Licensing and Activation
Read-only Local MCP access is Free: session inspection, search, supported exact reads, reference resources, and SELECT-only queries. External staging, all Workbench actions, script runs, evaluation, and file activation require Coding Access.
Genie is free, with optional Coding Access. There is no product trial and no coding trial. Provider access remains a separate bring-your-own-key system.
The free version of Genie
Section titled “The free version of Genie”The free version of Genie works without a licence key or expiry clock. It includes:
- AGENT questions, inspection, explanation, and debugging
- read-only Query
- confirmed execution of one exact existing script
- Calculation AI expression insertion
- complete human-readable script steps and calculation fragments
- advisory DATA and layout guidance
No-key installs make no Genie licence network request and run no licence timer.
Coding Access
Section titled “Coding Access”A paid activation adds:
- native structured script artifacts and Preview/Copy/Create/Apply
- exact executable DATA plans and Execute
- LAYOUT mode
- QuickCode
- external MCP coding and execution
- Stage, Workbench, and native Workbench actions
States
Section titled “States”| State | Product behavior |
|---|---|
| Free | Genie is ready to use for free; paid coding actions are unavailable. |
| Active | The free version of Genie plus Coding Access is available. |
| Grace | Cached paid access is temporarily retained while validation recovers. |
| Expired, invalid, revoked, seat-limited, or unverified | Genie falls back to the free version instead of locking the application. |
Manage Activation
Section titled “Manage Activation”Open Settings > General or Manage Activation to:
- enter and activate a paid key
- check the current Coding Access state
- deactivate this device before moving a seat
- open the purchase page
The application, AGENT, history, settings, provider configuration, and Free capabilities remain available when Coding Access is not active.
Validation behavior
Section titled “Validation behavior”- Cached paid state is shown immediately.
- Validation is one-shot and event-driven: activation, manual Check now, expiry/grace boundaries, or the next scheduled validation window.
- Startup, focus, visibility changes, and ordinary tab opens do not poll the licence service.
- Network trouble does not erase the stored key or activation history.
- Existing paid or ambiguous legacy keys are preserved during the no-trial migration.
Provider credentials are separate
Section titled “Provider credentials are separate”Your provider key authorizes model usage. Your Genie key authorizes Coding Access. You may use the free version with a working provider, or have Coding Access with a provider configuration that still needs repair.