IdeaProofNow: Timestamp your work and verify it independently.

Hi Product Hunt! 👋

I’m the maker of IdeaProofNow.

The idea behind this project started with a very simple question:

Before sharing a piece of unpublished work, how can you keep a record showing that the exact file already existed at that point in time?

The cryptography behind this is not magic.

SHA-256 already exists. Merkle trees already exist. Bitcoin timestamping already exists.

You can calculate a file hash yourself.

What I wanted to build was a simpler workflow around those existing tools.

With IdeaProofNow, your original file stays with you. Its fingerprint is calculated locally in your browser, and you can create a record that includes timestamp information, a Merkle inclusion proof, and public anchoring references.

One thing I especially wanted to improve was independence.

You can download your proof package and keep it yourself.

You can verify a file later.

You can validate the proof data independently.

There is also an offline command line verifier, because I do not think a proof should only work as long as you trust our website or keep paying for a subscription.

The goal is not to make you trust us forever.

The goal is to give you something that you can keep and verify yourself.

IdeaProofNow is not copyright registration, and it does not claim to prove authorship or ownership. It simply creates a technical record that can be checked later.

I know this is not the most complicated technology on Product Hunt, and I am not trying to present it as a breakthrough in cryptography.

I just think existing technology can still be useful when it is made easier for ordinary creators to use.

I would genuinely love your feedback.

Would you use something like this before sharing unpublished work? And what would make a proof system like this more useful to you?

Thanks for checking it out 🙏