WriteCheck — Writing Insights for Google Docs

WriteCheck reads a Google Doc's own revision history — the same edit log Google already stores — and turns it into a clear picture of how the document was actually written. Works immediately on any doc you can edit. No sign-up, no Google Cloud project, no API key, and nothing leaves your browser unless you choose to save a report or run an AI check. WHAT IT SHOWS A bar appears above every Google Doc you can edit, filling in as it reads: • Word count, time on the document, active typing time, session count, paste count, and words-per-minute (toggle between overall pace and hands-on typing speed) • A signal score and composition-pattern summary once the full history has loaded • Flags for large pastes, paste-heavy writing, robotic typing cadence, append-only writing, near-zero revision, burst creation, multiple authors, overnight bulk writing, and missing history — each with plain-language "what does this mean?" text you can share with a student or parent • A keystroke-level replay at up to 32x speed, with a scrubber and colored markers for pastes, large deletes, and session starts • A ledger of every large paste with its timestamp and the actual pasted text • A per-session breakdown: start time, length, words added and deleted Everything above works the moment you install it — no OAuth consent screen, no Cloud project, no API key of any kind. OPTIONAL: AI TEXT DETECTION Off by default. Turn it on in Options and WriteCheck can run the final text through GPTZero and/or Winston AI — using your own account with either provider (a "get a key" link takes you straight to their signup; WriteCheck never sees or bills for it), or your school's WriteCheck-assigned credential if you connect an account. Nothing is sent until you explicitly click "AI check." OPTIONAL: CONNECT A WRITECHECK ACCOUNT Everything above works with zero account. Connecting a free WriteCheck (writecheck.org) teacher account turns the extension into part of a larger academic-integrity workflow built around a student's real history, not just one document in isolation: • Save a report and link it to a student and assignment — pick from your roster, or let WriteCheck suggest the match from the document title. An unambiguous full-name match saves itself with no click at all. • Compare this document against that student's other verified writing, labeled by how it was actually produced — a proctored TrueWrite session, scanned handwriting, a process-verified prior Google Doc, or plain submitted text — so a comparison is never presented as stronger evidence than it is. • See anonymous class-wide percentiles for pace, revision depth, and session count. • Find exact or lightly-edited passage matches against a student's own authorized submissions, with ready-made conference questions. • When a document looks typed up from an already-prepared source, WriteCheck automatically checks whether that source is the student's own scanned handwriting or an in-class draft it observed directly — resolving a red flag automatically when the evidence supports it. • Save a private review disposition per report — no concern, explained/allowed, or follow up with student — plus notes. • Your connected account can also import class rosters directly from Google Classroom on writecheck.org. (That happens on the website — the extension itself never requests Google Classroom access.) No LLM is used anywhere in this analysis or comparison pipeline — every number is a deterministic measurement of the document's own edit history. PRIVACY Nothing about a document you open is sent anywhere unless you take an explicit action. AI detection is opt-in and off on every install. See the dedicated extension privacy policy for exactly what is and isn't collected, permission by permission. HONEST LIMITATIONS This is a screening and conversation aid, not proof of anything on its own — every flag has an innocent explanation. Google's revision-history endpoints are undocumented internals; they've been stable for years, but Google could change them. You need edit access to a document to read its history. WHO IT'S FOR Teachers who want to understand how a piece of writing actually came together. The core forensics require no account and are free. The optional WriteCheck.org connection is free as well during this early-access period.