Four gates, each able to refuse
The design is fail-closed. When a check cannot complete, the answer is withheld rather than shown — an unchecked answer counts as a failed one.
The question
Runs before any model, so a blocked question costs nothing and produces nothing. Disguised spellings are normalised first, so look-alike characters and spacing tricks are caught too.
The writing
The answer is written for the age range on the package, not for an adult. Length, vocabulary and examples follow the reader, not the topic.
The sources
Every cited address is fetched. Blocked and high-risk domains are refused, redirects are re-checked at each hop, and private or loopback addresses are rejected outright. Dead and parked pages are dropped.
The review
A second model reads the finished answer before anyone else does. It approves, corrects or refuses. A refusal — or a review that fails to run — means the answer is not shown.
What happens between the question and the answer
- 1
The question is checked first
Before any model runs, the question is normalised — leetspeak, look-alike characters and spacing tricks are collapsed — and matched against blocked topics. Roughly thirty milliseconds, and no model is called at all.
- 2
Unclear questions are asked back
If a question could mean several things, ReKid™ offers a few clearer versions instead of guessing. This costs nothing from your allowance — we asked, so we pay for it.
- 3
The answer is written for the age
A model writes the answer at your child's reading level, together with a few quick facts. It can write in a different language from the interface — useful while a child is learning one.
- 4
Every source is fetched
Each address the model cites is actually requested. Ones that do not resolve, return 404, or land on an error or parking page are dropped. A dead link is worse than no link: a child clicks it and thinks they were wrong.
- 5
A second model reviews it
A different model reads the finished answer against the question and the age. It can approve, correct, or refuse. Refused answers are recorded so a grown-up can see the question was asked — but the text is never shown.
What the safety layers block
The list below is the topic dictionary, not the whole system: pages are also judged by their address and their actual text.
| Category | Examples of what is blocked |
|---|---|
| Adult content | Pornography, nudity, sexual material, adult sites and adult top-level domains |
| Drugs, alcohol, tobacco | How to obtain or use, purchase sites, vaping |
| Gambling | Betting sites, casinos, odds, loot-box promotion |
| Violence and weapons | Graphic violence, gore, weapon purchase, explosives |
| Hate and extremism | Hate speech, terrorist or extremist material |
| Self-harm | Handled with care — see below |
| Dating and stranger chat | Dating apps, random-stranger video chat |
| Unmoderated user content | Social networks, forums, comment sites, chat platforms |
Self-harm is handled differently
A child asking about self-harm is not misbehaving. ReKid™ does not return search results for these questions, and it does not scold. It shows a short, warm message encouraging the child to talk to a grown-up they trust, alongside a helpline. Nothing about the question is attached to a name, because ReKid™ does not know any names.