Quick Start Guide: Questionnaire Autofill

The Questionnaire Autofill feature helps you respond to questionnaires, RFPs and RFQs faster and more accurately with AI-generated, contextual responses. Here’s the recommended workflow to get the most out of this feature:

• Step #1: Set up your autofill sources. Navigate to Trust → Questionnaire → Autofill Sources and configure which sources feed into autofill.

• Step #2: Build your answer library selectively. Import answers from past questionnaires or add a small set of exact Q&A pairs for boilerplate content.

• Step #3: Add a questionnaire. Upload a spreadsheet (or document), use the Chrome Extension for portal-based questionnaires, or capture questions directly from a vendor portal.

• Step #4: Run autofill. Click Autofill with Scrut AI and let Teammates generate responses in batches. You can start reviewing early answers while it works through the rest.

• Step #5: Review and approve. Accept, edit, or assign responses to SMEs for review.

• Step #6: Complete and Export. Download the completed questionnaire in your preferred format and send it to the recipient.

Configure Your Autofill Sources

Heads Up!

Scrut Teammates always checks the Answer Library first, before referencing other autofill sources. If a matching question is found there, it uses the stored answer exactly as written. Other sources are used only when no match is found.

What are autofill sources?

Autofill Sources is where you configure and manage the sources Scrut Teammates draws on when generating questionnaire responses. In addition to your Answer Library, Scrut Teammates can draw from three categories of autofill sources.

The Autofill Sources section lets you control which of these Teammates should refer to.

Pro Tip!

Before running autofill on a questionnaire, confirm that Teammates has access to the right sources.

Configuring Your Autofill Sources

1. Navigate to Trust → Questionnaire.

2. Click the Autofill Sources button.

   

3. Review the list of available sources: Policies, Trust Vault, and Vault.

   

4. Click Change Permission to turn on or configure each source you want Scrut Teammates to use.

5. For Policies: Turn the AI Readability toggle on or off on the All Policies page.

   Heads up! Scrut Teammates only reads published policies.

   

6. For Trust Vault: Turn on/off the AI-Readability toggle for sections that you want Teammates to refer to. If turned on for a section, Teammates will read documents stored in it.

   

7. For Vault: Upload any additional security documentation to Vault and enable AI readability for each document. Scrut Teammates will then access those files.

   

Note:

Currently, Teammates can read files in .pdf, .docx, and .xlsx formats only. Documents in other formats will not be read, even if AI readability is turned on.

Best Practices

The more relevant, current, and specific your sources are, the more accurate Teammates' responses will be. A few things that help:

• Policy documents should be published and up to date. Policies in other statuses will not be read.

• Vault documents should be specific to your security posture, such as penetration test reports, SOC 2 attestations, and ISMS documentation.

• Past questionnaires in the Questionnaire module also serve as a source. Scrut Teammates can use previously approved responses to inform new ones. You can also upload previously answered security questionnaires to the Vault and enable AI readability for Teammates to refer to them.

Pro Tip!

After configuring your sources, run autofill on a test questionnaire to confirm that the responses are contextual and drawing from the relevant content.

Adding Answers to the Answer Library

The Answer Library is a curated set of exact, verbatim Q&A pairs that Scrut Teammates checks first when generating questionnaire responses. Use it for a small number of high-frequency answers where you need the wording to be consistent every time: company name and address boilerplate, standard certification statements, and similar content.

When to Use the Answer Library (and When Not To)

The Answer Library returns exact matches. It does not rephrase or adapt answers to the phrasing of a new question. This makes it reliable for boilerplate content, but the wrong tool for most security questions, which vary too much in phrasing to benefit from verbatim matching.

For the majority of your questionnaire content, autofill sources are more effective. Scrut Teammates reads those sources to match each question's context, producing more accurate and natural responses.

Heads Up!

If your Answer Library contains more than 15 entries, you will see a persistent prompt in the module. This is a signal to shift new content to Vault or other autofill sources instead of adding more manual entries. The Answer Library works best when it stays small and focused.

Import Answers from a Past Questionnaire

The fastest way to build your Answer Library is to import a questionnaire you have already completed and sent to a prospect or customer.

1. Navigate to Trust → Questionnaire → Answer Library.

   

2. Click Import Answers.

3. Click the download link to get the answer import template.

   

4. Add your questions and answers to the template.

   • Do not remove the first row. It contains the column headers.

   • You can delete the sample row and add your own content.

   • Every question must have a corresponding answer. Blank answer cells will cause the import to fail.

   

5. Drag and drop the completed file into the File field, or click to upload it manually.

6. Click Upload.

   

7. Review each Q&A pair in the preview. For each entry, click Add to accept it, Edit to modify it, or Discard to remove it.

8. Click Import Answers to add the accepted pairs to your library.

   

Scrut adds the imported Q&A pairs to your Answer Library.

Add a Single Q&A Pair Manually

1. Navigate to Trust → Questionnaire → Answer Library.

2. Click Add Answer.

   

3. Enter the question in the Question field.

4. To generate an AI-drafted answer, click Autofill with Scrut AI. Scrut Teammates will generate a response based on your Vault sources and policy documents and display the sources it used.

5. Review the generated answer. Edit it if needed, or click the Retry icon to generate a new version.

6. Click Save.

   

The question-answer pair is now visible in your Answer Library. To edit or delete a Q&A pair, click the Edit icon or the Delete icon next to the relevant row.

Note: If you add a question that already exists in your library, Scrut Teammates will flag it as a potential duplicate. You can mark it as Not a Duplicate if it contains unique information, or delete it if it's redundant.

Import Q&A Pairs Using the Chrome Extension

If you have answered questionnaires on vendor portals in the past, the Scrut Chrome Extension lets you bulk-import those Q&A pairs directly into your Answer Library, without downloading, formatting, or re-uploading a spreadsheet.

Go to the Chrome Web Store, install the extension, and follow the steps in Autofilling a Website or Portal Questionnaire.

Pro Tip!

If you receive questionnaires through vendor portals regularly, setting up the Chrome Extension once unlocks bulk import for all future portal questionnaires.

Adding a Spreadsheet (or Document) Questionnaire

Organizations often receive security questionnaires as Excel, CSV, DOC, DOCX, or other document files. Upload these directly to Scrut so Scrut Teammates can extract the questions and generate responses.

Before You Start

Questionnaires must be in XLSX format before uploading. If you have received the questionnaire in a different format (such as CSV, DOCX, PDF, scanned images, or handwritten notes), first convert it to XLSX.

Heads Up!

The XLSX file can follow any layout or structure. Scrut Teammates will parse the file, extract the questions, and let you choose which ones to import.

How to Add a Spreadsheet Questionnaire

1. Click Trust → Questionnaire on the left navigation panel.

2. Go to the Questionnaire tab and click Add Questionnaire → Create in Scrut to upload a document or spreadsheet.

   Pro Tip!

   If your questionnaire is on a vendor portal or website, use the Chrome Extension instead. See Autofilling a Website or Portal Questionnaire.

   

3. Enter the questionnaire details:

   • Questionnaire Name: a name that helps you identify this questionnaire later.

   • Customer: the organization that sent the questionnaire.

   • Reviewer: the team member responsible for reviewing responses.

   • Due Date: the deadline for completing the questionnaire.

   • Additional Note (optional): any context for the reviewer.

4. Drag and drop the XLSX file into the upload area, or click to select it.

   Pro Tip!

   If your file is not yet formatted as an XLSX, you can download the sample template, paste your questions into it, and upload that.

5. Click Save.

   

6. Complete field mapping to match the fields in the security questionnaire to Scrut’s format.

   

7. Scrut parses the file and extracts the questions. Select the questions you want to include in this questionnaire.

8. Click Add Questionnaire.

   

Watch for the "Security Questionnaire Created" confirmation. Your questionnaire is now in the Questionnaire module, ready for autofill.

Autofilling a Website or Portal Questionnaire

Vendor portals and online forms are some of the most time-consuming formats for security questionnaires. The Scrut Chrome Extension lets Scrut Teammates read questions directly from a webpage and generate responses in your browser, without downloading, formatting, or uploading anything.

Step 1: Install the Scrut Automation Chrome Extension

1. Navigate to the Chrome Web Store.

2. Search for Scrut Automation and click Add to Chrome.

   

3. Click Add extension to confirm.

4. After installation, click the Extensions icon in your Chrome toolbar and click the Pin icon next to Scrut Automation to keep it visible.

   

5. Close the Chrome Web Store tab and log in to your Scrut account.

Step 2: Extract Questions from the Portal

1. Open the security questionnaire in your browser.

2. Click the Scrut Automation extension icon in your Chrome toolbar.

   

3. Click Scan Page for Questions. Scrut Teammates will scan the page and automatically extract all questions.

4. To add a specific question manually instead, highlight the question text on the page, right-click, and select Add to Scrut Automation from the context menu.

   

The extracted questions appear in the Scrut Automation extension panel.

Step 3: Generate Answers

1. Click Autofill with Scrut AI in the extension panel.

   

2. Select whether to generate responses for All Questions or only Unanswered ones.

3. Scrut Teammates generates responses. Questions with answers will show an Answered label. Click See Answer to view each response.

4. Click View Sources to see which documents or Answer Library entries Scrut Teammates used.

5. Use the Reviewer dropdown to assign a reviewer to any answer.

6. To copy an answer directly into the questionnaire field, click Copy to Clipboard.

7. To fill all answers into the portal at once, click Export. This pushes Scrut Teammates' responses directly into the active webpage, removing the need to copy and paste each one.

   

Pro Tip!

Use the thumbs-up and thumbs-down icons to rate each response. This feedback helps Scrut Teammates improve over time.

Step 4: Save the Questionnaire to Scrut (Optional)

If you want to track this questionnaire in Scrut alongside your other questionnaires:

1. Click Questionnaire Details in the extension panel to rename the questionnaire before saving. If you skip this, it will be saved as Untitled.

2. Click Go to Scrut Platform.

Scrut saves the questionnaire with Chrome Extension listed as the source in Trust → Questionnaire. You can then run autofill and manage the review process from the platform.

Autofilling a Security Questionnaire

After a questionnaire has been added to Scrut, use the Autofill with Scrut AI feature to generate first-draft responses. Scrut Teammates draws from your Answer Library and autofill sources to produce answers that reflect your organization's security posture.

Before You Start

Autofill works best when your knowledge sources are in good shape. If you are running autofill for the first time or getting a high number of unanswered questions, review Configuring Your Autofill Sources before proceeding.

How to Autofill a Questionnaire

1. Navigate to Trust → Questionnaire.

2. Click the questionnaire you want to autofill.

   

3. Click Autofill with Scrut AI and select whether to generate responses for All Questions or just the Unanswered ones.

   

Heads Up!

You can run Autofill with Scrut AI up to three times per questionnaire. Use reruns selectively, for example after adding new sources or uploading additional Vault documents.

5. Scrut Teammates begins generating responses in batches. You do not need to wait for all responses before starting your review.

6. For each generated answer, you can:

   • Click Accept to approve the response.

   • Click Edit to modify it, then save your changes.

   • Click Add Attachment to attach a supporting document to the response.

   • Click View Autofill Sources to see which documents or Answer Library entries informed the answer.

7. To accept all responses in one action, click Accept All at the top of the page.

   

   Heads Up!

   For questions where Scrut Teammates includes a document attachment automatically (for example, "Share your privacy policy"), the system will identify and attach the relevant file without additional input from you.

   

8. Click the three-dot icon on any question for additional options:

   • Add to Answer Library: Saves this Q&A pair for use in future questionnaires.

   • Add to Trust Vault FAQ: Adds the pair to your Trust Vault FAQ section.

   • Regenerate Answer: Generates a new response. You can regenerate up to three times per question.

   • Delete Question: Removes the question from the questionnaire. This action cannot be undone.

     

9. Use the Select Reviewer dropdown to assign a reviewer to individual questions.

10. Use the thumbs-up or thumbs-down icon to submit feedback on response quality.

What to Do with Unanswered Questions

If Scrut Teammates cannot generate a response, the question is tagged as Unanswered. This usually means the relevant information is not yet in your knowledge sources. To resolve this:

• Upload relevant documents to the Vault, turn on AI readability, and regenerate the answer.

• Publish related policy documents in the Policies module and regenerate the answer.

• Click Add Answer to enter a response manually.

Once you have finished reviewing and accepting responses, assign reviewers for any questions that need a second look.

Reviewing and Exporting a Security Questionnaire

Before sending a completed questionnaire to a stakeholder, review the AI-generated responses to confirm they are accurate and aligned with your organization's current policies. Once reviewed, export the questionnaire in your preferred format.

[For Reviewers] How to Review a Questionnaire

1. Navigate to Trust → Questionnaire.

2. Click the questionnaire you want to review.

   

3. For each response, you can accept, edit, or add an attachment.

   

4. Click Edit to make changes, then click Save.

5. To attach the source document that informed an answer, click Add Attachment. Scrut Teammates displays the relevant sources it used, so you can attach them directly.

   

6. After reviewing an answer, click Accept to confirm it.

7. To accept all responses at once, click Accept All at the top of the page.

8. For unanswered questions, you can:

   • Click Add Answer to enter a response manually.

   • Upload relevant documents to the Vault, turn on AI readability, and regenerate the answer.

   • Add related policy documents to the Policies module and regenerate the answer.

How to Complete and Export a Questionnaire

Important:

Once you click Complete Questionnaire, you cannot edit any answers. Review all responses carefully before proceeding.

1. After accepting all answers, click Complete Questionnaire.

   

2. Click Proceed to confirm.

3. Click Export to download the responses.

   

4. Select a format:

   • Scrut Format: exports questions, answers, and source citations in Scrut's native format.

   • Original Format: exports in the same format as the original questionnaire.

   • Package Format: exports the questionnaire along with the source files as a Zip file.

5. Scrut sends the export to your email.

Heads Up! It may take a few moments for the export to arrive in your inbox.

Final Step:

Share the completed questionnaire with the recipient via email.