Privacy and terms
What Stereochem stores locally, what it sends to PubChem, and the terms for using it.
Stereochem is a free, independent web application. This page covers what it stores, what it sends over the network, and the terms for using it.
What Stereochem stores
Stereochem has no accounts and no server-side storage of your molecules. Everything below stays in your browser:
- Recently opened structures are kept in IndexedDB so you can reopen them without re-fetching or re-importing.
- Saved fragments (reusable pieces of a 2D sketch) are kept in localStorage.
- Your pinned toolbar elements are kept in localStorage.
- Your theme choice (light, dark, or system) is kept in localStorage.
- Whether you have seen the guided tour is kept in localStorage, so it doesn't start again on its own.
Clearing your browser's site data for Stereochem removes all of it. None of this is sent anywhere.
What Stereochem sends over the network
Fetch from PubChem. If you use Fetch from PubChem to load a structure by compound name, the name you type is sent to NCBI PubChem (pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) to resolve it and download a structure. If PubChem reports it's busy (HTTP 503, which it returns above its own rate limit), Stereochem shows an error and asks you to try again in a few seconds; it does not queue requests or retry automatically. Manual drawing, local file import, and SMILES builds do not use this lookup and make no network request. Data from PubChem, National Library of Medicine.
Feedback. The feedback links in the More menu and the command palette open other sites in a new tab. Nothing is sent until you submit something there. Report a bug and Suggest a feature open a public issue form on GitHub. The bug report form comes pre-filled with the Stereochem version and your browser's user-agent string, and you can edit or delete both before you submit. Issues are public, so don't include unpublished or confidential structures. Feedback without GitHub opens a Tally form. What you submit there is stored by Tally and seen only by the Stereochem maintainer.
Analytics. Stereochem does not use analytics or tracking of any kind, and does not set third-party cookies.
Terms
Stereochem is provided as-is, with no warranty, for educational and hobbyist use. Verify structures and computed energies independently before relying on them for anything else; nothing here is medical, safety, or synthesis advice.
Stereochem is built on the open-source Avogadro chemistry libraries and RDKit, but is an independent project, not an official Avogadro or RDKit release, and is not endorsed by either project. See third-party notices for the full list of components and licences.