No. A summary picks what matters and drops the rest. Shorten keeps everything specific and cuts only how it is said.

What if it cannot reach my target?

It gets as close as the facts allow and tells you. A passage whose shorter version loses a fact keeps its words.

Does the structure stay?

Yes. Headings, list items and paragraphs keep their place, so the result drops into your document as is.

Reduce word count without losing a fact

Half the length. None of the facts lost.

Set a target, from 20% to 90% of the original, and Shorten will reduce word count by cutting repetition, padding and wordiness. Every number, date, condition and decision stays.

Shorten it

6 free pages a month. No card.

A long document is condensed into a shorter note.

Made for

Announcements and emails that need to fit a glance
Reports and proposals with a word limit
Summaries you can trust not to invent anything

Before and after

Example: 94 → 36 words · every fact kept

Original

Starting on 1 October, all invoices will be sent from billing@acme.com instead of the old address. This change affects every customer on a monthly or annual plan. If you have set up email filters or rules that look for the old address, you will need to update them so that invoices keep arriving where you expect them. Invoices themselves will not change in any way: amounts, due dates and payment methods all stay exactly the same as before. If you have any questions about this change, our support team is available to help.

Result

From 1 October, invoices for every monthly and annual plan come from billing@acme.com.

Update any email filters that look for the old address.

Amounts, due dates and payment methods stay the same. Questions? Ask support.

Kept: 1 October
Kept: billing@acme.com
Kept: monthly and annual
Kept: filters

How Shorten works

Step 01
Empty sentences go first
Sentences that repeat what the passage already says are cut without a rewrite.
Step 02
Each passage gets a target
Your length applies to every passage, so nothing is squeezed to make room for another.
Step 03
The rest is tightened
Repetition, padding and wordy phrasing go; sentences that share a subject merge.
Step 04
Facts are checked
If the target and the facts conflict, the facts win and the passage comes as close as they allow.

Options

Target length: Keep 20% to 90% of the original. Default 50%.
Write in: Keep the language, or translate while shortening.

From code, terminal or agent

# REST API
curl https://readable.md/api/v1/transform \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $READABLE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "tool": "shorten", "text": "…", "length": 0.4 }'

# Command line
readable shorten report.md --length 0.4 --out short.md

# MCP tool: shorten

API, MCP and CLI docs

Questions

Is this a summary?: No. A summary picks what matters and drops the rest. Shorten keeps everything specific and cuts only how it is said.
What if it cannot reach my target?: It gets as close as the facts allow and tells you. A passage whose shorter version loses a fact keeps its words.
Does the structure stay?: Yes. Headings, list items and paragraphs keep their place, so the result drops into your document as is.