Non-commercial license

We have made our library publicly available under a non-commercial/non-production license for the purposes of evaluation, research and development, and education. While we follow many of the same practices (public source/development), our library is not "open source" per the strict definition defined by the Open Source Initiative.

We license the library for commercial applications using two different licensing models:

• per-product royalty-free licensing
• per-unit licensing

Please contact us via our website for pricing.

AI use

Subject to the applicable license, AI assistants are welcome for evaluating, integrating, debugging, and testing this library and for authorized maintenance. Section 2.6 prohibits using the library, its source, documentation, tests, binaries, or derived materials to design, develop, specify, test, validate, or improve any other implementation of a protocol it implements, including through requirement extraction or use as a reference, oracle, or test peer. This applies regardless of commercial, open-source, private, or competitive status, subject to the exceptions in the agreement. The license does not permit redistributing the software, including sending it to an AI service for any of those purposes. Text and data mining rights, including for AI training, are reserved subject to the permissions and exceptions stated in Section 3.3. This summary does not amend the license. See the repository's AGENTS.md and these sections of the license text below:

• 2.6 No Use of the Licensed Software to Create Other Implementations
• 2.7 Permitted Evaluation and Integration
• 3.3 Text and Data Mining Reservation

License text

Full license text

LICENSE AGREEMENT

READ THIS AGREEMENT BEFORE ACCESSING, DOWNLOADING, OR USING THE LICENSED SOFTWARE.
BY ACCESSING, DOWNLOADING, OR USING THE LICENSED SOFTWARE AFTER RECEIVING NOTICE
OF THIS AGREEMENT AND AN OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW IT, YOU AGREE TO ITS TERMS. IF YOU
DO NOT AGREE, DO NOT ACCESS, DOWNLOAD, OR USE THE LICENSED SOFTWARE EXCEPT AS
PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. IF YOU ACT ON BEHALF OF AN ENTITY OR OTHER PERSON,
YOU REPRESENT THAT YOU ARE AUTHORIZED TO BIND THAT ENTITY OR PERSON. READING THIS
AGREEMENT ALONE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE ACCEPTANCE.

This Agreement sets forth the terms and conditions under which the parties agree
that Developer may use the Licensed Software for the non-commercial and
non-production Purpose defined in this Agreement.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and obligations contained herein,
it is agreed as follows:

1. DEFINITIONS

1.1. "Developer Application" shall mean Developer's actual or potential software
or hardware and related documentation with which the Developer is considering
integrating with the Licensed Software.

1.2. "Developer" shall mean the person or entity accessing, downloading, or using
the Licensed Software, directly or through an automated tool or service, or on
whose behalf such activity occurs.

1.3. "Development Platform" shall mean GitHub, crates.io, docs.rs, NuGet.org,
Maven Central, Company's websites, and other software development platforms,
package registries, or documentation hosting services identified by Company
through which Company makes the Licensed Software available.

1.4. "Effective Date" shall mean the date Developer first accepts this version of
this Agreement.

1.5. "Licensed Software" shall mean Company's proprietary communication software
product made available under this Agreement, in source or object code form,
including libraries, executable binaries, and Company-provided documentation,
guides, generated API documentation, examples, tests, and other accompanying
materials, whether accessed or obtained together or separately. Third-party
materials identified as subject to separate license terms remain governed by those
terms.

1.6. "Purpose" shall mean the effort to integrate the Licensed Software with the
Developer Application(s) for non-commercial and non-production purposes, including,
without limitation, evaluation, research, teaching and training. For purposes of
this definition, "training" refers to human education and instruction, not the
training, fine-tuning, or distillation of artificial intelligence or machine
learning models using the Licensed Software as training material. Use of existing
artificial intelligence assistants for evaluation and integration remains
permitted as provided in Section 2.7, subject to Section 2.6.

1.7. Step Function I/O LLC ("Company") is the developer of the Licensed Software.

2. LICENSE

2.1. Delivery of Licensed Software

Company makes the Licensed Software available for access or download through the
Development Platform.

2.2. License Grant

Company grants Developer a personal, perpetual, revocable, limited, non-exclusive,
non-sublicensable, non-transferable license to access, use, download and/or
install the Licensed Software only for use in accordance with the Purpose, and
subject to all the terms of this Agreement. Company reserves the right at any time
to alter features or other characteristics of any version of the Licensed
Software. Unless and until the parties enter into a subsequent agreement under
Section 2.4 that provides to the contrary, Developer shall not distribute or
sublicense any portion of the Licensed Software. Notwithstanding the preceding
sentence, Developer may provide portions of the Licensed Software to a service
provider solely to process them on Developer's behalf for activities otherwise
permitted under this Agreement, provided the provider's applicable terms, as
modified by any effective Developer-selected configuration, do not authorize the
provider to use those portions to train, fine-tune, or distill artificial
intelligence or machine learning models, except to the extent Company has
independently granted rights preserved by Section 7.11, and subject to Section
2.6. This permission does not authorize public disclosure or grant the provider
any independent right to use the Licensed Software. Developer remains responsible
for compliance with this Agreement in using the service. Providing any portion of
the Licensed Software to a third party, including a service provider or the
operator of a hosted artificial intelligence system, for an activity prohibited by
Section 2.6 is not permitted by this Section and is outside the scope of the
license. Developer may not publish or disseminate any benchmarking results of
Licensed Software performance.

2.2A. Scope of License

The license in Section 2.2 includes reproduction and adaptation of the Licensed
Software as reasonably necessary for the uses that Section authorizes. It permits
distribution only as expressly provided in Section 2.2. The Purpose, the
non-commercial and non-production limitations in Section 2.3, the distribution and
sublicensing limitations in Section 2.2 (including the limits on providing the
Licensed Software to service providers), and the restrictions in Sections 2.6(a)
and 2.6(d) are conditions of and limitations on that license.

Sections 2.6(b) and 2.6(c) are contractual covenants, not copyright-license
conditions. Notwithstanding the references to the Purpose and other terms of this
Agreement, breach of either covenant does not, by itself, make an otherwise
licensed act copyright infringement before termination under Section 4.1. Such a
breach remains material and subject to Sections 4.1 and 4.2.

Except for permission under this Agreement, a separate applicable written
agreement or express written authorization from Company, rights preserved by
Section 7.11, or applicable law, Company grants no permission to reproduce, adapt,
distribute, or publicly display the Licensed Software. Conduct outside the
copyright license constitutes copyright infringement only if it infringes an
exclusive right under applicable copyright law and is not otherwise authorized or
legally permitted. Section 7.10 applies throughout.

2.3. Non-Commercial and Non-Production Use

For clarity, the Purpose excludes commercial use and use in production. Accordingly,
Developer may not use the Licensed Software in any manner that, directly or indirectly,
generates revenue or any other form of compensation or consideration. Additionally, the
Licensed Software may not be used in a production environment and may only be used in
non-production environments such as testing, teaching, training and research/development
environments. A production environment would be where the Licensed Software is operated
by end users and relied upon for organization or commercial operations. If Developer
would like to use the Licensed Software for commercial and production purposes, then
Developer may order such a license from Company in accordance Section 2.4.

2.4. Commercial License

If Developer wants to use the Licensed Software for commercial and production purposes,
then Developer needs to contact Company as provided below. Company has no obligation
to enter into a commercial and production agreement with any Developer.

info@stepfunc.io

OR

https://stepfunc.io/contact

2.5. Company Support

This license does not entitle Developer to receive from Company support, telephone
assistance, or enhancements or updates to the Licensed Software, which Company may
provide in its discretion. Developer may submit tickets and feedback via the Development
Platform. Company will make reasonable efforts to respond to such tickets and feedback,
but has no obligation to do so, and may cancel such support at any time.

2.6. No Use of the Licensed Software to Create Other Implementations

"Other Implementation" shall mean any implementation of all or any part of a
communication protocol implemented by the Licensed Software, including software,
firmware, hardware designs, and specifications for such implementations, other
than (a) the Licensed Software itself, including modifications within that
implementation made in accordance with the Purpose or Company's applicable written
authorization, and (b) a Developer Application solely to the extent its relevant
protocol functionality is provided by the Licensed Software as a component.
Compiling, linking, embedding, or wrapping the Licensed Software for an otherwise
permitted use does not by itself create an Other Implementation. These exclusions
do not extend to a separate implementation merely because it is included in the
same application, uses the Licensed Software for other functionality, or is
described as a modification, adapter, or fork. An Other Implementation is subject
to this Section regardless of whether it is commercial or non-commercial, open
source or proprietary, distributed or private, or competitive with the Licensed
Software.

Except to the extent Company's prior express written authorization or a separate
applicable written agreement with Company expressly permits the activity,
Developer shall not use the Licensed Software to design, develop, specify, test,
validate, or improve any Other Implementation, whether manually, using automated
tools, or using artificial intelligence systems. Without limiting the foregoing,
Developer shall not:

(a) translate, port, adapt, reconstruct, or generate code from any portion of the
Licensed Software for use in an Other Implementation;

(b) analyze, extract, summarize, index, or distill requirements, behaviors, state
machines, algorithms, edge-case handling, test cases, or design decisions from the
Licensed Software for use in designing, developing, specifying, testing,
validating, or improving an Other Implementation, including by creating or using
notes, specifications, datasets, embeddings, retrieval indexes, prompts, or
artificial intelligence context for that purpose, or by providing any portion of
the Licensed Software to another person, tool, service, or artificial intelligence
system for that purpose;

(c) execute the Licensed Software, or any software or binary built from it, as a
reference, oracle, test peer, or source of expected results to design, develop,
specify, test, validate, or improve an Other Implementation, including through
captured outputs, recordings, traces, or results of such execution; or

(d) train, fine-tune, or distill any artificial intelligence or machine learning
model using the Licensed Software, except to the extent authorized by rights
preserved under Section 7.11.

To the extent an Other Implementation or other material created through an
activity prohibited by this Section reproduces or adapts copyright-protected
expression from the Licensed Software, this Agreement grants no permission for
that reproduction or adaptation, including the preparation, use, or distribution
of any resulting derivative work. Any such derivative work is unauthorized under
this Agreement. Functional equivalence alone does not establish that a work is a
derivative work under copyright law. Use of an artificial intelligence system or
automated tool does not enlarge the license granted hereunder. Each obligation in
this Section is a contractual covenant and applies whether or not a resulting work
qualifies as a derivative work. Sections 2.6(a) and 2.6(d) are also conditions of
and limitations on the license in Section 2.2. Any breach of this Section is a
material breach for purposes of Section 4.1.

2.7. Permitted Evaluation and Integration

Subject to the other terms of this Agreement, Section 2.6 does not restrict:

(a) using existing artificial intelligence systems or other tools to evaluate the
Licensed Software for integration into a Developer Application, understand its
source code, APIs, documentation, examples, or configuration, or configure,
integrate, test, debug, or conduct authorized security research on the Licensed
Software in accordance with the Purpose;

(b) operating or testing a Developer Application that includes the Licensed
Software to communicate with third-party devices or software, provided the
activity does not use the Licensed Software to design, develop, specify, test,
validate, or improve an Other Implementation;

(c) independently designing, developing, specifying, testing, validating, or
improving an implementation without using the Licensed Software or materials or
results derived from it. An implementation's independent origin does not permit
subsequent use prohibited by Section 2.6;

(d) maintaining or improving the Licensed Software on Company's behalf or under
Company's applicable written authorization, within the scope of that
authorization; or

(e) any act described in Section 7.10.

Except as provided in a separate applicable written agreement or authorization
from Company, this Section does not expand the Purpose or authorize commercial
use, production use, distribution, or sublicensing.

3. OWNERSHIP

3.1. Company Retains Title to Licensed Software

Except for the license granted herein, Developer is not granted any
rights to patents, copyrights, trade secrets, trade names, trademarks (whether
registered or unregistered) or any other rights or licenses (the "Intellectual
Property Rights") with respect to the Licensed Software. Company retains all right,
title and ownership interests in the Licensed Software, including, without
limitation, all Intellectual Property Rights therein.
 
3.2. Feedback

Any feedback provided by Developer pertaining to the Licensed Software shall be
non-confidential and Company may use and exploit such feedback freely, without
any obligation of notice or compensation to Developer.

3.3. Text and Data Mining Reservation

Company expressly reserves all rights in the Licensed Software with respect to
text and data mining, including reproduction, extraction, and automated analysis
for training, fine-tuning, or distilling artificial intelligence or machine
learning models, within the meaning of Article 4(3) of Directive (EU) 2019/790 and
its national implementations (including Section 44b(3) of the German Copyright
Act), and under any comparable law. This reservation does not withdraw permission
expressly granted under this Agreement, including for activities permitted by
Section 2.7, or under a separate applicable written agreement or express written
authorization from Company. It does not limit rights preserved by Sections 7.10
and 7.11.

4. TERM AND TERMINATION

4.1. Term and Termination of Agreement

This Agreement commences on its Effective Date and ends if terminated as
hereinafter provided. This Agreement will automatically terminate if Developer
materially breaches this Agreement, including, without limitation, by a violation
of the non-commercial and non-production use restrictions in Section 2.3 or the
restrictions in Section 2.6, any breach of which is material.

4.2. Obligations on Termination

All rights and licenses granted to Developer under this Agreement terminate upon
termination. Developer shall cease using and destroy the Licensed Software and all
copies and modifications in Developer's possession or control, including copies
embedded in a Developer Application. Developer shall also cease using and destroy
materials created through activities prohibited by Section 2.6, to the extent
within Developer's possession or control. Developer shall certify compliance with
these obligations in writing to Company. Materials required to be preserved by
applicable law or binding legal process may be retained solely for that purpose
and shall not otherwise be used, except as required by applicable law.

4.3. Survival

Any provisions of this Agreement that, in order to fulfill the purposes of such
provisions, need to survive the termination or expiration of this Agreement,
shall be deemed to survive for as long as necessary to fulfill such purposes.
Sections 2.6 and 2.7 survive termination with respect to Licensed Software
obtained under this Agreement and materials or results derived from it.

5. WARRANTY DISCLAIMER

THE LICENSED SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ONLY ON AN "AS IS" BASIS. COMPANY MAKES NO OTHER
EXPRESS WARRANTIES, WRITTEN OR ORAL, AND ALL OTHER WARRANTIES ARE SPECIFICALLY
EXCLUDED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NONINFRINGEMENT, AND ANY OTHER WARRANTY ARISING
BY STATUTE, OPERATION OF LAW, COURSE OF DEALING OR PERFORMANCE OR USAGE OF TRADE.

6. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY AND INDEMNITIES

6.1. Limits of Liability

COMPANY SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY TO DEVELOPER FOR ANY SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL,
EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL OR INDIRECT DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUES, DATA AND/OR USE) ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
HEREWITH OR THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE LICENSED SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED
OF THE POSSIBILITY THEREOF. THE AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF COMPANY UNDER THIS
AGREEMENT SHALL NOT EXCEED $10. DEVELOPER SHALL NOT BRING ANY CLAIM ARISING
HEREUNDER MORE THAN TWELVE (12) MONTHS AFTER SUCH CLAIM HAS ACCRUED.

6.2. Developer Indemnity

Developer shall indemnify, defend and hold Company harmless from all losses,
costs, liabilities and expenses incurred by Company which arise out of any
claim (except claims that the Licensed Software infringes the intellectual
property of a third party) that arise out of Developer’s acts or omissions
provided (i) Company has notified Developer promptly in writing of any such
claims (provided that any delay shall not reduce Developer’s indemnity obligations
except to the extent that the delay prejudices Developer’s ability to defend the
claim); (ii) Developer shall have sole control of the defense of such claims and
all negotiations for their settlement and compromise; and (iii) Company shall
reasonably cooperate with Developer in the defense or settlement of such claims,
at Developer’s expense.

7. GENERAL

7.1. Entire Agreement

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement concerning use of the Licensed
Software under the license granted herein and supersedes prior communications
concerning that license. It does not supersede or amend a separate written
agreement or express written authorization from Company applicable to Developer's
use of the Licensed Software. In the event of a conflict, that separate agreement
or authorization controls to the extent of its applicable scope. Publication or
acceptance of this version does not by itself amend the terms governing copies
previously obtained under an earlier agreement.
 
7.2. Equitable Relief

Company may, without limiting its other rights and remedies, be entitled to
equitable relief, including but not limited to injunctive relief for a breach or
anticipated breach of this Agreement.

7.3. Compliance with Laws

Developer shall comply with all applicable law and will obtain all authorizations
required by U.S. export control laws and all related regulations if applicable.

7.4. Governing Law; Jurisdiction

This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Oregon, excluding its
conflict of law rules. The parties will submit all disputes which arise under this
Agreement to state or federal courts located in Deschutes County, Oregon. The parties
acknowledge that the aforesaid courts will have exclusive jurisdiction over this
Agreement and specifically waive any claims they may have which involve jurisdiction
or venue, including, but not limited to, lack of personal jurisdiction or forum non
conveniens.

7.5. Notices

Notices shall be deemed to have been received upon verified receipt.

7.6. Amendments and No Waiver

No modification or amendment hereto, nor any waiver of any rights, shall be effective
unless assented to in writing by the party to be charged. The waiver of any breach or
default will not constitute a waiver of (i) any other right or remedy hereunder, or (ii)
any subsequent breach or default.

7.7. Independent Contractors

The parties shall act as independent contractors for all purposes hereunder.

7.8. Separability

If any provision hereof shall be held illegal or unenforceable, such provision shall be
deemed separable from the remaining provisions and shall in no way affect or impair the
validity or enforceability of the remaining provisions.

7.9. Assignment

Developer shall not assign this Agreement, or any right, or delegate any performance
hereunder without Company's prior written consent, and any such action in violation of
the foregoing shall be void. Company may freely assign this Agreement.

7.10. Rights That Cannot Be Restricted

Nothing in this Agreement restricts an act that applicable law permits a lawful
user to perform notwithstanding a contrary contractual term, including, where
applicable, acts permitted by Articles 5(2), 5(3), and 6 of Directive 2009/24/EC
as implemented in national law. If a provision, or its application to particular
conduct, persons, or jurisdictions, is held unenforceable, it shall be enforced to
the maximum extent permitted, and its application to other conduct, persons, and
jurisdictions is unaffected.

7.11. Development Platform Terms

Nothing in this Agreement limits rights Company has granted under a Development
Platform's applicable terms of service to its operator, affiliates, users, or
other authorized recipients. This Section preserves only rights actually granted
by Company, within their applicable scope and duration, and grants no additional
rights.