Pausus — Understand Before You Agree

An evidence-based Chrome Side Panel that turns dense policies into a clear summary, key points, and source-backed explanations before you click agree.

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Pausus — Understand Before You Agree

Pausus is a Chrome Side Panel that helps people understand terms of service and privacy policies before they agree.

Long policy pages are difficult to scan, and the most important clauses are easy to miss. Pausus brings an evidence-based second opinion directly into the page you are already reading:

  1. Open a policy page.
  2. Open the Pausus Side Panel.
  3. Ask Pausus to analyze the page.
  4. Review a concise summary, high-impact clauses, plain-language explanations, and the original source text behind each point.

Pausus follows a simple principle: AI should make the original text easier to understand, not replace it. Each finding is grounded in evidence from the page so users can compare the explanation with the source.

What we built

  • A Chrome Manifest V3 extension using the persistent right-side Side Panel.
  • Page extraction from the active tab.
  • A local/LAN-first backend that keeps OpenAI credentials off the client.
  • Docker-based local deployment for quick setup on a personal machine or local network.
  • English and Japanese output support.
  • Exact source-quote validation so explanations stay grounded in the page.
  • A response flow designed to avoid storing page text in the MVP.

How it works

The extension extracts the visible page text and sends it to the configured local backend. The backend sends bounded page content directly to the OpenAI Responses API and returns structured results containing a summary, important points, explanations, and source evidence. The side panel keeps the original page visible while the user reviews the second opinion.

How we used Codex and GPT-5.6

Codex was the primary development partner for Pausus during OpenAI Build Week. It helped implement and test the Chrome Side Panel experience, backend contracts, connection settings, local/LAN Docker deployment, grounded source validation, English localization, and the final demo workflow.

In the production runtime, the backend calls the OpenAI API directly with GPT-5.6. No App Router or Codex Agent service is required at runtime. The model receives bounded page text and returns structured findings. Deterministic validation checks the returned source quotes against the page text before the result is shown. This makes the use of GPT-5.6 substantive while keeping the explanation auditable.

Why it matters

Consent should be informed, but reading every policy in full is unrealistic. Pausus gives users a focused starting point in seconds while keeping the original document in view.

Pausus is not legal advice. It helps users notice what deserves attention before they click agree.

Demo and scope

The demo shows Pausus analyzing a Terms of Use page and presenting a concise summary, key points, and source-backed evidence in a right-side browser panel. This is a local/LAN-first MVP: the extension connects to a backend selected by the user, and the backend can be started with Docker.

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