A cycle belongs to one document version
An external review starts against a specific .docx upload. Elevator lazily parses
Word comments, threaded replies, and tracked changes only when the review cycle opens.
The cycle is annotation-grained work on one existing Deliverable. It is not a new Target and it does not advance the Target's workflow stage by itself.
Comments become anchored ReviewItems
Each external-reviewer comment becomes a ReviewItem with the verbatim comment, reviewer identity, paragraph anchor, nearby heading, and stable annotation hash.
ReviewItems are deliberately not Questions. A Question closes an information gap; a ReviewItem coordinates a reply or amendment against a particular document annotation.
The team decides in Elevator
Tagged owners draft a plain-text reply and, where needed, a structured amendment. The external comment remains verbatim; the proposed change remains separately addressable.
This creates a decision queue without asking users to hunt through dozens of Word comment balloons.
A sync checklist bridges back to Word
Once the items are ready, Elevator emits a checklist with anchor text, section context, the agreed reply, and the amendment to apply. An assigned operator works through that list in Word.
Operator progress is persisted, so a long sync can stop and resume without reconstructing what was already applied.
The response version is verified
The operator uploads the next document version. Elevator compares annotations and the relevant text to the cycle's decisions. Missing or divergent changes become audit Issues rather than disappearing inside a new binary.
Verification is the control that closes the gap between “we agreed a change” and “the Word file actually contains it.”
The cycle closes; the history remains
A clean response version moves through ready-to-send, sent, and
closed. ReviewItems retain the comments, replies, amendments, and resolution dates.
Another counsel round-trip opens a new cycle against the new version. Old decisions are not rewritten to make the latest file look inevitable.
Handoff is explicit and bounded
A polished upload can advance a Deliverable to ready_for_review. A validated
submitted action records that the artefact left Elevator, with optional submission
reference and destination.
Elevator supplies the manifest, approved content, evidence and coverage exports, review trail, compilation snapshot, and remaining blockers. Legal counsel owns final packaging, submission, and regulator liaison.