Privacy and storage

Verso has no accounts and sends nothing about you anywhere. What it keeps, it keeps in your own browser. Here is every value.

The short version

There are no accounts and no sign-in.
Verso sets no cookies and loads no analytics or tracking scripts.
Your settings, recent searches, mix, packs, favorites and best scores are kept in your browser’s localStorage, on this device only. They never leave it, and they don’t sync to your other devices.
A round, and the hands of a mixed session, are held only in the page’s memory and are gone when you leave. Only a deck’s best score is kept.
Search runs in your browser. What you type is never sent anywhere.

Verso’s pages are static files. Your browser downloads them like any website, but Verso has no server code that could read or store anything about you.

Everything Verso stores

These are all of the localStorage keys Verso uses.

Settings and search

Key	Set by	What it holds
`color-mode`	The light and dark button, and your first visit	`"light"` or `"dark"`, as JSON
`verso-prompt-direction`	Prompt side, in study settings	`front` or `back`
`verso-study-shuffle`	Shuffle, in study settings	`on` or `off`. With nothing stored, shuffle is on
`verso-study-rewinds`	Rewinds per round, in study settings	`0`, `1`, `3`, `5` or `unlimited`. With nothing stored, 3
`verso-back-language:<subject>`	Learn through, or Answer language in study settings	A language id, such as `zh-Hans`. One key per subject, such as `verso-back-language:hawaiian`
`verso-recent-searches`	Opening a search result	Your last 6 searches as JSON: `[{ "query": "rice", "filters": { "tags": ["food"] } }]`, with `subject` in `filters` when one was picked

One more key is only ever removed: verso-study-mode, left over from an older version of the study screen, is deleted when a study screen opens.

Play and scores

Each of these holds JSON with a version number, "v": 1, so a later version of Verso can tell its format apart. Dates are ISO 8601 strings, shown as "…" here.

Key	Set by	What it holds
`verso-mix`	Picking decks on the Play page, or Add to mix on a deck page	The decks in your mix
`verso-packs`	Saving, renaming, changing, duplicating or deleting a pack	Up to 50 packs, each with an id, name, decks and two dates
`verso-favorites`	The heart, on a deck page or the Play page	Your favorite decks
`verso-hand-size`	Cards per hand, on the Play page	`"25"`, `"50"`, `"100"` or `"all"`. With nothing stored, 25
`verso-play-last`	Starting a mixed session	The last one, for the home page’s Continue link
`verso-results`	Clearing a deck	Your best round-1 score for each deck you’ve cleared

Their shapes, with the deck ids Verso uses everywhere else:

// verso-mix and verso-favorites
{ "v": 1, "decks": ["chinese/hsk-1/deck-01"] }

// verso-packs
{
  "v": 1,
  "packs": [
    {
      "id": "p_…",
      "name": "Week 1",
      "decks": ["chinese/hsk-1/deck-01", "chinese/hsk-1/deck-02"],
      "at": { "created": "…", "updated": "…" }
    }
  ]
}

// verso-play-last
{ "v": 1, "href": "/play/study?pack=hsk-1-complete", "label": "HSK 1 complete", "at": "…" }

// verso-results
{ "v": 1, "decks": { "chinese/hsk-1/deck-01": { "best": { "got": 23, "of": 25 }, "at": "…" } } }

verso-hand-size is a bare JSON string, such as "50".

When they’re written

Most keys are written only when you change the setting or use the feature. color-mode is also written on your first visit. Most Play keys are written with their empty starting values the first time a page that reads them opens:

the Play page writes verso-mix, verso-packs, verso-favorites, verso-results and verso-hand-size
a deck page writes verso-mix and verso-favorites
a mixed session writes verso-packs

If one of those values can’t be read, for example after it was edited by hand, it’s replaced with its starting value.

Clearing it

One recent search: open search with the box empty and press the ✕ next to it.
A setting: change it back. The defaults are the front as the prompt, Shuffle on, 3 rewinds per round, 25 cards per hand, and each subject’s first answer language.
Your mix: Clear in the Play page’s bar.
A pack: Delete in its Edit pack sheet.
A favorite: press its heart again.
Everything, including best scores: clear this site’s data in your browser’s settings, usually under site settings or “Cookies and site data”. Verso then starts fresh.

Fonts and other files

The fonts (Geist, Geist Mono and Noto Serif SC) are downloaded once when the site is built and served from Verso’s own address, so no font service sees your visit. The search index, /search-index.json, is a static file on the same address.