Our Principles
Compass is built on one idea: help a stuck student take one small step, never the answer. These principles say how it works and what we commit to.
1. What Compass is
Compass is a deterministic engine for stuck students. When it recognises the skill you name, it usually serves one reviewed move for it. When it does not, it asks a question, gives a general first step, or says what it can help with. It never writes a step at run time and does not use generative AI to produce advice. Every reviewed move was checked by an educator before it went live.
2. What Compass is not
Compass is not a medical service, therapist, counsellor, or crisis line. It is not a substitute for professional mental health care. It cannot diagnose conditions, recommend treatments, or provide clinical guidance. If you need professional support, please seek it.
3. Safety first
Crisis detection runs before everything else. When Compass’s safety check flags a message as a crisis, Compass gives no schoolwork step and points you to real people and helplines. A check like this can miss things: if you or someone else may be in danger, tell a trusted adult or call your local emergency number.
4. Your data stays with you
Your work stays in your browser. Your progress is saved in this browser. Others using this browser may see your progress. You can remove it at any time. Compass sends only coded signals to its own server, never what you typed. When you ask for a step, see one, or tap a choice, it sends the kind of step shown and its source, and, for a reviewed step, which topic and which step of it you were on, which try it was, and how you said it went (or that you only looked at it). When you tap a topic under "Tap the one you're working on", it also sends one broad label worked out from your words: schoolwork, writing, money, exercise, focus, rest and stress, or general. The signals are stored without anything that links them to you. Students have no account and nothing syncs.
5. Honest about limitations
Compass does not cover every situation a person faces. When a goal falls outside what Compass can handle well, it will not pretend otherwise. It will offer general support or direct you to better resources rather than return a misleading step.
6. No medical, legal, or financial advice
Compass is a schoolwork tool and gives no medical, legal, financial or clinical advice. Always consult a qualified professional for decisions in these areas.
7. Sensitive topics handled with care
Goals related to mental health, addiction, grief, relationships, or identity are handled with extra care. Compass will not trivialise these topics with generic productivity advice. For sensitive domains, Compass acknowledges the difficulty and may suggest professional support alongside any step.
8. Always improving
Compass does not change its steps on its own and does not learn from your taps. Any change to a step is made by a person after review. Aggregate counts of which reviewed steps helped are read by people, never used to train a model, and never shared outside.
If you have a concern
If Compass ever returns a step that feels wrong, harmful, or inappropriate, please let us know. Your feedback directly improves the system and protects other users.
If you are in crisis right now, do not wait. Visit findahelpline.com for crisis lines in your country.