> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.kvelden.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Licensing & Expiry

> How Enclave SaaS licenses work, and exactly what stays available during the grace period after a license expires.

> [!NOTE]
>
> This page describes the hosted **SaaS** service. For what each tier includes —
> storage, users, and features, plus storage add-ons — see
> [Plans & Storage](https://docs.kvelden.com/enclave/saas/plans.md). For the self-hosted appliance, see
> [Licensing & Activation](https://docs.kvelden.com/enclave/appliance/licensing.md) — an appliance never
> hard-locks and behaves slightly differently on expiry.

## How licensing works

Your organisation's access to Enclave is governed by a **license** (or a
time-boxed **trial**). The license sets your plan tier and a validity window.
The owner can see the current status, tier, and expiry date at any time on the
**License** page (**Settings → License**, `/license`).

Enclave does **not** cut off access the moment a license expires. Enterprise
deployments get a staged **grace period** so a lapsed renewal never causes an
abrupt outage or data lock-out.

## Expiry lifecycle

After the expiry date, a tenant moves through three stages. The banner at the
top of the app tells you which stage you are in and how long it lasts.

| Stage | When | What works | Banner |
| - | - | - | - |
| **Active** | License valid | Everything on your tier | None (a renewal reminder appears in the last **14 days**) |
| **Grace** | **0–14 days** after expiry | **Everything — full access.** Upload, share, edit, create rooms, manage org, all reads and writes | 🟠 Orange — *"License expired — full access continues for N more days."* |
| **Read-only** | **14–30 days** after expiry | **Reads only.** View, download, and share-access to existing data continues. New uploads, edits, deletes, and other changes are blocked and return a "read-only mode" message | 🟠 Dark orange — *"License expired — read-only mode. N days until full lock."* |
| **Locked** | **more than 30 days** after expiry | **Access is disabled.** All requests are blocked until the license is renewed. Your data is retained, not deleted | 🔴 Red — *"Account locked — your license has expired and access is disabled."* |

> [!NOTE]
>
> **The banner always matches what is actually enforced.** The colour and message
> are derived from the same server-side evaluation that gates each request, so
> the banner you see is an accurate statement of what you can and cannot do right
> now — it will not, for example, say "locked" while uploads still work.

### What "read-only" blocks

During the read-only stage (14–30 days after expiry), **write** operations are
paused: file uploads and new versions, file/folder moves and deletes, creating
or changing Secure Rooms, sharing changes, and organisation/security policy
edits. **Read** operations continue: listing, viewing, previewing, downloading,
and opening shared links to data that already exists.

### What "locked" means

After 30 days, the account is fully locked — both reads and writes are blocked —
and the owner is directed to **Contact Sales** to renew. Nothing is deleted:
restoring a valid license immediately returns the account to full access.

## Renewing

Renew from **Settings → License**, or use the **Renew License** button in the
expiry banner. A renewed license takes effect immediately with no downtime — if
the account was in read-only or locked state, full access is restored as soon as
the new license is active.

We recommend renewing during the 14-day warning window **before** expiry to avoid
entering the grace ladder at all.

> [!TIP]
>
> Only the organisation **owner** (and a **security officer**, for infrastructure
> settings) sees the license banner and the License page. Other members are
> unaffected by the banner but are subject to the same access stage.


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