I Built an Offline Contract Risk Analyzer That Flags the Clauses That Cost You the Most
Last month a friend signed a 12-month SaaS contract without reading clause 14. It auto-renewed for another year and the early-termination fee was three months of subscription. She is not careless; the clause was just 40 words buried on page 6 of a 9-page agreement. That is the problem ClauseGuard attacks: the clauses that cost ordinary people the most money are the ones written to be skimmed…
A Python-based offline contract risk analyzer called ClauseGuard was created to highlight the clauses in SaaS contracts that could cause significant financial losses. The tool runs entirely locally, without any internet connections or API keys, making it a secure option for sensitive legal documents like contracts, NDAs, leases, and pre-nups.
ClauseGuard uses a rule-based engine with 12 different risk detectors to flag high-risk clauses in contracts, such as auto-renewal traps, unilaterally modified terms, uncapped indemnities, and broad IP assignments. Each flagged clause is accompanied by a plain-language explanation and negotiation suggestions, allowing users to understand why the clause is risky and how to mitigate the potential harm.
The tool can also generate a self-contained HTML report to be shared before signing a contract. ClauseGuard is MIT licensed and can be accessed on GitHub.
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