Your Code Formatter Might Be Sending Your Code to a Server

Most developers assume that clicking 'Format Code' on a web utility simply runs prettier in the browser.

In reality, many legacy tool sites operate as thin wrappers around backend microservices. Your code is sent to an external server, passed through a containerized CLI tool, and returned as JSON.

This means:

1. Your proprietary code is transmitted over public networks
2. Your code lives in memory on an external server
3. Your code may be logged in web server request bodies for debugging

In 2026, WebAssembly and modern JavaScript engines make this roundtrip completely unnecessary. Prettier, linters, and AST parsers run natively in the browser.

Keep your code where it belongs: on your device.
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