OBSCURA OS
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Where to start

Say what you need to do. You do not have to learn the names.

What do you need to do?

There are 138 tools here. Nobody should have to learn 138 names to use one. Say what you are trying to do and the name will come to you.

I am about to send someone a file11

Everything that should come out before it leaves you: the location in a photo, the author's name, the tracked changes nobody meant to send, the key in a config file.

Strip everything from a file in one passCLEANROOM Clean a document before sending itSCRUB Clean a Word fileDOCSCRUB Scrub hidden data from a spreadsheetCLEANSHEET Strip the metadata from a photoCLOAK Strip the metadata from a video or a recordingAVSCRUB Clean a calendar inviteCALSCRUB Find secrets before I share a fileSENTINEL Hide the secrets in a config fileENVSHIELD Make an SVG safe to useSVGCLEAN Strip the tracking out of a linkSANILINK
Someone sent me a file and I do not trust it13

Look before you open. What is inside it, what it would run, whether the email really came from who it says, and where that link actually goes.

See what is hidden inside a fileX-RAY See the macros in an Office file without running themMACROLENS Strip macros and scripts from a documentDISARM Check a suspicious email or linkPHISHLENS See where a QR code goes before tapping itQRSHIELD Check an email really came from who it saysHEADERPROOF Take an email apartMAILBOX See what a PDF form runs and collectsFORMAUDIT Take a certificate apartCERTLENS Check whether a signed PDF changed after it was signedPDFSIG Check a download is what it claims to beCHECKSUM Find the real unsubscribe linkUNSUB Read a file as raw bytesHEX
I need to hide part of a document8

Properly, so the words underneath are gone rather than covered over, and so the faces and the plates are not recoverable from the file.

Redact a PDF so the text is really goneSEAL Blur faces and number platesVEIL Black out a screenshotSCREENSHIELD Black out part of a videoRECAST De-identify a CV for a fair reviewBLIND Redact personal details from a recordMEDISCRUB Mark up an ID scan before sending itBASTION Record what was redacted and whyREDACTLOG
I need to prove something9

A hash ties a document to its exact bytes. A chain of custody ties it to the hands it passed through. A certificate says who checked it and when.

Prove a set of files has not changedPROOF Prove a file has not changed since I got itPROVENANCE Check a download is what it claims to beCHECKSUM Certify electronic evidence with a hashATTEST Freeze a web page as evidenceARCHIVE Sign a PDFPACT Check whether a signed PDF changed after it was signedPDFSIG Keep a chain of custody logCHAIN Write a statement and seal it with a digestSTATEMENT
I am on a deadline somebody else set8

Work out the date, show the counting, and keep the record that shows you met it.

Work out a deadline and show the countingDIARY Track a subject access requestDSAR Run the clock on a data breachBREACH Find the dates a contract hopes I missABSTRACT Issue a litigation hold and keep the registerHOLD Say what I keep, why, and for how longRETENTION Write a proof of serviceSERVE Chase an unpaid invoiceNETTERMS
I want to stop being followed around8

What your browser gives away, what is in the email, what is in the link, and how to get yourself off the lists.

See what my browser tells every siteFINGERPRINT See which cookies are tracking meCOOKIEAUDIT Remove the tracking pixels from an emailUNBEACON Strip the tracking out of a linkSANILINK Find the real unsubscribe linkUNSUB Get myself off the people-search sitesEXPUNGE Clear my traces on a shared computerDEADBOLT Read the fine print of a privacy policyPOLICYLENS
I need a password, a key or a code10

Making them, checking them, carrying them between machines, and keeping a copy you can still read in ten years.

Keep my passwords somewhere only I can openKEYS Make a strong passphrasePHRASE Check how strong a password isSHADOWKEY Check whether a password has been breachedPWNCHECK Get two-step login codesTOKEN Encrypt a file to someone's keyKEYRING Print a key I can type back inPAPERKEY Split a secret into piecesSHARD Encrypt a message to paste anywhereCIPHER Move a password vaultMIGRATOR
I am putting a bundle of documents together10

Merge them, number them, index them, stamp them, and list what was held back and why.

Merge, split, reorder and number PDFsSTAPLE Put documents into a paginated bundle with an indexBUNDLE Bind exhibits into one PDF with Bates numbersEXHIBIT Build a disclosure schedule from a folderDOCKET Build a privilege log and check itPRIVLOG Stamp a watermark across every pageWATERMARK Burn a filled-in form into the pageFLATTEN Turn a chat export into a numbered transcriptDOSSIER Build a chronology with sourcesTIMELINE Map the facts of a matter and what proves themCASEMAP
I need to make something15

The ordinary office work, with nothing to sign up for and nothing leaving the machine.

Write a documentDocs Work with a spreadsheetSheets Build a slide deckSlides Make a form and collect answersForms Keep a table of things I need to trackBASE Do a calculation I can go back and editCALC Draw on a whiteboardCanvas Take notesNotes Crop, straighten or mark up a picturePHOTO Make one letter for every row in a listMERGE Make a QR codeQRMAKER Send an invoiceINVOICES Keep my accounts and reconcile themMONEY Make realistic fake dataFAUX Record my screen, camera or microphoneREEL

All 138, by what they are for

Look inside it

Check a suspicious email or linkPHISHLENS Check an email really came from who it saysHEADERPROOF Check how strong a password isSHADOWKEY Check the writing habits that identify meCADENCE Check whether a password has been breachedPWNCHECK Check whether a signed PDF changed after it was signedPDFSIG Check whether two colours can be read togetherCONTRAST Compare two versions of a contractREDLINE Find personal data in a spreadsheetDATASCAN Find secrets before I share a fileSENTINEL Find the characters in a text I cannot seeUNSEEN Find the dates a contract hopes I missABSTRACT Find the real unsubscribe linkUNSUB Look for cuts and joins in a recordingSPLICE Look for signs a photo was editedTAMPER Look for something hidden inside an imageSTEGOSCAN Read a file as raw bytesHEX Read a JWTJOT Read the fine print of a privacy policyPOLICYLENS See exactly what changed between two textsDELTA See the camera and GPS data in a photoEXIF See the macros in an Office file without running themMACROLENS See what a PDF form runs and collectsFORMAUDIT See what changed between two imagesIMAGEDIFF See what is hidden inside a fileX-RAY See what is inside a font and what its licence saysFONTLENS See what my browser tells every siteFINGERPRINT See where a QR code goes before tapping itQRSHIELD See which cookies are tracking meCOOKIEAUDIT Take a certificate apartCERTLENS Take an email apartMAILBOX

Take out what should not be there

Clean a calendar inviteCALSCRUB Clean a document before sending itSCRUB Clean a Word fileDOCSCRUB Clean secrets out of a network logINTERCEPT Clear my traces on a shared computerDEADBOLT Hide the secrets in a config fileENVSHIELD Make an SVG safe to useSVGCLEAN Mask the names before pasting into an AIALIAS Remove the tracking pixels from an emailUNBEACON Scrub hidden data from a spreadsheetCLEANSHEET Strip everything from a file in one passCLEANROOM Strip macros and scripts from a documentDISARM Strip the metadata from a photoCLOAK Strip the metadata from a video or a recordingAVSCRUB Strip the tracking out of a linkSANILINK

Hide part of it, for good

Black out a screenshotSCREENSHIELD Black out part of a videoRECAST Blur faces and number platesVEIL De-identify a CV for a fair reviewBLIND Mark up an ID scan before sending itBASTION Redact a PDF so the text is really goneSEAL Redact personal details from a recordMEDISCRUB

Change its shape

Bind exhibits into one PDF with Bates numbersEXHIBIT Burn a filled-in form into the pageFLATTEN Crop, straighten or mark up a picturePHOTO Cut a piece out of a recordingSNIP Disguise a voiceVOICEGUARD Fix the timing on subtitlesSUBS Merge, split, reorder and number PDFsSTAPLE Move a password vaultMIGRATOR Put documents into a paginated bundle with an indexBUNDLE Resize or compress an imageSHRINK Stamp a watermark across every pageWATERMARK Turn a chat export into a numbered transcriptDOSSIER Turn a recording into textSCRIBE Work out what an encoding is and unwrap itDECODE Zip or unzip filesPACK

Prove it has not changed

Certify electronic evidence with a hashATTEST Check a download is what it claims to beCHECKSUM Freeze a web page as evidenceARCHIVE Prove a file has not changed since I got itPROVENANCE Prove a set of files has not changedPROOF Sign a PDFPACT

Lock it or hide it

Encrypt a file anyone can openCAPSULE Encrypt a file to someone's keyKEYRING Encrypt a message to paste anywhereCIPHER Find out who leaked a documentCANARY Hide a key inside a picturePHANTOM Hide a message in an imagePALIMPSEST Hide a note inside ordinary textGLYPH Keep a decoy workspaceMIRAGE Keep my passwords somewhere only I can openKEYS Split a secret into piecesSHARD

Hand it over

Hand over work once I am paidLOCKBOX Move data between two devices with a cameraAIRGAP Send a file straight to someoneVAULT

Keep a record

Build a chronology with sourcesTIMELINE Build a disclosure schedule from a folderDOCKET Build a privilege log and check itPRIVLOG Issue a litigation hold and keep the registerHOLD Keep a cash book that adds upLEDGER Keep a chain of custody logCHAIN Keep a note of every conversationTHREAD Keep a register of interestsCONFLICT Keep an address bookContacts Keep my accounts and reconcile themMONEY Keep my files on this deviceDrive Keep the record that proves consent was givenCONSENT Map the facts of a matter and what proves themCASEMAP Plan and write up an interviewINTERVIEW Plan dates and eventsCalendar Read a PDF or an EPUB and keep my placeREADER Record what was redacted and whyREDACTLOG Run the clock on a data breachBREACH Track a subject access requestDSAR Track what I have to doTasks Work out what a matter has costCOSTS Write a proof of serviceSERVE

Make something new

Build a slide deckSlides Do a calculation I can go back and editCALC Draw on a whiteboardCanvas Get two-step login codesTOKEN Keep a table of things I need to trackBASE Learn with flashcardsCards Make a form and collect answersForms Make a QR codeQRMAKER Make a strong passphrasePHRASE Make one letter for every row in a listMERGE Make realistic fake dataFAUX Model a funding roundDEALBOOK Print a key I can type back inPAPERKEY Record my screen, camera or microphoneREEL Send an invoiceINVOICES Work out a deadline and show the countingDIARY Work with a spreadsheetSheets Write a documentDocs Write a regular expression and see what it doesREGEX

Write something

Assemble a contract from clauses I keepCLAUSE Chase an unpaid invoiceNETTERMS Draft a removal noticeTAKEDOWN Get myself off the people-search sitesEXPUNGE Keep a private journal nobody else can readJOURNAL Say what I keep, why, and for how longRETENTION Take notesNotes Write a statement and seal it with a digestSTATEMENT Write a witness statementWITNESS Write minutes with the decisions picked outMINUTES

Other ways in

If you are already holding the file, the workbench is quicker: drop it there and only the tools that will actually take that kind of file are offered, with the file handed straight across.

If you want to understand the problem first, the guides explain what a photo, a document, an email or a link actually gives away, and end at the tool that deals with it.

If you know roughly what it is called, press Ctrl or Cmd and K anywhere on this site. That searches the same sentences, so "remove gps" finds the right tool without knowing it is called CLOAK.

What this is, and what it is not

This page is a way in, not a tool. It reads nothing, stores nothing and sends nothing. Every link on it goes to a page that runs entirely in your browser, the same as the rest of this site.

The nine situations are a judgement, not a generated list. They are the nine reasons people actually arrive, and the order of the tools inside each is the order you would work through them. A tool appears in more than one where it belongs in more than one. The full list underneath is generated from the same catalogue the search and the workbench use, so it can never be missing a tool.

The sentence is the name. Every tool here has a codename, and codenames are useless to somebody who has never been here before. Each one also carries the sentence a person would say out loud, and that is what this page is built out of. The codename is on the right, small, for when you want to remember it.

Nothing here needs an account, and nothing costs anything to use. Personal use is free and permanent. A commercial licence exists for using the tools in the course of a business, and it is a one-off, not a subscription.

Questions people ask

I do not know what any of these are called. Where do I start?

Here. Type what you are trying to do in plain words - “stop a photo showing where I live”, “work out a deadline”, “prove a file has not changed” - and the tool for it will come up. You never need to learn a name.

What is the difference between this and the workbench?

This is for when you know the job but not the tool. The workbench is for when you have the file: drop it there and only the tools that will actually take that kind of file are offered, and the file is handed straight across without going through your downloads folder.

Why does one tool appear under more than one situation?

Because it genuinely belongs in more than one. Stripping the tracking out of a link matters both when you are about to send something and when you are trying not to be followed around, so it is in both.

Is there a full list anywhere?

The second panel on this page is the full list, grouped by what each tool is for. All tools has the same thing arranged by suite, and each suite has its own page.

Does this page know what I searched for?

No. The search runs in your browser against a list that was sent with the page. Nothing you type is recorded, sent or kept, here or anywhere else on this site.

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