How Proof of Effort Works
Proof of Effort (PoE) records the behavioral rhythm of writing as it happens and turns that record into verifiable evidence that a person did the work. It pays attention to how you write, never what you write. PoE is not Ai detection — it makes detection unnecessary by documenting genuine human effort directly. Here's what it does, and what it deliberately does not do.
How Does PoE Work?
PoE runs quietly inside your word processor and records in four stages. You write as you normally would — PoE installs as an extension to LibreOffice Writer (Microsoft Word support is in progress) and needs no extra steps. PoE observes the rhythm of the session: timing, pauses, revisions, and bursts of activity. The data is sanitized the moment it's captured, so nothing that could single you out is kept. The work is verified when you score the session or seal it into a proof that anyone can check. Recording works offline; only scoring needs an internet connection.
Does PoE Read or Store What I Write?
No. PoE never reads, stores, or analyzes the text of your document. It observes the interactions behind composition — the pattern of typing, pausing, and revising — not the words themselves. To link a proof to a document, it uses a one-way fingerprint of the text, not the text itself. Your words cannot be reconstructed from anything PoE keeps.
Is PoE biometric? Can It Identify Me?
No. PoE is non-biometric and cannot identify you. Traditional keystroke systems recognize individuals through precise timing — a personal signature. PoE removes that precision before any scoring happens, and it compares your patterns against general human norms rather than against a stored profile of you. The raw timing is destroyed; only non-identifying aggregates survive. Picture a sharp photo of your face versus the shadow you cast: one is distinctly you, the other is just distinctly human.
Does PoE decide whether someone cheated?
No. PoE is a measurement tool, not a verdict. It reports the effort in a writing session — a Total Effort Score, a typed-versus-pasted reading, and a section-by-section authenticity check — and stops there. What anyone concludes from that evidence is a human judgment. PoE provides the record; people draw the conclusions.
Can't someone just retype Ai-generated text to fool it?
Composing your own thoughts and retyping finished text leave different behavioral traces. Original writing is recursive — full of planning pauses, revisions, and reconsideration — while transcription runs closer to a straight line. PoE checks a document section by section and flags passages that read as transcribed, with a confidence level. Because this reads the process, not the words, it doesn't matter how good the retyped text is. Pretending to write authentically takes more time and effort than writing authentically.
What's inside PoE proof data — is it just a pass/fail?
PoE inserts metadata evidence directly into your text document; however, there are cases when a separate evidence file is preferred. This file is not a sealed yes/no stamp. Inside it are the non-identifying measurements the score was computed from, and a cryptographic seal. That means the proof can be re-examined and re-scored later — by you, an institution, or an independent reviewer — rather than asking anyone to trust a one-time verdict. Most attestation tools hand you only a certificate that says "verified." PoE hands you the evidence behind it.
What can't PoE account for?
PoE documents what it can measure and discloses the rest. Text that arrives without real typing — pasted content from outside the document, dictation, or heavy autocomplete and phrase suggestions — can't be verified as composed, and PoE surfaces it as unverified or transcribed rather than hiding it. Use whatever tools you like; just disclose them. Honest writing has nothing to fear from a record that shows exactly what happened.
Who can verify a .poe file, and what does it cost?
Anyone, free. Verifying needs no account, no license, and no contact with our servers — the check is self-contained, like confirming a notarized file. Verification proves that a .poe file hasn't been altered and confirms whether it matches the document you currently have open. Your proof travels inside your document, or as a separate sealed .poe file you can hand to anyone. Scoring runs on Khepri's servers.
Can anyone score a file?
Anyone can score PoE data from a document or from an imported .poe file. It's also free. Unlike verification of the .poe file, scoring and importing require an internet connection. The scoring engine is kept centralized, so it can't be manipulated.