What Smart Tags does
Smart Tags lets you build a taxonomy — custom fields and keyword categories — for how your firm actually talks about its work: sectors, project types, services, whatever vocabulary you've already established.
Once your taxonomy is set, AI tags every proposal and pursuit against it, including your entire existing library, not just what you upload going forward. Every tag shows whether it was applied by AI or by a person, so you always know the source.
If you use OpenAsset DAM, your taxonomy syncs automatically in both directions between Shred and OpenAsset.
Before you start
Who can do this: Managing the taxonomy (adding, editing, deactivating fields and categories) requires system admin permission. Any user can view metadata; applying metadata to individual proposals or pursuits requires marketer-level permission.
Time: Most admins finish reviewing their taxonomy in about 15 minutes, starting from the defaults.
Order matters: Finish setting up your taxonomy before turning on AI tagging. If you turn AI tagging on first and keep editing your taxonomy afterward, you risk AI tagging against an incomplete taxonomy.
Video walkthrough - setting up your Smart Tags
Quick setup checklist
Open System Settings > Metadata Manager
Review the default fields and keyword categories already loaded
Turn off anything that doesn't apply to your firm; add what's missing
Add descriptions to custom fields so AI tagging is more accurate (optional but recommended)
If you use OpenAsset DAM, confirm your synced fields look right
Finish your taxonomy before turning on AI tagging
Turn on AI tagging in AI Settings
Click Run AI tagging to tag your entire existing library, not just new uploads
Detailed Instructions
Step 1: Review your default taxonomy
Go to System Settings > Metadata Manager. Every account starts with a default taxonomy already loaded — these are the fields and keyword categories AI tags most reliably. Start here rather than building from scratch:
Turn off any default field or category that doesn't apply to your firm
Add any fields or keywords your firm uses that aren't already covered
If you also use OpenAsset DAM, remove any OA-native fields that don't make sense in Shred (for example, completion date, project code, project name) and watch for fields that overlap with a Shred default
Step 2: Customize fields and keyword categories
You can create fields of these types: string, date, numeric, currency, measurement, dropdown (single-select), and keyword category (multi-select). A few things to know before you build:
Field type is permanent. Once you create a field, you can't change its type later.
You can't hard-delete a field or category — only make it inactive, which hides it and its values everywhere it's applied. You can reactivate it later.
You can hard-delete individual keywords and dropdown options. Doing this removes that value from every proposal and pursuit it's currently applied to, so you'll see a confirmation showing how many entities are affected.
Descriptions are optional but worth adding. A short description on a custom field helps AI understand what it's tagging for — especially useful for anything specific to your firm's vocabulary.
Mark AI-sensitive fields as "don't tag." Some fields — like a ranking or confidentiality field — call for human judgment AI can't infer from a document. Flag these so AI skips them. (The default "Ranking" field ships this way already.)
Every field and category applies to both proposals and pursuits.
Step 3: Sync with OpenAsset DAM (if applicable)
If your firm uses OpenAsset DAM, your Shred taxonomy syncs automatically with your OA project taxonomy — in both directions. Change a field in either system and it stays consistent everywhere.
A couple of things to expect:
OA-synced fields update on a short delay, not instantly — give it a moment before assuming a change didn't go through
If you don't use OpenAsset DAM, you'll get the full default taxonomy and AI tagging on their own — no OA DAM connection required
Step 4: Turn on AI tagging
Once your taxonomy is finalized, head to AI Settings and turn on AI tagging.
AI only tags against fields and keywords that already exist in your taxonomy — it won't invent new categories
There's a short delay (around 10 minutes) after you turn it on before tagging actually starts. This is intentional — it keeps rapid taxonomy edits from repeatedly restarting the tagging job
This tags every proposal and pursuit already in Shred against your taxonomy, not just new uploads
Tagging takes roughly 15 seconds per document — for a large library (thousands of proposals), a full backfill can take a while. Consider kicking it off at the end of the day or over a weekend rather than expecting it instantly
You can also re-run this any time you update your taxonomy, to apply the changes across your library
Checking your work: AI tags vs. human tags
Every tag on a proposal or pursuit shows whether it was applied by AI or by a person, so nothing is a black box. Spot-check a few recently-tagged items after your first run to confirm accuracy before relying on faceted search or filtering.
FAQ
Do I need OpenAsset DAM to use this?
No. Every account gets the default taxonomy and AI tagging. OA customers additionally get two-way sync with their OA project taxonomy.
Will AI tag things outside our taxonomy?
No — AI only applies fields and keywords you've already defined.
Does this tag our existing library, or just new uploads?
Both.
How long does tagging take?
About 15 seconds per document. Large libraries can take a while to fully complete — it runs in the background.
What if we already have a taxonomy in OpenAsset?
It syncs automatically, in both directions.