How Instant Docs works
Instant Docs looks for placeholders in your Word file and replaces them with data from Pipeline CRM.
Example:
In your Word template you write:
Hello {{PersonName}},
Thank you for your interest in {{CompanyName}}.
Your estimated deal value is {{DealValue}}.When you generate the document from a Deal, those placeholders will become real values, like:
Hello Sarah Lee,
Thank you for your interest in Acme Corp.
Your estimated deal value is $12,500.Who does what?
- Admins
- Set up templates
- Decide which fields get filled
- Control where templates are available (People / Deals / Companies)
- All users
- Use those templates to generate documents from records
For Admins setting this up:
- A document in .docx format (Microsoft Word type file)
- The fields you want to pull from Pipeline (e.g. Person name, Deal amount, Company name)
- Admin access in Pipeline CRM
- File type: .docx only
- Max size: 50 MB
Step-by-step for Admins: Set up a template
Step 1 – Create your Word template
- Open Word (or any app that saves as .docx).
- Write your document like you normally would.
- Wherever you want Pipeline to fill in info, use a placeholder like:
- {{PersonName}}
- {{CompanyName}}
- {{DealValue}}
- {{CloseDate}}
- Save the file as .docx.
- Must be inside double curly braces: {{LikeThis}}
- Must have at least 3 characters inside (e.g. {{abc}} works, {{a}} does not)
- You can create any names you want, as long as they match what you map later
- In Pipeline, go to Admin Settings.
- Click General → Instant Docs.
- Click Add New Template.
- Upload your .docx file.
- Give the template a clear name (e.g. “Standard Proposal” or “Invoice – US”).
- (Optional but helpful) Choose a Type to keep things organized.
Still on the template setup page choose where users should see this template:
- People
- Deals
- Companies
Step 4 – Map placeholders to Pipeline fields
Now you connect what’s in your .docx to actual Pipeline data:
- You’ll see a list of the placeholders you used (like {{PersonName}}, {{DealValue}}, etc.). For each one, pick the Pipeline field it should pull from.
- {{PersonName}} → Full Name
- {{CompanyName}} → Company
- {{DealValue}} → Amount
- (Optional) Add a Fallback value:
- Used when the field in Pipeline is empty.
- Example: For {{PaymentTerms}}, you could set fallback to: Net 30 days
- To leave it empty, just add a space.
- Use the Preview option on the template.
- Search for and select a sample Person, Deal, or Company (depending on what you enabled).
- Generate the preview and check:
- Are all placeholders filled in?
- Are the values correct?
- Does the layout still look good?
Once an Admin has created templates, here’s how any user can use them.
Step 1 – Open a record
- Go to a Person, Deal, or Company in Pipeline.
- Make sure it’s the type that has templates enabled (your Admin decides this).
- Find the Instant Docs tile on the record.
- Click the “+” button in the top right of that section.
- Choose the template you want.
- Pipeline will generate the document using data from that record.
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Step 3 – Review, download, and send
Once the document is generated:
- Review the content.
- Download it if you want a local copy.
- Send it to your client/lead using your usual process (email, upload, etc.).
You can also see related activity using:
- Activity Scoreboard
- Recent Updates (in Admin Settings)
Managing templates (Admins)
Go to Settings → General → Instant Docs to manage templates:
- Edit – Click on the template to change template name, type, where it appears (People/Deals/Companies), and field mappings
- Click on the three dots to:
- Duplicate – copy an existing template to make a variation
- Delete – remove templates that are no longer used