Every displayed fact should lead back to a CPSC record.
This page explains the source, transformations, category rules, and limitations behind Home Recall Watch.
Retrieval and freshness
Recall data is retrieved from the official CPSC Recalls API in a maintainer-run refresh step, validated against the documented schema, and stored as a verified snapshot that the entire site is built from. Every page shows when its data was last refreshed.
If a refresh fails validation — including the API returning an error response or an implausibly small dataset — the previous verified snapshot stays in place. Invalid or incomplete data is never published.
Validation and safe display
Incoming records are validated against a tolerant schema because older CPSC records can contain optional or differently shaped fields. External text is treated as untrusted: markup and control characters are removed, whitespace is normalized, and excessive field lengths are bounded.
Links are accepted only when they use HTTP or HTTPS. Official-notice calls to action prefer CPSC-hosted URLs. The site does not render raw HTML from the API.
Model-number normalization
Model values supplied by CPSC may be separated by line breaks, commas, semicolons, or repeated across product entries. Home Recall Watch splits common separators, trims surrounding whitespace, and removes exact duplicates while preserving meaningful letters, digits, and punctuation.
A comparison key may ignore case, spaces, and non-semantic separators to improve matching. The displayed value remains traceable to the source. No missing model number is inferred or generated.
Category classification
The four site categories are deterministic application groupings, not a claim that CPSC uses the same taxonomy. Keyword allowlists and exclusions examine verified product names, types, descriptions, titles, and model text. A record that cannot be classified with the supported rules is not placed on a category page.
Search and ranking
Search favors exact model-number and recall-number matches, followed by verified brand, product, title, description, and hazard text. Multiple terms must all match after normalization. Filters are applied before pagination; an empty query returns the newest supported records.
Category pages and brand pages organize records but do not change the underlying CPSC facts.
What “Last verified” means
“Last verified” describes when the displayed dataset was retrieved or validated by this application. It is not the publication date, a new CPSC decision, or confirmation that a specific product unit is affected.
Recall notices can change. Always open the official notice for the final product description, status, and remedy instructions.
Corrections and limitations
Home Recall Watch can contain processing errors or data that lags the newest CPSC notices until the next refresh. Report a suspected display or classification problem through the contact page. For a question about the recall itself, use the contact information in the official notice or contact CPSC.