License

The License tab shows where you stand — on the free trial, fully licensed, or needing attention — and lets you manage it without leaving the app: activate a key, buy one, re-check status, or release this device’s seat. askTheodor includes a 7-day free trial with every feature unlocked; after that, a license keeps the full app running.

Updates are never gated

A lapsed or missing license never blocks updates. You always get the latest signed build from Settings → Updates, license or not.

Status

A badge at the top tells you the current mode at a glance:

• ✨ Free trial — you’re inside the 7-day trial. The panel shows how many days remain and when the trial started.
• ✓ Licensed — a valid license is active on this device; your plan is shown beside the badge.
• ⚠ Needs attention — the license needs a re-check or has an issue (the reason is shown).
• 🔒 Trial ended — the trial is over and no license is active.

Licensed details

When licensed, a details grid shows:

• License key — your key, masked (only part is shown).
• Registered to — the email the license is tied to.
• Expires — the renewal date, or Never (lifetime) for a lifetime license.
• Last verified online — the last time the app confirmed your license with the server.
• Offline grace — how many days the app keeps working without an online check (so you can work offline or on a plane).
• Live kiosks — how many kiosk seats are licensed, if any (each billed monthly).
• Remote add-on — shown when a headless/VPS runner instance is licensed.

Activate a license

If you’re not licensed, paste the key from your purchase email into the field — keys look like ATH-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX — and click Activate. One license activates one instance of askTheodor on this device. On success you’ll see a confirmation; on failure, the reason.

Two more buttons sit here:

• Buy a license → — opens the pricing page in your browser.
• I already paid — re-check — re-queries the server if you’ve paid but the app hasn’t picked it up yet.

Manage (when licensed)

• Re-check now — refreshes your license status against the server on demand.
• Deactivate this device — releases this device’s activation so you can use the seat on another machine. It frees the seat immediately; you can re-activate here any time. (Asks to confirm.)
• Manage subscription ↗ — opens an email to support for billing changes.

Device ID

At the very bottom, this device’s ID is shown. Share it with support if they need to identify your machine for a license issue.

Moving to a new computer

Going to a new machine? Deactivate this device here first to free the seat, then Activate your key on the new install. The license follows you; the seat doesn’t get stuck on the old machine.

In practice

“Your license token is invalid — re-activate to fix it.” This almost never means your key is bad. The stored token is device-bound and signed; it stops verifying if it’s stale (issued by an older build) or was carried over from another machine. The fix is exactly what it says: paste your key and Activate again to mint a fresh token. Check the key itself in the admin only if re-activating fails.

Deactivate before you wipe or replace a machine. A seat released deliberately is instantly reusable; a seat stranded on a laptop you no longer have needs support to clear. This is the one licensing habit worth remembering.

A restored backup doesn’t restore activation. Bundles carry your workspace, not your device binding, so re-activate after importing onto a new machine — the same two clicks.

Buying for a team: each person gets their own key rather than sharing one, so someone leaving is a single revocation rather than a re-key for everyone. Keep the spare keys somewhere real — a password manager, not a text file next to the app.

Terms in this page

• Trial — a 7-day period with every feature unlocked, no key required, so you can evaluate askTheodor before buying.
• License / license key — the key (format ATH-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) that authorizes the full app on a device after the trial. Masked once stored.
• Activate — register your license key on this specific device, claiming one seat.
• Deactivate — release this device’s seat so the license can be used elsewhere.
• Seat / instance — one activation of askTheodor; one license covers one running instance per device.
• Lifetime — a license with no expiry date.
• Offline grace — the number of days the app keeps working without contacting the licensing server, so brief offline stretches don’t lock you out.
• Online check — askTheodor periodically confirming your license with the server; “last verified online” is when that last happened.
• Kiosk — a locked-down public/display instance; kiosk seats are an add-on billed per month.
• Remote add-on — an entitlement that licenses a headless instance run on a server or VPS (the --runner mode).
• Device ID — a unique identifier for this machine, used by support to look up a license issue.
• Subscription — a recurring (monthly or yearly) license, as opposed to a one-time lifetime purchase.