Current guide
Expand or Shorten a Scratchpad
Expand or shorten a scratchpad
Expand / Shorten is the first of the scratchpad AI features: one action, two directions, run on the collection itself. Expand develops what the scratchpad holds, turning fragments and clipped selections into fuller prose; Shorten condenses it, stripping repetition until the substance stands alone. Both run in the editor, on the content as it stands, and both draw on your AI credits. This page covers running the action and deciding what to keep.
Prerequisites:
- Signed in, with Cloud Sync & Intelligence on: AI features require the cloud connection and an internet connection. See sign in to the extension.
- AI credits: The action draws on your monthly credit pool. See Enhance.
- A scratchpad with content: The action transforms what the saves collected. See save the last response.
Choose the direction#
- Expand is for thin material: a scratchpad built from selection saves, headline fragments, and one-line captures becomes connected prose with the gaps filled. Use it when the collection is right but the writing is not there yet.
- Shorten is for heavy material: a scratchpad that swallowed whole responses gets condensed to what matters. Use it when the collection is complete but three times longer than the point it makes.
Either way, the action works on the content as it stands, so an edit pass first (deleting what did not survive a second reading) is the cheap way to a better result. See edit a scratchpad on the main page.
Run the action#
- Open the scratchpad in the editor: the Scratchpad tab of the main extension page, the scratchpad's row, then edit mode. See edit a scratchpad on the main page.
- Find Expand / Shorten among the controls above the content. The control shows its credit cost.
- Choose the direction, Expand or Shorten.
- The action runs on the scratchpad's content:
- The transformed text appears in place in the editor.
- The word count updates live, up for an expansion, down for a shortening.
Review, then keep or discard#
The result lands in edit mode, which is what makes it safe:
- Read the transformed content. AI rewriting can shift emphasis or drop a nuance, so check the passages that matter before anything else happens.
- Keep it or lose it:
- Click the save control to keep the result. It becomes the scratchpad's content everywhere: the sidebar, insertion, and every device with sync on.
- Leave edit mode without saving to discard it. The scratchpad keeps its previous content, untouched.
The same action, elsewhere#
Expand / Shorten also sits in the sidebar's Enhance tab, where it runs on conversation content rather than scratchpads. The catalog of AI actions and the credit pool behind them live in Enhance; this page owns the scratchpad run only.
FAQ#
Does Expand / Shorten use AI credits?+
Can I undo the result?+
Before saving, yes: leave edit mode without saving and the previous content stands. After saving, no; scratchpads keep no version history, so the saved result is the content. Copy or export first when the original matters.
Can I run it on part of a scratchpad?+
The action works on the scratchpad's content as it stands. To narrow what it works on, run an edit pass first so the scratchpad holds only the material you want transformed. See edit a scratchpad on the main page.
Which direction should I start with?+
Match the collection: selection-built scratchpads usually need Expand, whole-response scratchpads usually need Shorten. If the scratchpad needs both, shorten first, then expand what survives.
Does it matter which platform the content came from?+
No. One scratchpad collects from chatgpt.com, claude.ai, and the wider web, and the action runs the same on all of it.