDF-Format auswählen oder hier reinziehen] — or click inside it and pick the files.
2. Leave the default category as it is
Each file gets a row with the required "Categories" [Kategorien] field. It holds the category set as the default in your account — and next to it a lilac "Default" [Standard] label carrying the sparkle icon.
That label is the switch: throughout ContractHero the sparkle icon means "generated by the AI". As long as the "Default" [Standard] label sits in the row, the AI takes over the categorization after upload.
Pick a category yourself from the dropdown instead and the "Default" [Standard] label disappears, sparkle and all. That is the visible confirmation: your choice counts as a deliberate decision — the AI stays out of it.
Then click "Upload now" [Jetzt hochladen]. You will see the confirmation "Successfully uploaded" [Erfolgreich hochgeladen] and can jump straight in with "Go to contract" [Zum Vertrag].
3. The category arrives shortly after the upload
Categorization runs in the background, not in the upload dialogue. So you will not see it immediately: right after the upload the contract still shows the default category, and a moment later it switches to the AI's suggestion.
In a test with a non-disclosure agreement this took about a minute — the category jumped from "Others" [Weiteres] (the default) to "NDA". The familiar AI contract analysis ran immediately afterwards and filled the contract fields.
4. Check the suggestion, or change it
At the top of the contract you will see the category pill with the category that was set, and next to it the purple sparkle icon — the marker that means this value came from the AI.
If the suggestion does not fit, click the category pill and choose a different category. Your change takes effect immediately and is not overwritten again.
Common questions
How do I know the category came from the AI?
By the purple sparkle icon next to the category pill on the contract. Throughout ContractHero it means "generated by the AI".
Does the category count towards the "X / Y verified" counter?
No. The counter and the "Verify all" [Alle verifizieren] button apply to the contract's AI data fields, not to the category. In our test the counter covered ten fields — the category was not one of them. So you correct the category directly on the category pill, not through the verification flow.
What happens if I pick the category myself before uploading?
It stays. ContractHero treats a manually set category as a deliberate decision and does not overwrite it. You can see this in the upload dialogue itself: the "Default" [Standard] label disappears the moment you pick a category yourself.
Can I trace who set the category?
Yes. The "Activity" [Aktivität] tab on the contract carries the entry "ContractHero analysis has edited the contract" [ContractHero-Analyse hat den Vertrag bearbeitet] with a timestamp — visibly separate from your own actions such as "created this contract".
What if the suggestion is wrong?
Change it on the category pill. Expect that mainly with mixed contracts and with very short or badly scanned documents: the AI works on the contract summary — what does not make it into the summary cannot be classified.
Do I have to switch anything on in the settings?
No, there is no toggle for it in the web app. AI categorization is a bookable package and requires the AI summary to be active, because the classification builds on its result. Talk to the CX team if you would like to use the feature.
Good to know
- The category controls visibility. In ContractHero the category determines which team sees a contract. A category set by the AI therefore shifts visibility too — a good reason to glance over the suggestions on sensitive contracts instead of leaving them unseen.
- The benefit is in the volume. With three contracts a month you will barely notice. With an onboarding of 50 to 100 contracts, the feature replaces exactly the drudgery nobody wants to do.
- The order in the background: upload → summary → category → contract analysis. That is why the category does not appear in the same second as the contract.
- Deliberate beats automatic. If you can classify individual contracts confidently during a bulk upload, go ahead and pick the category yourself — the AI will not get in your way.
- No invented categories. The AI picks from the categories that exist in your account. If a suitable one is missing, create it in the field builder — after that it is available to the AI as well.
Related articles
- AI summary: understand a contract at a glance
- How does contract analysis work?
- How can contracts be uploaded in the system?
- Choosing the right upload route — creating contracts with mandatory fields cleanly
- How can I manage Custom Fields?
Updated on: 09/04/2026
Thank you!