Placeholder Patroller is a Google Docs™ add-on that helps you review and fix placeholder text before sharing or exporting a document.

Many documents—such as contracts, proposals, or reports—are created from templates that include placeholders (for example `[Client Name]`, `{Date}`, or `TODO`). These can be easy to miss during manual proofreading.

Placeholder Patroller helps you quickly locate these items so your document is ready before it is shared.

⚙️ How It Works

When the add-on is opened, a sidebar appears alongside your document.

**1. Scan the document**  
Click **Start Scan** to analyze the current document.

**2. Review results**  
Detected placeholders are listed in the sidebar with surrounding context to help identify their location.

**3. Navigate instantly**  
Click any item to move directly to that location in the document and highlight it for editing.

**4. Rescan if needed**  
Run another scan after making updates to confirm all placeholders have been addressed.

🔍 Placeholder Patterns Detected

The add-on identifies common placeholder formats used in templates:

- Square brackets: `[Client]`  
- Curly braces: `{Date}` or `{{Date}}`  
- Angle brackets: `<Company>`  
- Blank lines using underscores: `___`  
- Ellipsis placeholders: `...`  
- Action keywords such as `INSERT` or `TODO` 

🎛️ Scan Preferences

You can choose which placeholder types to include in the scan.

A **Scan Preferences** panel allows patterns to be enabled or disabled, and results update immediately when preferences are changed.

🔐 Privacy and Data Handling

Placeholder Patroller processes document content within the Google Docs™ environment.

- Document text is not stored externally  
- Access is limited to the currently open document  

👥 Typical Use Cases

This add-on is useful for reviewing documents created from templates, including:

- Proposals and client documents  
- Contracts and agreements  
- Reports and internal documentation

Google Docs™ is a trademark of Google LLC.