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Chrome extension – side panel – for ServeManager
Serve Companion
Serve Companion is a free Chrome side panel for ServeManager that shows the job you’re on, posts notes from any site, and never writes to ServeManager without your review.
BETA · CHROME WEB STORE LISTING IN PREPARATION
Version 1.1.9 is in beta testing and is not on the Chrome Web Store yet. It works with any ServeManager account through your own API key. Serve Companion is an independent tool, not affiliated with, endorsed by or supported by ServeManager. Read the full privacy policy and disclaimer. Questions: dhseadev@gmail.com
What it shows while you work
Open a job in ServeManager and the panel loads it beside the page: status, recipient, client, server, address, due date and attempt count. Click to the next job and it follows.
- Attempts with time, service type, GPS and file count, plus a count of mornings, afternoons, evenings and weekends tried, so a missing time of day stands out.
- GPS distance flags on attempts logged farther from the address than your limit (half a mile by default).
- Highlighted service instructions – personal service only, time windows, safety words and call-the-client-first – with the box opening itself when something is flagged.
- Timeline of the whole job, and a client update draft you can copy, email or turn into a note.
- Files opened through a fresh link each time, because ServeManager’s file links expire after a few minutes.
Only the ServeManager job number is ever shown. ServeManager’s internal record number is used behind the scenes to build links and never reaches the screen.
What it writes, and when
Three things can write to ServeManager, and nothing else. Each one needs you to press the confirm button on its own review step. Nothing writes on its own, on a schedule, or when a page loads.
| Write | Default | What has to be true first |
|---|---|---|
| Post a note | On | The job number matches exactly one job, and you confirm after seeing its recipient and client |
| Change status | Off | You turn it on, pick from your own status list, and confirm on the review step |
| Log an attempt | Off | You turn it on, the time is not in the future or more than 90 days old, and you confirm |
Batch notes check every number first and list the ones that did not match. Those are skipped, never guessed. It does not file anything with a court, cancel jobs or delete anything, and a status change can only use your own status list.
Notes from your inbox
ServeManager does not need to be open. From an email or a court site, select text and right-click Add selected text to a Serve Companion note, or select a job number and choose Quick note to job. Alt+Shift+N opens the panel straight on Notes. The same exact-match check and review step apply.
Saved templates fill the note box for the notes you write most often.
Lists for servers and for the office
The Team tab has three views, each of which can be turned off:
- Assigned to me – pick yourself once, and ServeManager is asked only for your own open jobs: needs attention, due soon, no recent attempt.
- Jobs I opened – a watchlist built from jobs you have viewed. It reads nothing from ServeManager.
- Whole account – off by default. For office managers: server workload, unsigned affidavits, court dates in the next two weeks and jobs not yet invoiced.
Filter by server, client or county, open a Google Maps route through up to ten listed addresses, or export every list to one Excel file with ServeManager’s own column names.
It reads only what you asked for
Account lists are read when you press Check now, never because the panel opened. Automatic checking is a setting you turn on. Switching off the unsigned-affidavit, court-date or not-invoiced list removes its read entirely, and a turned-off feature stops reading anything for itself. Assigned to me uses ServeManager’s own server filter, so a large account stays quick.
Every feature can be turned off
Everything beyond the job’s own details is a switch: find a job, recently viewed, pinned jobs, copy buttons, maps, client contact, highlights, client update, attempts, files, timeline, each Team view and list, the right-click items, the tour and the activity log. An office can set it up once and share the settings file. API keys are never included in that file.
Pinned jobs
A star on any job, a private note per pin, and optional alerts when a pinned job gets an attempt, is served or has its affidavit signed.
Find a job
Type a job number to open it, or a name, address or case number to list matching jobs.
Activity log
Off by default. Counts the actions you choose, once per job per day, and exports a log and daily summary.
Field check
A report of which fields your account returns, with no job details, for when something looks blank.
Accessibility
The panel, settings and help pages are scanned with axe-core 4.13 (WCAG A and AA rules through 2.2, plus best practices) in 22 states, light and dark: zero violations on version 1.1.9. Light, dark or match-your-computer themes, a text size setting, and two keyboard shortcuts: Alt+Shift+S opens the panel and Alt+Shift+N opens it on Notes.
Questions
Does it work with any ServeManager account?
Yes. It uses ServeManager’s public API with your own key, and sees whatever that key can see.
Can it file affidavits or complete service?
No. It reads jobs and posts notes after you confirm them. If you turn them on, it can also change a job’s status and log an attempt, each after a review step. It does not file anything with a court, cancel jobs or delete anything.
Is Serve Companion made by ServeManager?
No. It is an independent tool built by DHSeaDev and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or supported by ServeManager.
Does it send job data anywhere besides ServeManager?
Only when you ask it to. An address goes to Google Maps when you press Map or Route, a file link to ServeManager’s file storage when you press Open, and a client update to your email app when you press Email. There is no analytics or tracking of any kind.
Is it on the Chrome Web Store?
Not yet. Version 1.1.9 is in beta testing, and this page will carry the install link once the listing is live.
Privacy
What Serve Companion stores and where data goes
Your API key is encrypted with AES-256-GCM before it is saved, using a non-extractable browser key whose raw bytes no script can read. It is decrypted only in the extension’s background worker, never shown again, and never synced or exported.
Job data goes only to ServeManager, with three exceptions you trigger yourself: Google Maps receives an address only when you press Map or Route, ServeManager’s file storage receives a file link only when you press Open, and your email app receives a client update only when you press Email. No analytics, no tracking, no server of ours.
Stored on your computer: summaries of jobs you viewed and the optional activity log, each deleted automatically after the period you set (30 and 90 days by default), and pins, kept until you unpin them. One button removes everything.
Site access: servemanager.com only. Notifications and access to ServeManager’s file storage are optional and asked for only when you turn on the feature that needs them.
The full privacy policy and disclaimer covers retention, deletion, permissions and limits of liability. Contact: dhseadev@gmail.com
Built on ServeManager’s API
Serve Companion uses the ServeManager API with a key you create on your own API Keys page, so it sees exactly what that key can see and nothing more. One key per person is recommended: ServeManager shows when each key was last used, and revoking a key in ServeManager ends that key’s access. ServeManager is a job-management platform used by process-serving firms. “ServeManager” is their trademark and is used here only to describe what this extension works with.
Read more
A ServeManager side panel that never writes on its own – the build, and what ServeManager’s API documentation changed.
The ServeManager API is a document, not a record – the traps in integrating with it.
ServeBoard – local-first analytics for the same kind of records.
A DHSeaDev project. Version 1.1.9 was verified before packaging with 145 unit tests, 202 of 202 mutants killed and 168 real-browser assertions.