Terms of Service

Last updated: 14 June 2026

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the Cairn desktop application ("Cairn" or the "Software") and the website at cairnapp.dev (the "Site"). Please read them carefully.

Cairn is provided by Victor Kozak, an individual based in Ukraine ("we", "us", or "our"). By downloading, installing, or using Cairn or the Site, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not install or use the Software.

1. The Software

Cairn is a native desktop application for Windows and macOS that helps you organize your team's environment knowledge — URLs, servers, connection targets, and runbook notes — in structured project files stored locally on your device. Cairn stores references to secrets in your external secret manager; it does not store secret values.

2. License grant

Subject to these Terms and payment of the applicable fee, we grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to install and use Cairn:

• A paid license is sold per developer as a one-time purchase and may be activated on up to three (3) machines belonging to that developer (node-locked). You may deactivate a machine to free a seat and move it to another.
• Your purchase includes one (1) year of free updates from the date of purchase. After that period you may continue to use the most recent version released during your update window, indefinitely.

3. Free trial

Cairn offers a 14-day free trial with full features and no payment card required. The trial is locked to your machine, and one trial is available per machine. When the trial ends, the Software switches to a limited read-only mode until you purchase and activate a license.

4. Purchases, payment, and taxes

Purchases of Cairn licenses are processed by Paddle.com, which acts as the Merchant of Record (the authorized reseller and seller of record) for the transaction. Paddle handles payment processing, billing, fraud screening, and the collection and remittance of any applicable VAT or sales tax. Your purchase is therefore also subject to Paddle's Checkout / Buyer Terms. After a successful purchase, your license key is delivered to you by email.

5. License keys and activation

Your license key is the credential that unlocks the Software. Activating a license requires a one-time online check; afterwards the Software validates your license offline and re-verifies it periodically in the background. You are responsible for keeping your license key confidential. We may suspend or revoke a license key that is shared in violation of these Terms, obtained fraudulently, or associated with a charge that is refunded or reversed.

6. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• copy, resell, sublicense, rent, lease, or otherwise redistribute the Software or your license key;
• reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Software, except to the extent that applicable law expressly permits despite this limitation;
• circumvent, disable, or tamper with the Software's licensing or activation mechanisms; or
• use the Software for any unlawful purpose or in violation of these Terms.

7. Your data

Cairn stores your project data as plain JSON files on your own device. We do not host, transmit, or have access to your environment data, and Cairn never stores secret values — only references into the secret manager you already use. Our handling of the limited data we do process (such as licensing and purchase information) is described in our Privacy Policy.

8. Intellectual property

The Software, the Site, and all associated content, trademarks, and logos are owned by us or our licensors and are protected by applicable intellectual-property laws. These Terms grant you a license to use the Software; they do not transfer any ownership rights to you.

9. Disclaimer of warranties

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Software and the Site are provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Software will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of harmful components.

10. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event will we be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of data, profits, or revenue, arising out of or related to your use of the Software or the Site. Our total aggregate liability for any claim arising out of or related to these Terms or the Software will not exceed the amount you paid for the license giving rise to the claim.

11. Termination

This license is effective until terminated. It terminates automatically if you breach these Terms. On termination you must stop using the Software and remove it from your machines. Sections that by their nature should survive termination (including intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, and governing law) will survive.

12. Changes to the Software and these Terms

We may update the Software and these Terms from time to time. When we change these Terms, we will update the "Last updated" date above. Your continued use of the Software or the Site after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

13. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Ukraine, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. This does not deprive you of any mandatory consumer-protection rights you may have under the laws of your country of residence.

14. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Email us at support@cairnapp.dev, or reach us through our support portal.