Billing
Licenses & activations
How ClaudeKit license keys work — device activations, regenerating a key from the dashboard, and exactly what revocation does to kits you've already installed.
Your license key is how the ck CLI proves you own a kit. This page covers keys, activations, regeneration, and revocation. For the request/response details of validation, see License validation.
Keys
Each purchase issues a license key (a ck_… string). You authenticate the CLI with it once per machine:
ck auth <license-key>The key is cached in ~/.claudekit/config.json after a successful login, so you don't re-enter it. Find, reveal, and copy your key any time from the dashboard. Treat it like a password — anyone with the key can activate a device against your plan.
Activations
A license permits a fixed number of device activations — 3 by default. Each machine that runs ck auth uses one activation; the dashboard shows your current count and limit.
When you reach the limit, the next ck auth fails with an activation-limit error (exit code 2) and installs on new devices are blocked. To free a slot, either stop using the key on a machine you've retired or regenerate the key (below), which resets the activation count. Need more seats than your plan allows? Email hello@theclaudekit.com.
Regenerating a key
From the dashboard you can regenerate your license key. Regeneration:
- Invalidates the old key immediately — anything cached on other machines stops being able to install or update.
- Resets activations to zero, so you can re-authenticate the devices you actually use.
- Issues a new key to use with
ck auth.
Regenerate when a key has leaked, when you've hit the activation limit and want a clean slate, or when you're rotating devices.
What revocation does to installs
A license is revoked automatically when the underlying purchase ends — a refund, a subscription cancellation or expiry, or a chargeback. Here is exactly what that affects:
| Affected | Not affected |
|---|---|
New ck auth, ck install, and ck update calls (fail with a license error) | Kit files already copied into ~/.claude or ./.claude — they stay on disk |
| Dashboard downloads and new release zips | Artifacts a kit already produced in your projects |
| Pulling new or updated versions of a kit | Your ability to keep using what's installed locally, as-is |
In short: revocation removes your right to install, update, and download — it does not reach into your machine to delete a kit you previously installed. Re-purchasing or resolving the billing issue re-issues a valid key, and ck auth restores full access.
Watermarking
Every install the ck CLI pulls is personalized to your license — files carry a LICENSE_HOLDER record tied to your account. This is an anti-resale measure; redistributing kit content is a license violation (see the terms).