How It Works
Every step from writing your message to permanent deletion — a complete walkthrough of the Words Left system.
Phase 1 — Setup
You do this once
Step 1
Write your message
Compose your message — write freely, add links to photos, videos, or cloud files. There's no word limit.
Step 2
Encrypted in your browser
Before leaving your device, your message is encrypted with AES-256-GCM. We never hold the key — technically impossible for us to read it.
Step 3
Choose a passphrase
Pick a passphrase and give it to your recipient in person — verbally, on paper, or however you trust. It never touches our servers.
Step 4
Recipient gives consent
Your recipient receives a consent email — no message content shown. They choose to accept or decline before the system arms.
Step 5
Save your edit code
The system generates a one-time cryptographic edit code. Keep it safe — it's the only way to update or delete your message. No recovery possible.
Phase 2 — Monitoring
The system watches in the background
Step 6
Safety checks begin
At your chosen interval — weeks or months — the system sends you a simple check-in email. One click resets the timer. You stay in control.
Step 7
Activity monitoring
Optionally, the system also watches your public social profiles — GitHub, YouTube — for recent activity. Being active there also counts as alive.
Step 8
First warning email
If you miss a check-in and no activity is detected, a first warning email is sent. You still have plenty of time to respond and cancel.
Step 9
Second warning — final chance
Still no response. A second warning is sent with a stronger notice. After this, if silence continues, the recipient verification phase begins.
Step 10
Recipient verifies your status
The recipient is asked: "Have you had contact recently?" If they confirm you're active, the timer resets. If not — or if they don't respond — delivery begins.
Phase 3 — Delivery
When the time comes
Step 11
Message delivered
The recipient receives an email with a secure link. The message content is still encrypted — the email contains only a delivery notification.
Step 12
Recipient decrypts in their browser
They enter their email address and the passphrase you gave them. Decryption happens entirely in their browser — the plaintext never touches our servers.
Step 13
Permanently deleted
After the message is decrypted, it is permanently purged from our servers — content and all metadata. The only copy is what was just shown in their browser.