Guide to Structured Workflows
Corbis workflows are for tasks that need a repeatable process, not just a good answer.
In a normal chat, you decide the structure as you go. In a workflow, Corbis guides you through a defined sequence so the work is easier to review, resume, and hand off.
Corbis currently offers five structured workflows, matching the in-app catalog: Referee Report, Technical Audit, IC Memo, Market Outlook, and LOI Builder.
When to Use a Workflow
Use a workflow when:
- the task has clear stages
- you want a more consistent output format
- you need to come back later and continue the same run
- you want the product to keep the process organized for you
Use normal chat when you are still exploring, brainstorming, or pressure-testing a question from multiple angles.
Current Workflows
Referee Report
Use Referee Report when you need a structured evaluation of an academic manuscript or paper.
It is best for:
- journal review support
- internal research assessment
- manuscript critique
- summarizing strengths, weaknesses, and open questions
You can start from a PDF or manuscript upload, then move through guided analysis steps. Referee Report is built for longer jobs: after you submit a step, work may continue in the background while Corbis processes the review. You can leave the page and come back; the app checks status and picks up progress when the job is ready, so you are not tied to keeping one tab open for the full run.
The full run has nine stages in order: upload (manuscript), intake, novelty, mechanism, methodology, data, results, triage, and report—the same sequence as the in-app stepper.
Read the dedicated guide: Referee Report Workflow.
Technical Audit
Use Technical Audit when you need a pre-submission technical check focused on internal correctness, not citation hunting or novelty scoring.
It is best for:
- math and notation consistency
- statistical-specification and table/number alignment
- cross-reference and definition breaks before you submit
You submit the manuscript (and optional LaTeX source); the job runs in the background like Referee Report. You can leave and return while Corbis polls for status and the finished audit report.
Read the dedicated guide: Technical Audit Workflow.
IC Memo
Use IC Memo when you need to turn an investment opportunity into a structured memorandum.
It is best for:
- investment committee preparation
- diligence support
- thesis building
- gathering supporting evidence and counter-evidence
The path in the product is intake → plan → academic retrieval → web retrieval → synthesis → counterevidence → draft memo (seven guided steps).
Market Outlook
Use Market Outlook when you need a thesis-driven view of a market, theme, or sector.
It is best for:
- market entry analysis
- strategy work
- scenario planning
- turning a theme into a structured outlook
Evidence can include academic sources and optional web search (you can toggle web in intake). The sequence is intake → theme → evidence → scenario → draft → counterevidence → report (seven steps).
LOI Builder
Use LOI Builder when you need a professional letter of intent for a commercial real estate transaction.
It is best for:
- acquisition LOIs
- lease LOIs
- clause-based drafting
- turning deal inputs into a clean first draft
The flow covers deal intake → research → deal structure → drafting → quality checks → redline-style review → final report/export (seven steps), aligned with structured CRE LOI practice.
Monthly workflow runs (separate from chat credits)
Workflow billing is not credit-metered. Chat credits still apply to normal chat, MCP tools, and other non-workflow model use; workflows use a monthly run allowance on your plan.
- One launch = one run. Starting a workflow consumes a single monthly workflow run when you submit a durable job (Referee Report, Technical Audit) or complete the intake step on step-by-step workflows (IC Memo, Market Outlook, LOI Builder). Later steps in the same run do not consume additional runs.
- Tier limits. Free and Starter include no workflow runs. Paid tiers include a fixed monthly cap (Basic and Academic) or a higher cap (Pro); Enterprise is unlimited. See Plans & Pricing and Settings → Billing for the limits on your account.
- Reset. Usage is stored per user and resets on a rolling one-month window from your last workflow reset date (shown in billing when your plan tracks workflow usage).
- Org members. If you belong to an organization, your effective tier (including org membership) sets the limit; workflow usage is still counted on your user account, not the org credit pool.
- Failed launch. If intake or submit fails before a usable job is created, the run is refunded when the server can detect that failure. A run that fails deep in a background pipeline after launch generally still counts as used.
Org pooled credits apply to chat-style usage, not to workflow run quotas.
How a Workflow Run Works
Start a run
- Open the workflow catalog at
/workflows(bookmark or type the path in the browser) and choose a card, or - Use the sidebar: Referee Report and Technical Audit live under the main workflow navigation; Market Outlook, IC Memo, and LOI Builder are under Deal Center. Each link goes straight into that workflow so you can start or resume a run.
Then start a new run or open a saved one from the workflow page.
Complete the guided steps
Each workflow asks for different inputs, but the general pattern is the same:
- provide intake information (including file upload where the workflow supports it)
- review each step
- edit or regenerate when needed
- continue once the current step is good enough
Resume later
Workflow runs are saved as you go, so you can leave and return later without rebuilding the context from scratch. For Referee Report and Technical Audit, background processing means you may see status updates when you return rather than an instant result on heavy steps.
How to Pick the Right Workflow
Choose Referee Report if the central object is a paper or manuscript and you want a full referee-style evaluation.
Choose Technical Audit if the central object is a near-final manuscript and you want math, stats, and internal-consistency checks before submission.
Choose IC Memo if the central object is an investment decision.
Choose Market Outlook if the central object is a market, region, or thesis.
Choose LOI Builder if the central object is a transaction document.
If you are not sure yet, start in chat and move to a workflow once the problem is clearly shaped.
Best Practices
- Spend time on the intake step. Better inputs usually produce much better runs.
- Read the intermediate steps instead of skipping straight to the end.
- Correct framing errors early. A bad assumption in step one tends to spread.
- Use Projects if the workflow should share files or instructions with related chats.
- Keep a small set of high-signal reference materials nearby instead of overloading the task with extra context.