PhantomKey — Source-Available License with Personal Use Grant
Version 1.0 (2026-05-04)

Copyright (c) 2026 Ritvik Salim. All rights reserved.

The source code of PhantomKey (the "Software") is published for purposes of
transparency, security review, and Personal Use as defined below. All other
rights are reserved by Ritvik Salim (the "Licensor").

This is a source-available license, not an open-source license. It does not
meet the Open Source Definition. Commercial use requires a separate license
agreement; see Section 6.

> THIS LICENSE IS A DRAFT AND IS PENDING LEGAL REVIEW. CONSULT QUALIFIED
> LEGAL COUNSEL BEFORE RELYING ON IT FOR ANY MATERIAL DECISION.


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1. DEFINITIONS

  "Software" means the source code, object code, documentation, designs, and
  related materials published in this repository, in any medium and any form,
  including modifications and derivative works thereof.

  "You" (or "Your") means an individual exercising permissions granted by this
  License. Where the term applies to a Legal Entity (e.g., for the source
  review grant in Section 3), "You" includes that entity.

  "Personal Use" means use of the Software by a single natural person, on
  computing devices that the person owns or controls, for that person's own
  personal, private, non-commercial purposes. Personal Use specifically
  includes:

    (a) personal experimentation, learning, and self-education;
    (b) management of credentials owned by the person for accounts that
        belong to that person;
    (c) personal hobby projects from which the person derives no revenue,
        salary, fee, or other consideration;
    (d) academic coursework where the person is a student.

  Personal Use specifically EXCLUDES, and Commercial Use INCLUDES, all of the
  following, regardless of whether the user pays for the Software:

    (e) any use within or for the benefit of a for-profit or non-profit
        organization, including the user's employer;
    (f) any use in the course of consulting, contracting, freelancing, or
        other client work;
    (g) any use to generate revenue, donations, advertising income, sponsor
        income, or other consideration;
    (h) any use in production environments that serve other people (whether
        for pay or free of charge);
    (i) any use that is part of, or in support of, a product or service
        offered by a third party;
    (j) any use to manage credentials owned by anyone other than the user;
    (k) offering the Software, or any modified version, as a hosted or
        managed service to others;
    (l) sublicensing, sale, or commercial redistribution of the Software.

  "Commercial Use" means any use of the Software that is not Personal Use, as
  defined above.

  "Contribution" has the meaning given in the PhantomKey Contributor License
  Agreement (CLA.md).

  "Source Review" means the act of reading, studying, and analyzing the
  source code of the Software, including:

    (m) inspecting the cryptographic implementation for correctness;
    (n) verifying the absence of telemetry, exfiltration, or backdoors;
    (o) compiling the Software from source for the purpose of comparing
        against an officially-distributed binary;
    (p) running the Software in a private, isolated test environment for
        the sole purpose of evaluating its security or correctness.


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2. PERSONAL USE GRANT

  Subject to the terms of this License, the Licensor grants You, the
  individual receiving this Software, a worldwide, royalty-free,
  non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, revocable license to:

    (a) install and run the Software on devices You own or control, for
        Personal Use as defined in Section 1;
    (b) modify the Software for Your own Personal Use only, provided that
        such modifications are not redistributed (except under Section 4);
    (c) make a reasonable number of personal backup copies of the Software.

  This grant terminates automatically and without notice if You engage in
  any Commercial Use without a separate commercial license from the Licensor
  (see Section 6).


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3. SOURCE REVIEW GRANT

  Subject to the terms of this License, the Licensor grants You and any Legal
  Entity You represent a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive,
  non-sublicensable, revocable license to perform Source Review of the
  Software, regardless of whether You or Your Legal Entity intend to acquire
  a Personal Use or Commercial Use license.

  The Source Review grant exists so that security researchers, prospective
  customers, journalists, and the general public can verify the security
  properties claimed by the Licensor. Source Review does not include any
  right to use the Software in production, redistribute it, or modify it
  beyond what is necessary to conduct Source Review itself.


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4. CONTRIBUTIONS AND PUBLIC FORKS

  Forking this repository on a public source-control hosting service such
  as GitHub is permitted to the extent that the hosting service's terms of
  service grant such permission, and only for the following purposes:

    (a) preparing a Contribution as defined in the CLA;
    (b) Source Review;
    (c) Personal Use modifications, provided the fork is not used or
        promoted as an alternative distribution.

  All other rights, including the right to redistribute the Software in
  source or object form, are reserved.

  By submitting a Contribution to the Licensor (whether via pull request,
  patch, email, or otherwise), You agree to the terms of the PhantomKey
  Contributor License Agreement (CLA.md). The Licensor may include Your
  Contribution in the Software under the terms of this License or any other
  license, including a future open-source license.


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5. RESERVATION OF RIGHTS

  All rights not expressly granted in Sections 2, 3, and 4 are reserved by
  the Licensor. Without limitation, You do NOT receive any of the following
  under this License:

    (a) any right to Commercial Use of the Software;
    (b) any right to redistribute the Software, whether modified or
        unmodified, in source or object form;
    (c) any right to sublicense the Software;
    (d) any right to use the trademarks, service marks, trade names, or
        logos of the Licensor or the Software (including the name
        "PhantomKey");
    (e) any patent license, express or implied. The Licensor does not waive
        or grant any patent rights through this License.


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6. COMMERCIAL LICENSE

  For any Commercial Use, You must obtain a separate written commercial
  license from the Licensor before using the Software for that purpose.

  To inquire about a commercial license, contact:

      Email:    ritviksalim@gmail.com
      Subject:  PhantomKey Commercial License Inquiry

  Pricing, terms, and availability of commercial licenses are at the sole
  discretion of the Licensor.


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7. TERMINATION

  Your rights under this License terminate automatically and without notice
  if You materially breach any term of this License, including but not
  limited to engaging in Commercial Use without a separate commercial
  license. Upon termination, You must cease all use of the Software and
  destroy all copies in Your possession or control, except for copies
  retained for Source Review purposes under Section 3.

  Sections 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 survive termination.


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8. NO WARRANTY

  THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
  IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
  FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, AND ABSENCE
  OF DEFECTS OR ERRORS. THE LICENSOR DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SOFTWARE WILL
  MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR THAT ITS OPERATION WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR
  ERROR-FREE.

  YOU ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE SOFTWARE,
  INCLUDING ANY RISK OF LOSS OR EXPOSURE OF SECRETS, CREDENTIALS, OR OTHER
  SENSITIVE DATA.


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9. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

  IN NO EVENT AND UNDER NO LEGAL THEORY, WHETHER IN TORT, CONTRACT,
  NEGLIGENCE, OR OTHERWISE, SHALL THE LICENSOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT,
  INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY
  DAMAGES WHATSOEVER ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THIS LICENSE OR YOUR USE
  OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE, EVEN IF THE LICENSOR HAS BEEN ADVISED
  OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

  WHERE LIABILITY CANNOT BE EXCLUDED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE LICENSOR'S
  AGGREGATE LIABILITY UNDER THIS LICENSE SHALL NOT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED U.S.
  DOLLARS ($100.00).


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10. MISCELLANEOUS

  This License is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of
  the State of [STATE], United States, without regard to its conflict of
  laws principles. The exclusive venue for any dispute arising under this
  License shall be the state or federal courts located in [COUNTY], [STATE].

  > TODO before adoption: fill in jurisdiction, with counsel.

  If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, the
  remainder of this License shall remain in full force and effect.

  This License constitutes the entire agreement between You and the
  Licensor concerning the Software, and supersedes all prior agreements
  concerning the same subject matter, except for any separate written
  commercial license that You have entered into with the Licensor.

  The Licensor reserves the right to publish updated versions of this
  License. The Software is licensed under the version of this License
  in effect at the time You obtained the Software, unless You agree in
  writing to a different version.


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SUMMARY (informational, not part of the License)

  ✅ You may:
     - Read the source code, freely
     - Run PhantomKey on your own machine for your own personal accounts
     - Modify it for your own personal use
     - Submit pull requests (subject to the CLA)
     - Compile from source to verify the binary

  ❌ You may not (without a commercial license):
     - Use it at your job, even if your job is unrelated to PhantomKey
     - Use it for any client / freelance / consulting work
     - Embed it in any product or service you offer to others
     - Run it as a hosted or managed service for others
     - Redistribute it, modified or unmodified
     - Use the PhantomKey name or logo to brand a fork or alternative

  💼 For commercial use: ritviksalim@gmail.com (subject "PhantomKey Commercial License Inquiry")
