Extension support

First use

The extension is waiting for consent

On first use, CC Index Check displays a short data-use disclosure. It does not read the active tab URL or contact a provider until you click Check this page. If the consent record cannot be saved in Chrome local storage, the check does not begin.

The disclosure explains that internet requests expose ordinary connection metadata, including the client IP address. MAXPlaces uses an IP-derived SHA-256 quota key for abuse prevention that expires after approximately 10 minutes; direct fallback providers receive ordinary request metadata under their policies.

After acceptance, opening the popup starts the check automatically. Clearing extension data or uninstalling removes the saved choice, so the disclosure will appear again after a fresh installation.

Unsupported page

“This page can’t be checked”

Open a normal public website using http:// or https://, then open the extension again. Chrome pages, extension pages, local files, local or internal hostnames, IP-address URLs, non-default ports, and unusually long URLs are intentionally rejected.

The extension is intended for public pages. It removes credentials, query parameters, and fragments but retains the path, so avoid checking a private account or transaction path you would not want to send to a lookup provider.

Provider status

A result shows “Unknown”

Unknown means a provider timed out, rate-limited the request, returned a server error, or did not provide a response the extension could trust. It is not evidence that the site or page is absent.

Wait a few minutes and choose Recheck. If MAXPlaces itself is unavailable, the extension can query Common Crawl and Metehan directly and labels the result as a direct fallback. A valid MAXPlaces response that says a provider is unknown remains unknown rather than being contradicted by another path.

Scoped result

A site or page shows “Not seen”

Not seen means the reported lookup did not return a qualifying capture from the identified crawl index. It does not search every historical Common Crawl collection and does not prove that Common Crawl has never captured the host.

Host visibility and exact-page visibility are different signals. A host sample can show that a site has crawl evidence while the exact current path remains unavailable or not returned by the bounded sample.

WebGraph

HC Rank or PageRank is missing

Metehan WebGraph covers a bounded ranking set. Not ranked means the normalized hostname was not returned from that set; it does not mean the site is absent from Common Crawl. A provider error is shown as unknown instead.

HC Rank and PageRank are comparative positions derived from Common Crawl WebGraph data. Lower positions are better within the reported set. They are not Google Search rankings, Google Search Console metrics, or the discontinued Google Toolbar PageRank.

Recheck and cache

The timestamp changed but the evidence did not

Recheck bypasses the result saved on your device and contacts MAXPlaces again. MAXPlaces or an upstream provider can reuse recent public evidence, so the popup separately labels the recheck time, server cache, and available data age. Identical evidence after a recheck does not mean the button failed.

Conclusive local results are fresh for up to 24 hours; inconclusive results for 5 minutes. At most 50 sanitized URLs and reports are retained, and expired entries are pruned when the extension later accesses the cache.

Reset

Remove the saved consent choice and local cache

The extension has no background account or cloud-synced cache. To return to a clean local state:

1. Open chrome://extensions and find CC Index Check.
2. Use Chrome controls to clear data specifically for the extension, if available, or remove the extension.
3. Reinstall or reload it. The first-use disclosure should appear before another active-tab read.

Disabling and re-enabling an extension may not clear its local storage. Removing local data cannot recall a request already delivered to a provider or delete another operator’s ordinary infrastructure logs.

Limitations

What CC Index Check cannot tell you

• Common Crawl presence does not prove that an AI model trained on, retrieves, or cites a page.
• A single reported crawl does not represent every historical or future Common Crawl release.
• A host capture sample does not establish the site’s canonical protocol or preferred URL.
• WebGraph rank movement does not diagnose the cause of a visibility or authority change.
• The extension is a quick evidence check, not a technical SEO, privacy, or security audit.