Skip to content
MATCHA Writer logo Try as instructor

Process history

Every edit, every source.
On the record.

Every MATCHA project records the edits that produced the document, so you can replay the writing and see exactly how much editing was done. Complete Work History also records reading in the built-in browser, showing how much of each cited work was read. Both are summarized in a signed .docx whose authenticity you can verify.

Explore the features
A writer reviewing the sequence of revisions behind a document
Replay every edit.

In practice

Start with the essay. Look back when it matters.

For an at-home essay, enable Complete Work History before students begin. When submissions arrive, check the Writing and Reading Analysis for writing time, character churn, and how much of each cited source was read. Open the replay when a passage deserves a closer look.

  1. Choose what gets recorded

    Every project records its text edits. Add Complete Work History to record reading as well; it requires a browser allowlist, which minimizes the risk of recording private browsing.

  2. Review the process behind the result

    Replay the edits with a timeline, gap skip, and variable speed. Character churn, writing time, time fragmentation, and experimental AI transcription detection help investigate AI misuse after the fact.

  3. Verify the submitted document

    The signed .docx opens in all major word processors and shows the integrity settings, editing statistics, and a time/location graph. Check its authenticity with the verification tool in the instructor menu.

In detail

How each feature works.

What each feature does, its options, and what it requires.

Certified Edit History

  • Every MATCHA project records the sequence of text edits used to produce the document.
  • Edits can be replayed in the built-in player with a timeline view, gap skip, and variable speed.
  • Edits are summarized in a Writing Analysis that can be added to MATCHA outputs.

Complete Work History

  • Complete Work History adds recording capabilities to the built-in browser, including page loads, scrolls, and clicks. Reading patterns are recorded and reported as part of the Reading Analysis Report attached to MATCHA submissions, which shows how much of each cited work, other academic work, or other browsed page was read.
  • Work history is stored locally in the project file using a tamper-proof format.
  • Reading history can be aggregated between projects. For independent projects, select the projects to aggregate manually from Project Settings. For instructor-led projects, all submissions in the same course are automatically aggregated when Reading History Aggregation is enabled. This requires MATCHA Cloud submissions. Aggregated history is visible in the built-in grading tool only.
  • While meant to be used as an assessment tool rather than a detection tool, this feature provides telling statistics that can be used to investigate AI misuse after the fact, such as character churn, writing time, and time fragmentation. It also has an experimental algorithm that detects AI transcriptions using 400+ attributes of the text editing history.
  • To minimize the risk of inadvertently recording private browsing activity, this feature can only be enabled if browsing activity is restricted by an allowlist. History can be deleted by students.

Certified .docx

  • MATCHA outputs signed .docx files that can be read by all major word processors and verified as having been produced by MATCHA with specific settings.
  • The .docx files produced for instructor-managed activities contain a cover page showing which integrity settings were enabled for the project, extensive editing statistics with a time/location graph, and, when Complete Work History is enabled, a reading analysis showing how much of cited and other works was read.
  • A .docx file's authenticity can be checked using the verification tool in the MATCHA instructor menu.

Put it into practice

Set it up in the MATCHA Dashboard.

How to interpret project analysis
Try as instructor