ClaimScout

Website: https://claimscout.thewiderlens.info

Find class action settlements you may qualify for, find the proof in your own email, and keep track of your claims. It runs on your PC, with an Android companion app. It's free and open source, with no account, no subscription and no paid APIs.

┌──────────── Your PC: ClaimScout server ──────────┐          ┌──── Android app ───────────┐
│ Collectors → open settlements (public sources)   │          │ "You may qualify" alerts   │
│ Matcher    → keyword rules + optional AI         │ ◄──────► │ Deadlines, claim forms     │
│ AI         → model on this PC, or OpenRouter     │  HTTPS,  │ Gmail / Outlook search     │
│ Proof      → reads the emails the phone found    │  pinned  │   for proof (on the phone) │
│ Tracker    → claims, numbers, payouts (SQLite)   │  cert    │ Claim tracker              │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘          └────────────────────────────┘

How it works

1. Collect. Every 6 hours the PC reads the public lists of open settlements from Top Class Actions, ClassAction.org and OpenClassActions, plus any community lists you add (plain JSON files; see below). The same settlement listed on several sites is merged into one. It keeps the eligibility rules, proof requirements, deadline and the official administrator's claim link.
2. Match. Your profile lists the companies and products you've used and the states you've lived in. Keyword rules rule out state-only settlements and flag the obvious matches. If AI is on, the model reads each remaining settlement against your profile and writes an email search plan: which senders and keywords to look for, and over what dates.
3. Find proof. On the phone, tap Find proof in my email. The phone searches your connected Gmail/Outlook (read-only) with that plan and sends only the matching emails (trimmed) to your PC. The AI picks out what proves something: order numbers, dates, amounts, breach notices. Without AI, simple patterns do it.
4. File. Open claim form takes you to the official settlement site. You fill it in and submit it yourself. ClaimScout never submits claims: they are sworn under penalty of perjury, and only you can say you qualify.
5. Track. Mark a claim as filed with its confirmation number, then update it to approved, paid or denied.

Install the PC server

Linux, one command:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TheWiderLensInitiative/claimscout/main/install.sh | bash

It downloads ClaimScout to ~/claimscout, gets Python if you don't have it (through uv, no sudo), starts ClaimScout in the background at login, offers to open your firewall for your home network, and ends with two QR codes: one to download the phone app, one to pair it. No root needed except for the firewall step.

• Update: run the same command again (or cd ~/claimscout && git pull && ./install.sh)
• Something not working: claimscout doctor checks the server, network addresses, firewall, Tailscale and the settlement sources, and says what to do in plain words
• Show the pairing code again: claimscout pair
• Remove it: ~/claimscout/install.sh --uninstall (keeps your data unless you delete ~/.local/share/claimscout)

macOS, Windows (WSL) or by hand:

cd ~/claimscout/server
python3 -m venv .venv && .venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt   # or: uv venv && uv pip install -r requirements.txt
.venv/bin/python -m claimscout serve

• Dashboard: .venv/bin/python -m claimscout open (http://127.0.0.1:8788, only reachable from this PC)
• Phone API: https on port 8787 (allow it through your firewall for your home network or Tailscale only)
• Other commands: claimscout refresh (check sources now), claimscout pair (pairing QR in the terminal), claimscout doctor (find problems), claimscout reset-token (unpair every phone)

Fill in Profile on the dashboard, then pair the phone from the Phone tab.

AI (optional)

Under AI & sources on the dashboard:

Choice	Cost	Privacy
Model on this PC: llama.cpp llama-server, Ollama (http://127.0.0.1:11434/v1), LM Studio	free	nothing leaves the PC
OpenRouter with a :free model (use “List free OpenRouter models”)	free, rate-limited	settlement text and the email excerpts go to OpenRouter and the model's host; free models may log prompts
Off	free	keyword rules only

Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint works. A 7B–30B instruct model is plenty.

The Android app

Download the APK from Releases (Android 9+), or build it with cd android && ./gradlew assembleDebug (needs JDK 17+ and the Android SDK). Release APKs are signed with this certificate (SHA-256): 17:47:90:CF:2A:DC:F8:D5:46:83:60:01:E8:FB:37:9D:18:B4:21:F4:0D:C0:81:EA:C3:36:F1:B0:E5:62:8F:30

To pair, tap Scan pairing QR code in the app and scan the code the installer showed (or claimscout pair, or the dashboard's Phone tab). Pasting the link works too. The first time, the app walks you through a short questionnaire that builds your profile, then email setup and notifications.

• Payout watcher: every 4 hours the phone checks your inboxes, Spam included, for settlement payment emails (virtual cards, "choose your payment" links, checks, requests for more information) and notifies you before they expire.

• Gmail: uses an app password over IMAP and searches with Gmail's own syntax. No Google Cloud project is needed, and there's no 100-user cap on unverified apps.

• Outlook / Hotmail / Microsoft 365: uses Microsoft Graph, read-only, with code sign-in. It needs a free app registration once (docs/OUTLOOK.md). Whoever builds the APK can set it in android/gradle.properties so users never see this step.

• Away from home: install Tailscale on the PC and phone. The pairing link includes the Tailscale address automatically.

Community settlement lists

Anyone can publish a list (a JSON file in a GitHub repo works) and anyone can subscribe to it under AI & sources:

[{"id": "acme-widget-2026", "title": "Acme Widget settlement", "claim_url": "https://acmesettlement.com/claim",
  "eligibility": "U.S. residents who bought an Acme Widget between Jan 1, 2020 and Dec 31, 2023.",
  "proof": "None", "proof_needed": 0, "deadline": "2026-12-31", "award": "Up to $50", "states": []}]

Only http(s) links are accepted.

Privacy

Full details: docs/PRIVACY.md. Security reports: SECURITY.md.

Everything ClaimScout knows about you stays in ~/.local/share/claimscout on your PC. On the phone, email passwords and tokens are sealed with an Android Keystore key and excluded from backups. Email is searched from the phone, read-only. Only matching messages, cut to 4,000 characters each, go to your PC over HTTPS pinned to your PC's own certificate. The PC stores the extracted facts (date, amount, order number, a one-line summary), not the emails. Nothing goes to any server of ours, because there isn't one. The single exception is if you choose OpenRouter for AI.

Not legal advice

ClaimScout isn't a law firm or a settlement administrator. Listings come from public sources and can be wrong or out of date, so always read the official notice. Only file claims you qualify for.

Brand

brand/source/logo-original.png is the original artwork. brand/make_brand.py traces it into the SVG logos (logo, logo-dark, mark, mark-dark, mark-mono, icon), the Android launcher, themed, notification and in-app drawables, and the dashboard mark. Colors: blue #0081FE, ink #191A1C. Buttons use #0066CC (light) and #4DA3FF (dark) so their text meets WCAG AA.

Development

cd server && .venv/bin/python -m pytest -q

Contact: [email protected] · Created by DevIgnite × The Wider Lens Initiative Project · Apache 2.0 · see NOTICE for credits