Your tools.
Your information.
Here is what the site does with information you enter. Updated October 4, 2026.
Connection checker
When you run a check, your submitted website or handle is sent to our server. The server looks up DNS records through Cloudflare’s public DNS service and requests public profile information from the relevant website or Fediverse server. Those services receive the requests needed for the lookup.
The application does not write submitted addresses or diagnostic results to a database. Results remain in the current page until you leave or run another check. You can choose to download or copy a report. Enter public profile addresses only.
Guide progress, launch checklist, and first-post tests
Publication names, domains, profile addresses, guide checkpoints, launch checks, the selected publication, current test details, and saved test snapshots are stored in this browser under highlydistributed.publications.v3. Test details include the handle, receiving account or server, post URL, check time, observations, and notes you enter. They are not sent to an application database or synchronized to an account. Do not enter secrets or private messages.
Existing progress is imported from highlydistributed.journey.v2 or the older launch and guide keys into separate starter publications. Older keys remain untouched. Each publication has its own current test and saved history. Starting another test offers a choice to archive the draft or discard it. Saved snapshots do not change automatically when you edit a current test. Clearing this site’s browser data removes all locally saved progress. Anyone using this browser profile may be able to view it.
Exported JSON backups contain your publication records and test notes in plain text. Store them safely and review them before sharing. Import reads the file in your browser, shows a preview, and adds copies without replacing existing publications; the file is not uploaded. Clearing browser data removes locally stored publications and history, but does not remove exported files.
The Start here flow saves your platform choice in that same local store; your setup-status answer lasts only on the current page. When you continue from a checker result, the entered public address is carried in the destination link’s fragment (after #). It can appear in browser history or a copied link. The test workspace asks before applying it to your saved record and removes the fragment when you accept or dismiss it.
Follow link builder
Your name, handle, and profile URL are used in your browser to produce a snippet. The tool does not submit them to our server or save them in local storage. Clicking the preview opens the profile website. Copying or downloading happens only when you choose the corresponding action.
Guide setup and correction drafts
Hosting selections and correction text stay in the current page and reset when you leave. Verified WordPress and Ghost guide checkpoints use the shared local progress store described above. A correction draft is downloaded to your device only when you choose that action; this form does not send a report.
Troubleshooting support notes
When you choose to troubleshoot a failed test, the site first saves a snapshot in your local publication history and fills the support report from it. Links between troubleshooting, saved tests, and retests carry local record identifiers in the URL fragment; these references only work in a browser containing those records. They do not contain your test notes. Starting a retest preserves the current draft in history, reuses the selected snapshot’s addresses and post link, and clears the check time, notes, and observations. Comparisons read your current draft and a saved snapshot. Symptom selections, reviewed checks, and edits to support-report fields stay in the current page until you leave. The tool does not send a report or save these notes to a database or browser storage. Download a copy if you want to keep them, and review it before sharing with your host.
Hosting and external links
The site’s hosting provider may process ordinary connection information, such as IP addresses and request logs, to serve and protect the website. This site does not add an application analytics tracker. External websites have their own data practices; their policies apply when you visit them.
Browser assistants
Compatible browser assistants can run the public checker or update checklist steps through the same actions available on screen. These actions have the same data behavior described above. Your assistant provider’s own policies also apply.