Account and Licensing

Your ThinkForge account handles authentication and license validation. It does not store your project files, documents, or workspace data.

What your account is for

A ThinkForge account is used to:

  • Extend your free trial beyond the first 3 days
  • Activate a paid license on your machines
  • Manage purchases and device activations

Your account does not host workspace content. Documents, notes, search indexes, and agent configurations all stay in local folders on your machine.

Trial period

ThinkForge Desktop includes a free trial so you can evaluate the app before purchasing:

  • Days 1–3 — full access, no account required
  • Days 4–30 — full access, free account required (sign up with email)
  • After day 30 — a paid license is required to continue using the app

The trial is 30 days total from first launch. Creating an account does not restart or extend the trial — it continues from where it started.

How activation works

When ThinkForge starts, it checks your license status with the ThinkForge server. The app sends:

  • A hashed device identifier — derived from your machine, hashed locally. The raw hardware ID is never stored on ThinkForge servers.
  • Your authentication token — if you are signed in

The server confirms whether your account has active access (trial or paid) and responds. No project content, documents, or usage data is sent during this check.

Offline use

If you cannot reach the internet, ThinkForge uses a cached entitlement for a short grace period (up to 3 days). After that, an internet connection is needed to re-verify your license. Normal offline use (editing files, searching memory, running local features) works fine as long as entitlement is cached.

Device limits

A paid license supports use on up to 3 machines per account — typically a desktop, a laptop, and one spare for hardware changes. You can manage active devices from your ThinkForge account.

What happens when a trial or license expires

When access expires:

  • The app shows a dialog explaining the situation with options to purchase, retry, or sign in
  • An "Open My Files" button is always available — you can access your project folder directly
  • Your files are never deleted, encrypted, or modified because of licensing changes
Your data is always yours. License expiration only affects whether the ThinkForge application opens. It never touches your project files. You can always access your documents with any file manager or text editor.

What ThinkForge collects for licensing

For license verification, ThinkForge stores:

  • Your email address (account identity)
  • Hashed device identifiers (for device limit enforcement)
  • Trial start date and license status
  • Purchase records (linked through the payment provider)

ThinkForge does not collect:

  • Project content or file names
  • Search queries or memory data
  • Chat conversations or AI prompts
  • Browsing history or extension activity
  • Usage telemetry or behavioral analytics

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