The person who knows the task does the task. The AI does the writing. A human decides what is true. That division is the whole design, and every step below exists to keep it that way.
What are the steps from recording to approved SOP?
- Record. Open the task in Chrome or Edge, click the SopWow icon, type what you are about to do, and click Start recording. Do the task the way you always do it, then click Stop and generate SOP.
- Answer. SopWow asks about the things a recording cannot show: why you picked an option, what happens on the other branch, and what a wrong choice costs. Your answers are folded into the procedure.
- Review. Edit any step in plain English. Every claim the AI added stays flagged until a person keeps or removes it. Check the draft for client data, then approve it.
- Share. Export the approved SOP as a visual step-by-step guide with screenshots, a Word document, clean Markdown, or a print-ready PDF.
The rest of this page covers each step in detail, including what the recorder can and cannot see.
What do you need before the first recording?
Three things, and one of them you already have.
- Chrome or Edge, on Windows or Mac. Those are the supported browsers.
- The SopWow recorder. It is a browser extension. You install the recorder once per browser profile, sign in, and it sits in your toolbar until you need it. Pinning the icon saves a hunt later.
- A task that happens in the browser. An agency management system, a billing portal, a practice management screen, a CRM, an accounting system. If the work runs in a browser tab, it can be recorded.
You do not need a script, a microphone, a camera, or a quiet room. The recorder does not ask you to narrate.
What happens when you press record?
The recorder rides along while you work. Here is the sequence from the worker's side:
- Open the system where the task happens.
- Click the SopWow icon and type a short description of the task, for example "Issue a certificate of insurance with an additional insured" or "Apply a client payment to an open invoice."
- Click Start recording. A visible REC indicator marks the tab being captured.
- Do the task normally, at normal speed, with the real screens you use every day.
- Click Stop and generate SOP.
The REC indicator is per tab. Only the tab showing it is recorded. If you switch to another tab to check an email or look something up in a carrier portal, that other tab is not captured. If part of the task genuinely lives in another tab, add those steps by hand in review.
Record the task the way it is actually done, not the way the old binder says it is done. The point is to capture current practice, including the checks experienced people do without thinking about them.
What does the recorder see, and what does it not see?
The recorder captures element descriptors: which button you clicked, which field you used, which page you were on. It also takes screenshots to build the visual guide. It does not capture the values you type into fields.
| The recorder captures | The recorder does not capture |
|---|---|
| Which page you were on | What you typed into a field |
| Which field you used | Other browser tabs |
| Which button, link, or menu you clicked | Desktop applications |
| Screenshots of the recorded tab, for the visual guide | Remote desktop or Citrix sessions |
| The task description you typed at the start | Paper steps, phone calls, or anything off screen |
- Which page you were on
- The recorder does not capture
- What you typed into a field
- Which field you used
- The recorder does not capture
- Other browser tabs
- Which button, link, or menu you clicked
- The recorder does not capture
- Desktop applications
- Screenshots of the recorded tab, for the visual guide
- The recorder does not capture
- Remote desktop or Citrix sessions
- The task description you typed at the start
- The recorder does not capture
- Paper steps, phone calls, or anything off screen
Before any text leaves your browser for an AI model, an export, or the portal sync, identifying data with a recognizable shape is redacted. That covers things like Social Security numbers, card numbers, policy numbers, emails, phone numbers, and street addresses.
Screenshots are never sent to any AI model. They are used to build the visual guide and stay in your workspace.
Redaction is pattern based, so it can miss data without a recognizable shape: a client name in a page heading, an unusual account number format, anything inside a screenshot. That is why review includes a redaction check. The full detail is on how SopWow handles client data during a recording.
What kinds of questions does the AI ask?
A recording is one path through a branching workflow. It shows what you picked, never why. The Answer step closes that gap. SopWow looks for the moments where a decision was made and asks about them in plain back-office language.
Questions look like these (written as examples for this page):
- Insurance agency, certificate of insurance: "You checked the additional insured box for this certificate holder. What should the CSR do if the policy does not carry an additional insured endorsement?"
- Medical office front desk, eligibility check: "You chose to proceed with the visit after the eligibility response came back inactive. When does the front desk reschedule instead, and who tells the patient?"
- Bookkeeping firm, bank reconciliation: "You marked a deposit as cleared even though it differed from the ledger amount by a bank fee. What size of difference is acceptable before it goes to the reviewer?"
Answer in a sentence or two, the way you would explain it to a new hire. SopWow folds your answers into the procedure as decision points: when each option is right, what goes wrong with the wrong one, and which option you took in the recording as the worked example.
Text you type into SopWow yourself, including these answers, becomes part of the SOP. Describe the rule, not the client. "If the endorsement is missing" is better than naming the account.
How does review work?
Review is where a person takes responsibility for the procedure. Nothing is saved, shared, or billed as finished until someone approves it.
Flagged claims. SopWow separates what it observed from what it added. Anything not directly observed in the recording, such as an inferred reason or a general caution, is flagged. It stays flagged until a person keeps it or removes it, so a guess never passes quietly for an observation.
Plain-English edits. Change any step in plain English. Tighten a wordy instruction, rename a phase, correct a decision rule, or add a step that happened outside the browser (a phone call to the carrier, a signature on paper, a check in a desktop program).
Redaction check. Before approving, the reviewer reads the draft and looks at the screenshots for client data that redaction could have missed. Names in free text and unusual ID formats are the usual suspects.
Approval. Approval is the moment a draft becomes a finished SOP. It is also the only billable event. Drafts, rejected drafts, re-recordings, and edits are free. The plans and the counting rule are on SopWow pricing, billed per approved SOP.
A good habit: have the person who does the task daily record it, and the person who owns the process review it. Two sets of eyes catch different things.
What do you get when you approve?
Every approved SOP exports in four formats, on every plan:
- A visual step-by-step guide grouped into phases, with screenshots, for training and desk reference.
- A Word document, for the procedures binder and anyone who wants to edit by hand.
- Clean Markdown, structured and redacted, built for knowledge bases and AI copilots.
- A print-ready PDF, for the desk, the binder, or the audit folder.
On Team and Business plans, the Refine pass turns a good procedure into a training-grade one. It adds per-step reasoning, a glossary for new hires, decision tables, common problems, a completion checklist, and notes on where automation could take over.
If you want to see the sections a solid procedure needs before you record anything, the free SOP template with decision points lays them out in a form you can copy.
What are the limits?
SopWow is browser only. Desktop applications, remote desktop and Citrix sessions, and paper steps are not captured. Add them by hand in review.
It is not a compliance tool. It writes down how your office does a task. It does not certify that the procedure satisfies any law, regulation, carrier rule, or accreditation standard. Whoever approves the SOP owns that judgment.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to talk or narrate while recording?
No. Do the task normally. The recorder captures the page, field, and button for each step, and the AI asks its questions after you stop. You answer in writing, in a sentence or two.
Does the recorder see my other tabs?
No. Only the tab with the REC indicator is recorded. Other tabs, other windows, and desktop programs are not captured.
Which browsers does SopWow support?
Chrome and Edge, on Windows and Mac. The recorder is a browser extension you install once.
What if the recording includes a mistake?
Fix the step in review, or record the task again. Re-recordings and drafts are free. Only an approved SOP counts toward your plan.
Can I add steps that happened outside the browser?
Yes. In review, add a step in plain English for anything the recorder could not see, such as a phone call to a carrier, a wet signature, or a step in a desktop program. Say in the step that it happens outside the browser, so the next reader is not hunting for it on screen.
Ready to record your first task?
Pick a task you did this week and record it once. Your first 3 SOPs are free, with no card required.