ExhibitKit

Free · No account · Nothing uploaded

Turn text messages into court-ready exhibits.

Free. Private. Your messages never leave your device.

Build your exhibit See a sample exhibit PDF How do I export my messages?

A free tool by Isaiah Shawver.

How it works

  1. Export your messages

    From WhatsApp, Android SMS, Messenger or Instagram - the guide walks you through each one, button by button.

  2. Review & redact

    Pick the messages that matter. Redact private details - redacted text is truly removed, not hidden under a black box.

  3. Download your exhibit

    A clean PDF with a cover page, Bates numbers, the integrity hash on every page, and a declaration template ready to sign.

The privacy promise

Court matters involve the most sensitive messages you have. So ExhibitKit is built so that trusting us is unnecessary:

  • No uploads. Your file is read by your own browser, on your own device. There is no server to send it to.
  • No accounts, no storage. Nothing is saved - not in the cloud, not even in your browser. Refresh the page and it's gone.
  • Works offline. After your first visit, the builder works without an internet connection.
  • Enforced by the browser itself. The site ships a strict Content-Security-Policy header: the browser refuses any network connection except to this site and its static asset hosts. Even a hidden bug could not send your messages to a server, because no server is on the allowlist.
  • Prove it yourself: open your browser's developer tools, watch the Network tab while you build an exhibit, and confirm that no request ever contains your messages. Then check our hash verifier against your computer's own sha256sum.

What you get

  • A SHA-256 integrity hash of your original export file, printed on every page footer and in full on the certification page - so anyone can verify the source file was never altered.
  • Sequential Bates numbers on every message (e.g. EX-A-0001), so testimony can reference exact messages.
  • A cover page with your court, case caption and exhibit label.
  • A declaration of authenticity template, pre-filled with your case details, file name, byte size and hash - ready to date and sign.
  • True redaction: redacted text is removed before the PDF is created and cannot be recovered from the document.
  • Clean, printable Letter-size formatting with page numbers (Page X of Y).

Who it's for

Family court Custody, divorce and support matters where message history tells the story.
Small claims Agreements, payments and promises made over text.
Landlord / tenant Repair requests, notices and disputes documented in messages.
Fraud & scam victims Document the scammer's messages for police, the FTC/IC3 and your bank. How to do it →
Attorneys & paralegals Fast, consistent exhibit prep without per-seat software costs.

Optional AI Review Lab

Use local AI to find messages related to a claim, spot possible gaps, and create a review checklist. The official exhibit builder stays AI-free.

It runs entirely in your browser - your message text is not uploaded to any AI API - and it only organizes text by possible relevance. It does not give legal advice, decide admissibility, or change the exhibit PDF.

Open AI Review Lab

Frequently asked questions

Does ExhibitKit use AI on my evidence?

The official exhibit builder does not use AI. The optional AI Review Lab uses local browser AI to help organize messages by relevance. It does not provide legal advice, decide admissibility, or change the exhibit PDF.

Is ExhibitKit really private?

Yes. 100% of the processing happens in your browser. There is no server, no upload endpoint, no database and no account system. You can verify this yourself: open your browser's developer tools and watch the Network tab while you use the tool - no request ever contains your file's content.

Is this legal advice?

No. ExhibitKit formats records and computes integrity hashes. It is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. The declaration it produces is a template - evidentiary and declaration requirements vary by court and jurisdiction, so check your court's rules or ask an attorney.

Will courts accept exhibits made with ExhibitKit?

Honest answer: it depends. Admissibility is governed by your court's rules and by authentication - usually your own testimony that the messages are genuine. ExhibitKit gives you court-ready formatting and tamper-evidence (the SHA-256 hash of your original export on every page), which supports authentication. No tool can guarantee a court will admit an exhibit.

Can I export from iPhone?

WhatsApp: yes, easily, on any phone. iMessage/SMS: Apple provides no export feature, so you'll need a computer and a third-party tool (paid iMazing on Mac/PC, or the free imessage-exporter on a Mac) that produces a CSV - which ExhibitKit accepts. The export guide is straight with you about this.

What formats are supported?

WhatsApp chat exports (.txt, iOS or Android), SMS Backup & Restore XML files (Android), Facebook Messenger and Instagram JSON exports (message_1.json - JSON format, not HTML), and generic CSV files with a column-mapping step for everything else.

How much does it cost?

Nothing. No account, no trial limits, no watermarks. The whole tool is a static website.

Can I use this for a police report or fraud complaint instead of court?

Yes. The same hash-sealed, numbered PDF works for a police report, an IC3 or FTC complaint, or a bank dispute - skip the declaration if you don't need it. If you've been scammed, see our step-by-step scam evidence guide, and our companion site ScamKit.com for checking suspicious links and recovery steps.

Why not just hand the court the raw export?

You can - and you should keep it. But a WhatsApp .txt is unformatted, and Messenger/Instagram JSON and Android SMS XML are machine files (millisecond timestamps, reverse order, garbled emoji) that a court can't read, so they have to be converted anyway. ExhibitKit doesn't replace the export - it presents it: a clean, paginated, Bates-numbered exhibit, with the original file's SHA-256 hash so you can later prove the PDF was built from exactly that file, plus a declaration template for the authentication a court actually relies on. Best practice is to keep the original export as your underlying evidence and submit the exhibit as the readable version that's tied to it. ExhibitKit won't make evidence "more authentic" than the export - that comes from your testimony - but it makes it usable and tamper-evident.

What does the SHA-256 hash actually prove?

It's a cryptographic fingerprint of your original export file. Anyone can re-hash the same file later - with our verify page or standard command-line tools - and confirm it is byte-for-byte identical to the file used to prepare the exhibit. It proves the file hasn't been altered since hashing; it does not by itself prove who wrote the messages.