How it works, in four moves¶

In short. Everything Habitat does, from a quick check of an agent's session to a published receipt, makes the same four moves. They are why anyone can check the result without us. Habitat says what the system is.

The same four moves, everywhere¶

The four moves:

It starts from a record. A session log, a dataset, a draft, a filing. The record is the subject: not the model, not the person, and not what anyone meant.
It applies a rule written down beforehand. For example: "an action the person refused, issued again, word for word". The rule is published, and so is anything it depends on.
It shows the result next to its limit. A rule's result says what the rule cannot see. A result without its limit isn't published.
It lets anyone check it again. The same file always gives the same answer. Where a result can be recomputed on your own machine, there is a kit and one command to do it.

Whether you work with agents, numbers, texts or students, you will meet these four moves. The views show what they look like from where you stand.

What it does not do¶

It doesn't generate language. No model writes, summarises or rephrases anything you see on Desk. What sits beside your words is the text's own words.
It doesn't judge. It won't say whether an agent was right, whether a student cheated, or whether a revision was justified. It shows what a rule can decide, and leaves the rest to a person.
It isn't a detector of AI-written text. That question has no reliable answer, and Habitat doesn't try. It keeps a record that a person chooses to show.
It keeps very little of your work. Your drafts and files stay in your browser and on your computer. What reaches our server is listed, item by item, in What is kept, and where.

Why it is built this way¶

A count is a claim, and a claim should be checkable by someone who doesn't trust you. So every result carries what it was measured against and what it cannot see. Every published receipt can be recomputed without us; where a number still needs our code, its page says so. Every receipt, save and gem you make on Desk is signed with a key your browser makes the first time you open Desk, and never lets out.

When we get something wrong, the claim stays on the page, with the date and the reason it was withdrawn. See the correction record.