# License

Maistik Forge Kit is **proprietary software**, owned exclusively by Maistik
Studio. This page is a plain-language companion to the authoritative text in
the `LICENSE` file included in every release archive. If the two ever
disagree, the `LICENSE` file governs.

::: warning Not legal advice
This page explains the license; it is not a substitute for reading the full
text, and it is not legal advice for your specific situation. For a licensing
agreement, [talk to us](https://maistik.studio).
:::

## Repository access is not a license to use

You can read, clone, or fork this repository. That access, on its own, does
**not** grant any right to run Forge, deploy it, or otherwise obtain its
operational benefit. Maistik retains all ownership of the Software — the
source code, the binary, the documentation, and everything derived from
them — whether or not every individual file says so.

Productive use requires a **separate, active paid license** from Maistik. See
[Get Forge Kit for your organization](https://maistik.studio).

## What a license covers

Your license is defined by an **Order Form** — issued or accepted by Maistik,
and confirmed by your purchase — which names your organisation, your seat count,
your named developers, and your term. The `LICENSE` file supplies everything the
Order Form does not.

**Seats are per developer, and they are named, not concurrent.** A seat is used
by each person who runs `forge`, contractors included. Seats are not shared
between people, but a seat can be reassigned when someone leaves.

**Machines never consume a seat.** Repositories, CI runners, build agents,
pre-commit hooks, and autonomous runs are unlimited on every tier, as long as
each person operating Forge holds a seat. Enforcing the harness everywhere is
the point of it — charging per runner would be charging you to use the product
properly.

**One legal entity.** Your license covers the company named on the Order Form,
not its parent, subsidiaries, or affiliates.

**Client work is permitted.** You may run Forge on your clients' repositories.
Your client does not acquire a license because you worked on their code; if they
want to run Forge themselves, they need their own.

**Outgrowing your seat count** is a conversation, not a violation — tell us and
we will amend the Order Form. Because repository access is granted per GitHub
account, adding developers involves us either way.

**At renewal we ask you to confirm your developer count in writing.** That is a
self-certification, not an audit. We will never ask for access to your systems,
your repositories, or your records to verify it.

## Cancellation

Licenses are billed annually and renew until you cancel. Cancel from the billing
portal at any time; the license runs to the end of the term you have paid for,
and repository access ends with it.

Enterprise licenses are executed under an Order Form, where cancellation terms
are agreed as part of the negotiation.

## Activation works offline

Your license key is a signed token you paste in once. Forge verifies the
signature **locally**, on your machine, with no network call — it works
air-gapped, and inside a CI runner with no egress. There is no license server,
and Forge never checks in to ask permission to run.

Before a key expires, Forge warns you on every run for fourteen days, then keeps
working through a seven-day grace period past the expiry date, and only then
refuses. A renewal sitting in somebody's spam folder will not turn your pipeline
red overnight.

::: info Not shipped yet
Signed license keys are designed but not yet implemented. Today, access is
controlled entirely through the private release repository. This page will stop
carrying this notice when activation ships.
:::

## What the license does not permit

Without a separate written agreement granting the specific right, you may not:

- **Use it commercially.** Offer Forge, or a product or service built on it,
  to a third party for a fee or other consideration.
- **Redistribute or sublicense it.** Publish, distribute, or otherwise make
  the Software available to anyone else — modified or not, paid or free.
- **Compete with it.** Use the Software, or anything you learned by studying
  it, to build, support, or assist a competing product or service.
- **Strip the notices.** Remove or alter the license or any copyright and
  proprietary notices in the Software.

Using the Software outside these terms ends whatever limited rights this
license grants, immediately and automatically.

## No warranty

The Software is provided "as is," with no warranty of any kind. Maistik is
not liable for any claim or damages arising from the Software or its use. See
the full disclaimer in the `LICENSE` file shipped with your release.

## Get a license

To license Forge Kit for your organization, or to ask a licensing question,
[book a call at maistik.studio](https://maistik.studio).

## Next steps

- `LICENSE`, in your release archive — the authoritative full text.
- [Compliance overview](/compliance/) — where Forge stands on AI regulation.
- [Report a vulnerability](https://maistik.studio) — how to reach us privately.