Writing log and BYOK Seals

More and more, writers are asked whether their work was written with AI, and "I wrote it" isn't always enough. The writing log is a record made while you write, and a BYOK Seal lets you share it: the agents, editors, teachers or readers you send your work to can see how it came together and check their copy against it. A Seal doesn't declare anything human-written; it gives them the evidence to judge for themselves.

Studio keeps a private writing log for each of your projects. For every file and every day you write, it counts how your words arrived: typed, pasted, imported, moved from another file or written on your BYOK. It holds counts only, never your words.

The log is always on, on every plan. Only you can see it, until you choose to share one file's or manuscript's log as a BYOK Seal.

What the log counts

For each file and day, the log counts the words that arrived, by how they arrived:

It also counts your writing time and sessions, words removed and revised, spelling fixes, find-and-replace changes, and paragraphs, rows, cards or tiles you moved around. Typing rhythm counts how long you paused between key presses, never which keys you pressed.

The log covers text files (scripts and Markdown too), manuscripts, wikis, outlines, cards, grids, the Scratch Pad and file descriptions. Comments aren't logged. Words written before the log began show as already there, not as missing.

Open your writing log

In the web and desktop apps:

The whole-project view lists your files under By file; click one to open its own log, and click the project's name at the top to go back. A manuscript's view lists its sections the same way.

What you'll see

• The numbers at the top: days written, writing time, sessions and words typed.
• Day by day (week by week for longer spans): a bar for each day, split by how the words arrived. Words removed or revised show below the line, so a day of drafting and a day of revising look different.
• Biggest single additions: the most words that arrived at once, by paste, dictation, import or a sync from your BYOK, with the day.
• How the words arrived: the totals, and the most of the text that could have been pasted, dictated or imported.
• Editing and Typing rhythm.
• Seen by BYOK's server: on how many days your saves arrived, and whether any words arrived faster than anyone types.
• From your BYOK: when the device last synced and how many words each sync brought.
• Recent days, and By file or By section.

Where the log is kept

With a Studio account, the log goes to your account, so it includes every app and device you write on. In the desktop app's local mode it stays on your computer, and joins your account only if you turn on sync later. The desktop app's library backup includes it.

Deleting a project deletes its log. The privacy policy lists everything the log notes.

Erase your log

At the bottom of the whole-project view, choose Erase this project's log or Erase my whole writing log, then Erase.

• Erasing can't be undone, and it withdraws any BYOK Seals made from that log.
• Studio keeps recording from then on.
• With an account, Studio has to reach it to erase: if you're offline, nothing is erased and Studio asks you to try again when you're online.

BYOK Seals

A BYOK Seal is how you show that a piece is your own work. It's a sealed, signed copy of one text file's, script's or manuscript's writing log. Anyone with its code can open it at app.byok.io/seal/ followed by the code, see how the piece was written, and check that their copy matches. It shows the file's or manuscript's name and the counts, never your text.

Add a Seal when you export

• Text file: file options › Export with a BYOK Seal…, or Cmd+K › Export with a BYOK Seal…. Choose the format and click Export.
• Manuscript: file options › Export with a BYOK Seal…, or tick Add a BYOK Seal in the manuscript's export options.
• Script: file options › Export with a BYOK Seal…, or tick Add a BYOK Seal in the script's export window. Readers can check its PDF, Final Draft or Fountain copy.
• Phone: in a text file's or script's menu (the sliders icon), tick Add a BYOK Seal, then tap the format.

Studio makes the Seal from the text exactly as exported, then ends the document with a line like this:

BYOK Seal 7KQ2M-9XDPA: see how this was written at https://app.byok.io/seal/7KQ2M-9XDPA

If the Seal can't be made, nothing is exported, so you never send a copy with a missing code. Export again, or export without it.

Make a share link

Open a text file's, script's or manuscript's writing log and click Make a share link under BYOK Seals. The link is ready to copy. Readers can check a copy against the text as it was when you made the link.

The same list shows every Seal you've made for that file or manuscript, with Copy link and Open.

What readers see

Anyone can open a Seal, with or without a Studio account. The page shows:

• whether BYOK's signature still checks out, so readers know the Seal hasn't been changed since it was made;
• how many days of the log BYOK's server had sealed (it seals each day once it's two days old);
• the log itself: days, time, how the words arrived and the editing.

Going to app.byok.io/seal with no code shows a box to type one in.

Check a copy

On the Seal page, under Check a copy, drop a PDF, Word, text, Markdown, HTML or RTF file (a script as PDF, Final Draft or Fountain), or paste the text and click Check the pasted text. The reader's browser compares it with the sealed text in runs of six words, so formatting and page numbers don't matter. The text never leaves their computer.

The answer says whether the copy matches, is an excerpt, has some changes, or is substantially different, with how much of each is in the other. A scanned PDF holds only pictures of pages: copy its text and paste it instead.

Withdraw a Seal

In the file's or manuscript's writing log, click Withdraw… next to the Seal, then Withdraw. From then on its page only says that it was withdrawn and when. Erasing the log withdraws its Seals too, and deleting your account deletes them.

What a Seal does and doesn't say

A Seal shows facts, not a verdict. It doesn't say whether a person or a tool wrote anything, and your own notes or quotes that you pasted in count as pasted too. What it can show is the most of the text that could have arrived some other way than typing.