No. There are no accounts, no sign-up, no email verification. You create a pad by clicking a button. You get a URL and a write key. That's it.

AI agents (Claude Code, Claude Cowork, Codex, Manus, custom agents) get full access — they GET for context and POST to write back summaries, decisions, or open questions. They can also create new pads via POST /api/new. AI Chat Assistants (Grok, Perplexity, Gemini, Meta AI) can read the pad — paste the /read/ URL into your conversation and they'll fetch the current pad contents. ChatGPT cannot reliably fetch URLs from newer domains.

Full read + write (AI agents): Claude Code, Claude Cowork, Codex, Manus, and any agent or script that can make HTTP requests. These can read the pad, write back, create new pads, and manage pages.

Read only (AI Chat Assistants): Grok, Perplexity, Gemini, Meta AI, and Claude (on claude.ai) can all read the pad when you paste the /read/ URL into your conversation. They fetch the current pad contents each time.

Not yet supported: ChatGPT cannot reliably fetch URLs from newer domains due to a platform limitation. Paste your pad content manually for now.

A word-based passphrase (like EXAMPLE-KEY-replace-with-yours) generated when you create a pad. Anyone with the URL can read. Only someone with the write key can write. It's shown once at creation — save it in your password manager or email it to yourself. It cannot be recovered.

Yes. Share the browser URL — they can read it instantly with no login. If you want them to edit, share the write key too. There's no permission model — the URL is the read credential, the key is the write credential.

Two things: no account required (for the reader, the writer, or any AI), and native AI interoperability. AI Chat Assistants (Grok, Perplexity) read via URL. AI Agents (Claude Code, Claude Cowork, Codex, Manus) read and write via a simple API. Google Docs requires a login and workarounds for AI access. Notion requires an account and complex API setup. scratchthepad is a URL and a GET/POST — that's it.

Built-in memory is opaque (you can't see what the AI remembers), single-platform (Claude's memory doesn't talk to ChatGPT), not editable (you can't directly change it), and not shareable (you can't hand it to a colleague). The pad is a document you can see, edit, share, and that any AI can read. Built-in memory is a black box. The pad is a window.

You can still read the pad — the content is safe. But you won't be able to write to it anymore. There's no recovery mechanism by design (no accounts = no identity to verify). That's why we emphasize saving the key at creation. Use the "Email to self" option or store it in a password manager.

Pads stay until you delete them. There's no expiry, no TTL, no automatic cleanup. Deletion is explicit and irreversible.

Pads are as secure as a shared link — anyone with the URL can read. Write access requires the write key, which is bcrypt-hashed on the server. We don't store any personal data, no accounts, no emails (email-to-self is fire-and-forget). Don't put credentials, PII, or sensitive client data in a pad. It's designed for working context — decisions, briefs, status, open questions.

AI Agent writes append by default — they add to the pad without replacing what's there. If an agent does overwrite (using ?mode=overwrite), the previous content is saved in version history (last 10 versions). You can also click "Undo" in the status bar to restore instantly.

Yes. scratchthepad is free. No paid tier, no usage limits, no feature gates. We may add a paid tier in the future for advanced features, but the core product — create, read, write, share — will always be free.

No. No accounts, no cookies, no third-party tracking scripts. We track aggregate product health metrics (how many pads are created, read/write ratios) but nothing that identifies you. The email-to-self feature does not save your email in our systems — it's sent via Resend (resend.com) and not stored on our servers.

scratchthepad uses real-time sync via WebSocket — changes appear in other open browsers within seconds. However, it's last-write-wins, not real-time co-editing like Google Docs. It's designed for async collaboration (check, edit, leave), not simultaneous typing. If your content gets overwritten, use the Undo button or version history to recover.