Automate redaction · Autessa Redact
Document redaction tools
Autessa includes document redaction tools that chain into automatic redaction pipelines. Extract Text reads a document, including scanned pages; Detect Patterns finds sensitive patterns with no AI involved; Locate Spans turns sensitive strings into page boxes; and Burn Redactions writes a flattened PDF with the content removed.
The problem
Redacting thousands of documents by hand
Some redaction is a process, not a one-off: every inbound form, every export, every document before it is indexed. The document tools let a builder run the same extract, detect, locate and burn steps automatically, with model calls in between where judgment is needed.
- Extract Text returns full text and per-page layout for PDF, DOCX, TXT, MD, CSV, XLSX, EML, MSG and images, reading scanned pages with vision.
- Detect Patterns has presets for SSN, Luhn-checked credit cards, US driver’s licenses, bank routing and account numbers, phone, email and GPS coordinates.
- Custom detectors take a regex, flags, required nearby keywords, a code label and an optional Luhn check, and can match the file name.
- Rules can live as rows of a table, so editing a row changes the very next document; term lists can come from a table too.
- Locate Spans returns boxes in exactly the shape Burn Redactions accepts, so the two chain directly.
- Burn Redactions removes the content, writes a flattened PDF, and prints each rule’s code on its box unless turned off.
- None of the blocks write anywhere unless you add a step that does.
How it works
How does document redaction tools work in Autessa Redact?
Extract
Extract Text reads the file and returns its text, pages and a content hash.
Detect
Detect Patterns and, where needed, model calls decide what is sensitive.
Locate
Locate Spans turns those strings into page boxes with codes and reasons.
Burn
Burn Redactions writes the flattened, redacted PDF.
Orchestrate
Chain the steps in a tool pipeline or an AutessaScript, and run long jobs on a work queue.
Every option
The four blocks
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Extract Text | Text, per-page layout, MIME type and SHA-256; maxPages and rasterDpi options. |
| Detect Patterns | Presets, custom regexes, rules and term tables; returns hits with codes and locations. |
| Locate Spans | Verbatim spans with optional code and reason, in; boxes, out. |
| Burn Redactions | Boxes in, flattened PDF out; optional printed codes. |
Permissions
Who can do what?
| Who | Can |
|---|---|
| Builders (roles that can create tools and scripts) | Create and run pipelines and scripts that use the document tools. |
| Company admins | Control who can build tools through roles. |
AI assist
How AI helps here
Detect Patterns is deterministic. Where judgment is needed, add a model call between Extract Text and Locate Spans, the same way Suggest redactions combines pattern hints with AI.
AI proposes; a person decides what is removed.
About AI redaction suggestions →Connected
How it connects to the rest of Autessa
FAQ
Questions about document redaction tools
Is there a redaction API?
Yes. The document tools (Extract Text, Detect Patterns, Locate Spans, Burn Redactions) can be chained in a pipeline or script and run through Autessa’s API to redact documents automatically.
Can redaction rules be changed without a deploy?
Yes. Detect Patterns can read its rules and term lists from a table, so editing a row changes the next document scanned.
Does Detect Patterns use AI?
No. It is deterministic pattern matching. Add a model call to the pipeline where you need AI judgment.
100% customizable, code and all
Make Autessa Redact fully your own.
Use it out of the box, then change anything. Ask Autobot, Autessa’s AI builder, for a new field, screen, report, workflow or agent and it builds it into your copy of the app. Or open the code and edit it yourself. Nothing is locked: the app, its data and its code are yours.
Start free and make it yours