# Start here: Author

Prepare approved tool identities, tasks and suitability policies.

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

Review edition: 25 October 2026

Roles: author

As Author, maintain the reference content that describes assets, families, capabilities, tasks and suitability rules. Begin with the approved engineering and service requirements. ToolCustody cannot invent equivalence or certificate acceptance for you.

## Prepare exact references

Open References and policies and create or edit the Reference draft. The guided forms cover the ordinary catalogue; Advanced JSON preserves the complete supported definition. Check exact asset codes, family codes, approved capability tags and task scopes.

Define the approved task and any permitted alternatives. Keep permitted-use duration separate from return timing. Required qualification must cover the actual approved use interval. A later due-back time is not permission for longer use.

Save a new draft revision and read it back. Unsaved edits cannot be proved or activated. If another change made the draft stale, reload and compare before saving again.

## Supply independent business answers

Under Check examples and approve the release, write real situations and expected outcomes from the intended policy. Include both allowed and blocked situations and important boundaries. Use Advanced JSON examples for supported stages that the simpler form does not cover.

Run the proof and inspect its saved results. A passing proof does not establish that the physical tool is present, undamaged or currently qualified. Those checks remain operational gates.

Hand the exact unchanged revision and proof to the Reviewer. The site can require a distinct reviewer; do not assume holding both roles permits self-approval. Follow [references and approval](/manuals/toolcustody/references-and-approval).

The Supervisor confirms physical opening after release. Registering an asset through reference approval does not create a truthful crib position or an historical loan.