Workbench
Put the file down first. The right tool comes to you.
This browser cannot hold a file between pages
The workbench moves a file from one tool to the next through this browser's own storage. That storage is switched off here, which usually means private browsing or a setting that blocks site data. Every tool still works on its own: open the one you want and choose the file there.
Put a file down
Nothing is uploaded. The file is read here, on this machine, to work out what it is.
That file could not be handed over, so nothing was moved. Open the tool directly and choose the file there.
On the workbench
Pick one to see what can be done with it. Anything a tool hands back lands here too, so the next step starts from the result rather than from the original.
What you can do here
What you have run
What this is, and what it is not
The file never leaves this machine. The workbench reads the first two kilobytes of a file to work out what it really is, and holds the whole file in this browser's own storage so it can be handed to the next tool without a trip through your downloads folder. Both of those happen in this tab. There is no upload, no server, and no network call anywhere in this page.
The type comes from the bytes, not the name. An extension is the one part of a file that anybody can change. The workbench matches on the magic bytes at the start of the file, falls back to what the browser guessed, and says so plainly when the two disagree - a .jpg that is really a PDF is worth knowing about before you open it in anything.
A tool is only offered if it will really take the file. The list of file types each tool accepts is read off the file input on that tool's own page when this site is built, not kept in a list by hand. So a tool that learns a new format starts being offered for it, and a tool is never offered for something it would refuse.
Anything a tool hands back comes straight here. While you are working on a file that came from the workbench, the file that tool produces is copied back onto the workbench as well as saved wherever it would normally go. That is what makes a chain possible: strip the metadata, then redact the names, then flatten it, then hash it, without once going through your desktop.
Storage is this browser's, and it is not a backup. Clearing site data clears the workbench. Files here are a working set, not a place to keep anything. Use the download button on any file you want to keep, or connect a folder in Settings so finished work is written to disk as it is made.
Your phone and your computer can send a file here directly. Install this site and it registers itself with the operating system twice over. On a phone it appears in the share sheet, so a photo or a PDF can be sent here from the gallery or from a mail app and it lands on the workbench. On a desktop it appears in Open with, so a file can be opened straight into it from the file manager. A share arrives as a POST that the service worker on your device answers itself - it is not sent to any server, and there is no server here that could receive it.
Sharing a link instead of a file still works. A share sheet often hands over a title, a passage of text and a URL rather than a file. Those arrive as a text file on the workbench rather than being quietly dropped, so choosing this site from a share sheet never does nothing.
The list of what you have run is names and times only. It records that a file with a given name went to a given tool, so you can see the steps you took. The files themselves are never written into it, and you can clear it at any time.
Questions people ask
Does the workbench upload my file anywhere?
No. Nothing on this site uploads anything. The file is read in this tab to identify it and held in this browser's IndexedDB so it can be passed to the next tool. Turn off your network connection and every part of this page still works.
How does it know what a file is?
It reads the first two kilobytes and compares them against the signatures that every format begins with - %PDF for a PDF, the eight bytes that start every PNG, the ftyp box in an MP4, and so on. A zip is looked at more closely, because a Word document, a spreadsheet, a slide deck and an EPUB are all zips, and which one it is depends on what is inside.
Why is a tool missing from the list?
Either it does not take a file at all - a passphrase generator has nothing to be given - or its page does not accept this kind of file. Search by what you want to do and the full list is there, whatever you are holding.
What happens when I send a file to a tool?
The file is put into this browser's storage, the browser goes to that tool, and the file is placed in that tool's own file input as if you had chosen it by hand. The tool is not modified and does not know where the file came from. You get a line at the top of the page saying it arrived, and a way back.
Can I chain several tools together?
Yes, and that is the point of it. While you are working on a file that came from the workbench, whatever that tool hands back is copied onto the workbench too. Go back, pick the result, and send it on to the next tool.
Can I send a file here from my phone?
Yes. Install this site from your browser's menu and it appears in the share sheet alongside everything else. Share a photo or a document to it and the file lands on the workbench, ready to go to a tool. The share is handled by the copy of this site on your own device; nothing is uploaded, and there is nowhere for it to be uploaded to.
Can I open a file into this from my computer's file manager?
Once the site is installed, yes - it appears under Open with for PDFs, images, audio, video, spreadsheets, documents, archives and email files, and opening one brings it straight here. The original file is not modified and the site never asks to write back over it.
What if I close the tab?
The workbench is still there when you come back, because it is stored in this browser rather than in the page. Clearing your site data does clear it, so download anything you want to keep.