> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gradingpal.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Instant or Guided: which to use > Pick a setup route with confidence. Instant sets up and grades in one pass; Guided lets you approve each part first. export const updated_0 = "19 September 2026" export const page_0 = "/teachers/create/instant-or-guided" When you start a new assignment, GradingPal asks **How would you like to set up this assignment?** and shows two cards, sometimes three. Whichever you pick, you check everything before students see anything. ## Instant You upload the assignment, plus student work if it's ready, and the AI sets up and grades everything in one go. You review the grades at the end. The card says **\~4 min**, and that's about right for your part. Grading itself runs in the background. Pick Instant when your rubric or answer key is already written, or when you're happy for the AI to draft one from the assignment and fix it afterwards. ## Guided The AI drafts the assignment one step at a time, and you approve each part before anything is graded: the questions, the answer keys, the rubric. Grading happens later, once work arrives. The card says **\~12 min**. Pick Guided when the AI is writing your rubric or pulling questions out of a handout and you want to check its work first. ## Import A third card, **Import**, appears only for classes linked to Google Classroom. It brings an assignment and its turned-in work across from Classroom. Its badge shows how many Classroom assignments are ready to import, and the card is greyed out when there are none. ## The deciding difference: drafts **Instant keeps no draft.** Leaving the page discards the text, the files and the rubric. If you have to stop, create the assignment first. Everything is kept once it exists. **Guided saves as you go.** Close the tab halfway through and the assignment waits under **Continue working** on your dashboard with a **Finish setup** button, and in the class list with a **Draft** pill. ## Side by side | | Instant | Guided | | ----------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | | Your time | About 4 minutes | About 12 minutes | | Who sets it up | The AI, in one pass | The AI drafts, you approve each step | | When grading runs | Right away, if you uploaded work | Later, as work arrives | | Keeps a draft | No | Yes | | Best when | The rubric or answer key is ready and the work is in hand | The AI is writing the rubric or reading a handout | Not sure? The chooser has a **What's the difference?** link that walks through the same comparison in five short screens. ## What this does not mean * Instant does not mean the AI shares anything. Grades land in **Needs review**, and nothing reaches students until you share. * Instant is not free or unmetered. Every submission you upload counts toward your monthly limit, however it arrives. * Choosing a route does not lock the assignment type. The type locks once submissions exist. ## What to read next The one form, section by section. The steps, what each asks for, and what blocks Continue.

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