Legal

Terms of Use

Effective Date: August 26, 2026

These Terms cover your use of CARAPACE — the Linux installer, the website at carapace.info, the macOS application (distributed as Carapace-*.dmg), and the iOS application (distributed through the Apple App Store) — together, the "Software."

By installing, downloading, running, or using any part of the Software, you agree to these Terms. If you don't agree, don't use it.

1. No warranty

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, OR THAT THE SOFTWARE WILL BE ERROR-FREE, UNINTERRUPTED, OR SECURE. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES; IN THOSE JURISDICTIONS THE ABOVE EXCLUSION APPLIES TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

2. Your responsibility

You are solely responsible for:

  • the security of any system on which you install, run, or use the Software (including physical and network access, OS updates, firewall, SSH, and remote-access configuration — including Tailscale, which we recommend but do not operate);
  • your API keys and any charges those keys incur with third-party AI providers or hosting companies;
  • the data you process with the Software, and for backups;
  • evaluating AI output before relying on it — models can be wrong.

The Software is designed so conversations and agent data stay on hardware you control. That also means: if your server disappears, so does your data. We don't have copies.

3. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, USE, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF LEGAL THEORY. THE AUTHOR'S TOTAL LIABILITY SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID FOR THE SOFTWARE IN THE PAST TWELVE MONTHS OR (B) ONE U.S. DOLLAR.

This includes — without limitation — any liability for data breaches, privacy incidents, credential or API-key compromise, data loss, or any other security event affecting your systems or data.

Some jurisdictions don't allow certain limitations of liability. In those jurisdictions the above applies only to the extent permitted.

4. Third-party services

The Software works with third-party services (Tailscale, Cloudflare, Apple, your hosting company, the AI provider behind whichever runtime you pair (Claude Code, Codex or OpenClaw), and — if you enable one — a third-party text-to-speech provider). Those services are operated by their owners under their own terms, and we're not responsible for their availability, pricing, security, or the charges you incur with them. Any API keys you supply for them are yours, and so are the charges they generate.

5. In-app purchases (iOS)

Pairing gateways is free and unlimited. The iOS application sells one thing:

  • CARAPACE Pro — an auto-renewing subscription, offered monthly ($4.99 per month) or yearly ($39.99 per year), with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers. Unlocks Runtime Control. Everything else in the app — pairing, chat, voice, vision — works without it.

Subscription terms, as Apple requires them stated:

  • Auto-renewing. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically within 24 hours before the end of each period unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before that point.
  • The free trial converts. A 7-day trial renews at the price of the plan you chose unless you cancel before it ends. If you subscribe while a free trial is running, any unused portion of that trial is forfeited.
  • Cancel any time. Manage or cancel in your Apple ID Account Settings (Settings → your name → Subscriptions).
  • Not refundable by us. Refund requests must be made through Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com. We don't process payments and cannot issue refunds directly.

Legacy device-tier purchases (Household, Power, Corporate). These one-time purchases were sold before CARAPACE Pro existed and are no longer offered. If you bought one, it stays tied to your Apple ID, remains shareable across your Apple Family group, survives re-installs and device upgrades, and keeps Runtime Control unlocked permanently at no further charge. You will never be asked to subscribe for something you already paid for.

Anything those tiers described that we have not shipped — including the Meta Ray-Ban glasses beta — remains unshipped, and no purchase was ever conditioned on it. The App Store build of CARAPACE supports no external hardware of any kind. Glasses support exists only in a separate build the developer runs personally, is gated on Meta opening third-party SDK access, and may never ship. CARAPACE has no partnership with Meta.

Mac & Linux: free, permanently. The macOS application (Carapace-*.dmg) and the Linux installer (install.sh from carapace.info) are and will remain free to download, install, and run — with no device cap, no login, no required subscription. This is a permanent commitment, not a promotional window. Section 10 ("Changes") does not give us the right to walk this back: no future update of these Terms can introduce a paywall, device limit, time-limited trial, or mandatory login to the macOS app or the Linux installer. Revenue is earned exclusively through the iOS app's optional in-app purchases.

6. Privacy

We don't run a cloud for your conversations. Your prompts, transcripts, and camera frames travel directly between your iPhone and the gateway you operate — not through us. Speech-to-text runs on your iPhone, so the audio itself never leaves the device. If you enable a third-party voice provider, your phone sends that provider the text to be spoken, after asking you first — see section 5c of the Privacy Policy. See the full Privacy Policy for details on what we do and don't collect, and how the iOS app handles purchase data.

7. Age

You must be at least 13 years old to use the iOS application. Users under 13 should use CARAPACE under a parent's Apple ID with Apple Family Sharing, which applies parental controls and Ask-to-Buy approval for any in-app purchases.

8. You agree to indemnify

If a third party sues us because of how you used the Software or the data you processed with it, you agree to cover our reasonable costs (including attorneys' fees) to defend or resolve the claim, to the extent permitted by law.

9. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, United States. Any dispute will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Orange County, California.

10. Changes

We may update these Terms from time to time. The current version will always live at carapace.info/terms/. Continued use after an update means you accept the new version.

Carve-out. The Mac and Linux free-permanence commitment in Section 5 is expressly excluded from the Section 10 right to update. We may change anything else in these Terms, but we cannot use an update to introduce a paywall, device cap, time-limited trial, or mandatory login for the macOS application or the Linux installer. If we ever attempt to do so in a future revision, that specific change is void ab initio and the then-current version of the Mac/Linux promise in Section 5 controls.

Contact

Questions: [email protected]