Assay help

How do I see what a site is built with?

Open the site and click the Assay icon in the toolbar (or use its keyboard shortcut, Alt+Shift+Y unless you changed it or another extension already uses it; pin Assay first from the puzzle-piece menu). The side panel opens and scans the page in about a second: the headline stack (platform, framework, UI kit, analytics, payments, hosting) comes first, then every technology Assay recognized, grouped by category, with versions when the page shows them. To change the shortcut, go to chrome://extensions/shortcuts.

What do the numbers in the stamps mean?

Each technology carries a hallmark with a confidence score out of 100. Confirmed (solid stamp, 90 and up): at least one strong, direct signal such as the script the tool loads. Likely (outlined stamp, 60–89): good signals, or page variables only — a page can set any variable itself, so variables alone never make an answer Confirmed. Possible (dashed stamp, 35–59): weak or indirect signals; hidden unless you turn on Show possible detections (in the panel or in Settings).

How do I check an answer?

Click Why? next to a technology. The drawer lists the exact signals Assay found ("Script loaded from…", "Meta tag generator…", "Page variable…"), how strong each one is, and, for a technology implied by another one (Shop Pay by Shopify, for example), which one implied it. Press Escape to close it.

The panel says "This tab hasn't been scanned".

Chrome lets an extension read a tab only after you click its icon in that tab. The panel keeps the last result (labelled with its site) while you look at other tabs; click the Assay icon in the new tab to scan it. A click inside the panel can't give Assay access to a tab, so the panel shows Scan this tab only when Assay can already read that tab (for example a site you allowed for Assay in Chrome's settings).

The panel says "Click the Assay icon to scan this tab".

Assay has no access to that tab yet: you opened the panel from Chrome's menu, or the tab moved to another site since your click. Click the Assay icon (or use its keyboard shortcut) in that tab. Each tab keeps its own result or message: switching back to a tab you scanned shows its result again.

"Chrome doesn't let extensions read this page."

Chrome blocks every extension on chrome:// pages, the Chrome Web Store and some built-in viewers (like the PDF viewer). Try a regular website.

How can I scan a local HTML file?

Go to chrome://extensions, open Assay's details, turn on "Allow access to file URLs", then click the Assay icon on the file.

A tool I know is on the site is missing.

Some tools load only after you accept cookies, after a delay, or on other pages. Accept or dismiss the cookie banner, then use More actions → Wait 5 s and rescan. Tools blocked by your ad blocker cannot be seen. Custom-built tools, and tools that leave no trace in the page, cannot be recognized.

Why is hosting "Not determinable from this page"?

Hosting, CDN and web server usually appear only in the server's response headers, which Assay does not request. Assay names them only when the page itself shows them: a store served by its platform, a site on a platform address (such as *.vercel.app), or a CDN's own files on the site's address. A library loaded from a public CDN such as jsDelivr or cdnjs says nothing about where the site is hosted, so it doesn't count.

"This page changed since the scan."

The page reloaded or moved to another address (single-page apps change pages without reloading). Click Rescan to read it again; if the tab moved to another site, click the Assay icon instead (Chrome's access doesn't follow the tab to another site).

How do I copy or export a result?

In the panel, More actions: Copy as Markdown (paste into a ticket or a doc), Download CSV (opens in a spreadsheet; cells that a spreadsheet would run as formulas are made safe), Download JSON (with the evidence lines). These are free.

Where are my scans kept?

In this browser only. The free plan keeps your last 5 scans (the oldest rolls off); Pro keeps up to 1,000 in the notebook (the book icon in the panel). Scans made in a private window are never saved. Settings → Notebook data shows the storage used, backs everything up as JSON (free, always, also after Pro lapses), restores a backup, and deletes all scans, notes and tags. A restore adds what isn't there yet and never removes or overwrites what you have; notebook scans in a backup come back only while Pro is active (restore the file again after activating Pro). Deleting a site's last scan also deletes its note and tags (Assay asks first).

What happens when I uninstall Assay?

Chrome deletes everything Assay stored in this browser: your scans, the notebook, notes, tags and settings. Assay has no account and no sync, so nothing can be recovered afterwards. Before you uninstall, open Settings → Notebook data → Back up (JSON) and keep the file; to get everything back, install Assay again and use Restore from backup (notebook scans come back once Pro is active). If you use Pro, first remove the license from this browser (see below) to free one of your 3 installations. Your license key stays in your purchase email.

What does Pro add?

A notebook of up to 1,000 scans; notes and tags on each site; What changed since the previous scan on each site and Compare for any two scans (added, removed, version and confidence changes); Technologies to see which of your sites use a technology, filtered by category; Export of many sites at once (CSV, Markdown, JSON); and Scan open tabs for up to 50 tabs.

How does "Scan open tabs" work?

Open the sites you want to profile in tabs, open the notebook and click Scan open tabs, then Continue. Chrome asks you to allow access to all sites; Assay scans up to 50 loaded tabs (4 at a time, 5 seconds at most each; the free plan: once a day, up to 5 tabs) and removes that access as soon as the run ends. Tabs that aren't loaded are skipped and never reloaded; pages Chrome protects are skipped; tabs in private windows are left out and only counted. If you had given Assay access to specific sites in Chrome's settings, Chrome may remove that too: Assay checks, and tells you when it happened. Assay doesn't need that access, the icon click is enough.

How do I get and activate Pro?

Assay Pro costs $39 paid once (a one-time purchase) or $5.99 a month (a monthly subscription, cancel anytime), including any VAT or sales tax, for one person on up to 3 Chrome installations at the same time. After purchase you receive a license key by email. Open Settings → License, paste the key, click Activate. Pro checks your license about once a day when you are online and keeps working offline for up to 30 days after the last successful check; after that, Pro features pause until the next successful check. Your scans, notes and tags are never deleted when Pro pauses, and a full JSON backup stays free.

How does the monthly subscription work, and how do I cancel it?

Assay Pro is also sold as a monthly subscription: $5.99 a month, including any VAT or sales tax, with no commitment and no free trial. It renews every month until you cancel it. To cancel, open Settings → License → Manage billing (the Lemon Squeezy customer portal; the same link is in your receipt e-mail and on the Support page of our website, and it stays there even when Pro is not active in this browser) and cancel the subscription there; the portal also changes your payment method and has your invoices. Pro stays on until the end of the month you already paid for; after that, Assay works as its free version, and you can buy Pro again at any time. Removing the extension does not cancel the subscription. Monthly payments are not refunded (except when an update removes a Pro feature: see section 6 of the terms of sale), but the 14-day money-back guarantee covers your first purchase of Assay Pro, one-time or monthly. The one-time purchase costs the same as six and a half months of the subscription.

How do I move Pro to another computer?

Settings → License → Remove license from this browser, then activate the key on the other browser. Removing it frees one of your 3 installations. If you can no longer open the old browser (for example after uninstalling Assay or losing a computer), write to us from the support page and we will free that installation. To bring your notebook along, back it up as JSON on the old browser and restore it on the new one.

Can I get a refund?

Yes. Ask within 14 days of your first purchase of Assay Pro, without giving a reason, through the link in your Lemon Squeezy receipt or by contacting us. The money goes back to your original payment method and the license stops working. The terms of sale have the details. For a monthly subscription, the 14 days count from your first payment; later monthly payments are not refunded (except when an update removes a Pro feature: see section 6 of the terms of sale), but you can cancel at any time so that the next one is not taken.

Does Assay send my data anywhere?

No. Pages are read and processed in your browser, and a scan makes no network request (the footer of the panel says so after each scan). The only network requests are license checks (license key + a random installation id). Scans, notes and tags stay in this browser.

Something was detected wrongly.

Open Why? to see the signals behind it, then write to support with the site and the signal: every detection rule is ours and can be corrected.