# Start here: Author

Prepare reference data, loop revisions, calendar, rules and expected examples.

Source: https://help.smartfact.ai/manuals/refillflow/author

Review edition: 25 October 2026

Roles: author

Authors draft the information and decisions RefillFlow will use. Drafting does not enable a container physically or release a policy into production. Those are separate owner and reviewer responsibilities.

## Build a usable reference set

Prepare **Items**, **Locations**, **Stores queues** and **Loops and containers**. Preserve exact codes and whole-unit quantities. A loop ties its material, receiving location, refill quantity and permitted supplying queues together. Check all of those facts before proposing a revision.

Use **CSV imports** for the supported data types. Preview first and inspect changed, unchanged and rejected rows. Adoption changes the complete accepted file or none of it. Imports create drafts and inactive containers only; omitting a row from a later file never retires it.

## Prepare decisions and examples

In **Rules and releases**, the rule order, default outcome and any escalation policy must express the intended operational choice. Work with the owner on the **Working calendar**, whose shifts and closures are included in release evidence.

Where **Describe this condition** is available, describe the business condition clearly, inspect the proposal and its restatement, and adopt it only when it matches the requirement. A proposed condition has no release authority.

Write expected examples independently of the candidate's output. The proof needs each rule and the default exercised, an urgent case, invalid or missing input, and overlap evidence when rules can both match. Use the real supported controls rather than adding invented facts to a case.

## Prove and hand over

Before proof, ask the owner to enable the intended supplying queues on **Stores queues**. The release's default queue must be enabled before reviewer activation. Choose **Save draft**, then **Prove the saved draft**. Unsaved text is not the proved candidate. Inspect the complete candidate, failures and changed configuration. A later draft or configuration edit, including enabling a queue, makes it stale.

Tell the reviewer which loops, quantities, routing, timing or escalation changed. A latest loop revision waiting for release does not change requests already admitted. Continue with [reference data](/manuals/refillflow/reference-data) and [rules and releases](/manuals/refillflow/rules-and-releases).