Build a schedule from documents#

The fastest way to get a full schedule into Owl PM is to hand Owl the documents you already have — a scope of work, a specification, a contract, a set of drawings — and let it read them and build the plan for you. Owl extracts the deliverables, works out a work breakdown, sets up calendars, and lays down the tasks and their dependencies, then runs the schedule so you get real dates.

Use this when you're starting a new project and you have written material that describes the work. If you're bringing in an existing Primavera P6 or Microsoft Project file instead, see Import your schedule into Owl.

Note: "Runs the schedule" means Owl calculates the start and finish date of every task from its duration, its calendar, and what it depends on — the same critical-path math a professional scheduling tool does. You don't have to place anything on a timeline by hand.

Before you start#

Gather the documents that describe the work. Owl reads a wide range of file types:

• Text and documents — TXT, MD, PDF, DOCX
• Spreadsheets — XLSX
• Existing schedules — XER, XML (Primavera P6 / MS Project)
• Drawings and images — JPG, JPEG, PNG, WEBP (Owl reads drawings visually)

You don't need everything. Even a single scope-of-work PDF is enough to get a first draft. The more context you give Owl — specs, a contract, a milestone list — the closer the first pass will be to your intent.

Step 1 — Start a new build#

Open the project switcher (the project name at the top left) and click New project. The Get Started window opens; choose Build from Documents. The same window appears whenever you open Owl without a project selected.

12341Pick Build from Documents from the Get Started list.2Click Click to upload or drag your documents onto the dropzone. Several at once is fine.3Project Type / Industry (required) — what kind of project this is.4Once a file is uploaded, click Start Building.

Then:

1. Upload your files. Click Click to upload or drag your documents onto the dropzone. You can add several at once.
2. Project Type / Industry (required) — tell Owl what kind of project this is, for example "Facilities / MEP — steam boiler replacement at a maintenance yard." This anchors the vocabulary and the trade sequencing Owl uses.
3. Desired Detail Level (optional) — how granular you want the plan, for example "detailed task breakdown, ~400 activities" or "high-level milestones only."
4. Key Constraints or Deadlines (optional) — hard rules and dates, for example "physical boiler work must happen April–October; keep one boiler running at all times." Owl uses these both to sequence the work and to write guardrails that keep the rule enforced later.
5. Additional Information about your project (optional, scroll down) — anything else, for example "follow the procedures in the PDF, use the WBS in the spreadsheet."

When at least one file is uploaded, Start Building becomes available. Click it.

Tip: Fill in the Constraints field. Anything you write here that reads like a rule ("no work during the winter months," "permits must be approved before construction starts") tends to come back as a guardrail Owl checks on every future change — not just a one-time note.

Step 2 — Steer the build as it runs#

Owl doesn't disappear and hand back a finished file. It breaks the job into planning steps — read the documents, draft the deliverables, build the work breakdown, create calendars, generate the tasks, wire up dependencies — and works through them one at a time in the chat panel on the right. Each step is a small, self-contained brief that Owl hands off to a focused sub-agent, and each one is a checkpoint where you stay in control.

There are two moments to steer every step.

Before a step runs — shape the instruction#

A queued step is a brief waiting for your go-ahead; the card says up next · waiting for approval. You can rewrite that brief in plain language, point it at the right attachment, or change which builder handles it — so the sub-agent does exactly what you intend before it does anything at all.

1231Edit the brief — what this step should produce, in as much detail as you like.2Switch which builder runs it: WBS, schedule, risk register and more.3When it reads right, click Run step.

After a step runs — review the output#

A finished step doesn't silently move on. Click its card to expand it: Open takes you to what the step built (a WBS step opens the WBS), where you can review it, ask for changes, or edit it by hand.

1231Step completed.2Open the result in its own view — here, the WBS.3Not what you wanted? Re-run the step with new instructions.

Because each step builds on the one before it, catching a problem here saves rework later. Fix the work breakdown at the WBS step and every task in the next step is organized correctly from the start — instead of restructuring hundreds of tasks after the fact. By the time Owl reaches the scheduling step, you've already agreed on the deliverables, calendars, guardrails, and WBS it depends on.

Track the whole plan#

You don't have to scroll the chat to follow along. The Planning steps button at the top of the chat panel opens the full plan — every step, in order, with its status.

121Click the Planning steps button at the top of the chat panel…2…to see the whole plan.

Inside, you can see the state of every step at a glance — what's done, what's running, and what's still queued — and jump straight to any one of them without scrolling back through the conversation.

1231Every step and its status: done, running or queued. Click a step to scroll the chat to its card.2A queued step, waiting for you to run it.3Run All works through every remaining step in order.

Step 3 — Review what Owl built#

When the build finishes, you have a complete, calculated schedule. Open the Schedule tab to see the Gantt, with the project tree on the left. Owl's chat stays a click away, in the panel on the right.

1231Calendars in the project tree — here a 5-day and a 6-day construction workweek and a separate design calendar.2Guardrails — the checks on the schedule, including the rules Owl inferred from your documents.3The Gantt — the work breakdown, activities with their dependency links, and milestone diamonds.

From one set of documents, Owl produces:

• A work breakdown — the schedule organized into phases and groups (Project Initiation, Site Access Approvals, Contractor Mobilization, Cost Control, and so on).
• Tasks and milestones — activities with durations and dependency links; milestones show as diamonds (Project Kickoff, Notice to Proceed).
• Calendars — for example a Construction — 5-Day Workweek calendar and a separate Design, Engineering & Administrative calendar, so "10 days of work" respects the right working days.
• Guardrails — the rules Owl inferred from your documents and constraints, such as a window when construction may not run or permits that must come before the work they cover. They sit under Guardrails in the project tree next to the built-in checks every project has; see How guardrails work.

That last point is the reason it's worth being specific up front: the constraints you described don't just shape the first draft, they become checks that keep the schedule honest as it changes.

What to do next#

• Check that the plan is sound — Find issues with your schedule walks through the guardrails Owl set up and how to read what's wrong at a glance.
• Keep shaping it — keep talking to Owl to add scope, re-sequence phases, or adjust durations; every change re-runs the schedule and re-checks your guardrails.

Caution: A first build is a draft, not a final schedule. Treat Step 2 as the real work: the schedule is only as good as the documents you gave Owl and the steering you did along the way.