Tool Templates

Tool templates define the minimum structure required before a utility is published. They are intended to keep tools consistent as the site grows: every utility should have a route, owner, status, processing boundary, input limits, and documented failure behavior.

The template standard exists because tools are easy to overgrow. A small utility can become risky when it begins accepting untrusted files, parsing complex formats, creating downloads, or making network requests. The template forces those decisions into reviewable fields before the tool becomes public.

Required Tool Metadata

• Tool ID and title.
• Owner and review cadence.
• Route and component path.
• Processing model: local-only, backend-assisted, or downloadable.
• Network behavior.
• Storage behavior.
• Input limits.
• Supported formats.
• Explicit non-goals and prohibited use.

Tool templates exist to keep new utilities consistent before implementation begins. A template should describe the input boundary, the output contract, unsupported cases, privacy behavior, and validation rules. That information is more important than the UI because it determines whether the tool belongs on a public security site at all.

Required Page Sections

Every public tool page should include a plain-language summary, operational notes, Data Handling, and Boundary sections. The user should not need to inspect source code to learn whether a tool uploads input or stores results.

Tool templates exist to keep new utilities consistent before implementation begins. A template should describe the input boundary, the output contract, unsupported cases, privacy behavior, and validation rules. That information is more important than the UI because it determines whether the tool belongs on a public security site at all.