Activate your license

Activate Orek through your browser, with an online license key, or with an activation code you carry to an offline machine. Checking your license status works offline.

Orek uses perpetual licensing with bring your own keys (BYOK). A purchased edition has no time-based expiry. Your model provider bills its usage separately.

License commands run in your shell, not the Orek composer. If interactive chat starts without an active license, a startup menu offers browser sign-in, license key entry, offline activation, and purchase. After activating in another terminal, choose Check authorization and continue (or send the next prompt in a running chat), then continue with the Quickstart.

Choose an activation path

Path	Best for	Start here
Browser-approved device	A 14-day trial or paid license without copying a key	Run `orek license login`, then follow Browser-approved device flow.
Online license key	Scripted or interactive activation of a paid license	Run `orek license activate`, or see Activate with an online key.
Offline activation code	A machine with no internet access or no signed-in browser	Export a request, issue a code in the customer console, and import it; see Export a manual request.

Check your license after any path:

In your shell

orek license status

To apply a signed revocation file from your account, use orek license import --code-file revocation.txt. If this installation has a saved online device credential, orek license sync-revocations explicitly fetches its signed revocations. Neither command adds a periodic license check. orek license deactivate revokes the device online and removes local authorization while keeping its installation binding and trial history.

Before you begin

You need an Orek installation and either browser sign-in, an online license key, or an activation code. Online activation and browser login need a network connection; exporting a request, importing a code, and checking status work offline. Check System requirements & release status for platform availability.

Use the Pricing page for current purchase information. The trial lasts 14 days from when you activate your first device and covers 1 device; a paid license covers up to 3 devices at once. A purchase covers its YEAR major release series and all of its minor and patch releases (YEAR.MINOR.PATCH, such as 2026.x; a 0.x purchase also covers 1.x), as set out in LICENSE.txt and the Terms.

Sign in before buying so Orek can check the licenses owned by that account. If a paid or complimentary perpetual license already covers the offered edition and major version, Pricing shows You already own this and links to Manage licenses. Use that license to activate another device within its allowance; buying again does not add device slots. A trial alone does not prevent purchasing, and a later major outside your existing coverage can be purchased separately.

An unfinished checkout must complete or be confirmed closed before another purchase of the edition can begin. Refunded, revoked, disputed, or unclassified historical purchases may require support review. Use the same account and sign-in provider that owns the license; matching email addresses do not link accounts or transfer purchases.

Obtain a license

Sign in to the customer console with the account that owns the purchase. Open Licenses to issue an activation code from an exported request, or to get an online license key.

Keep this key private. It activates devices and is separate from the API keys you use with model providers.

Export a manual request

Use a manual request when the machine running Orek is offline or has no browser signed in to your account:

Export an activation request on the target machine:
In your shell
```
orek license request --output activation-request.json
```
The file identifies this installation and contains no secrets.
Issue an activation code in a browser: Copy activation-request.json to a machine with a signed-in browser and open Licenses. Upload or paste the request, check the account and device, select your 14-day trial or an eligible paid license, and click Issue activation code. Copy the code or download the file.
Import the code on the target machine:
In your shell
```
orek license import --code-file signed-license.txt
orek license status --json
```
orek license import also accepts the code at a hidden prompt or through --code-stdin, never as a command argument. In the startup menu, choose Import a signed code or Import a signed-code file instead. Orek checks offline that the code is genuine and was issued for this device before saving it.

Notes on manual activation and recovery:

Uploading a request does not start a trial; a trial starts when its first code is issued. Issuing a code again in the same browser session returns the original code without using another device slot.
Keep your OS credential store intact. Orek ties the license to a secret it keeps there. If that secret is permanently lost and cannot be restored from backup, run orek license replace-installation --output replacement-request.json as a last resort, release the old device slot in the console, and issue a new code from the replacement request.

Activate with an online key

Run this command in your terminal:

In your shell

orek license activate

Enter the license key at the hidden prompt. To give the device a name you can recognize in the console, use:

In your shell

orek license activate --device-name "Development laptop"

Orek downloads and verifies your paid license and saves it on this machine, with an online device credential in your OS credential store when the licensing service issues one. If activation is interrupted, run orek license activate again with the same key; it resumes the same attempt without using a second device slot. Run orek license pending-clear only to abandon that attempt on this machine; it does not release a device slot.

Activate from a script

--key-stdin reads the license key from standard input. Supply it from your secret-management tool. There is no positional key argument. Do not put a literal key in a command-line flag, project configuration, or source repository.

Check status

Run:

In your shell

orek license status

Status checks the saved license on this machine without a network request. Interactive chat, orek run, and editor (ACP) sessions run the same check before they start. If a trial expires during a turn, Orek records the result of any command already running, then stops new model requests and tools and shows how to recover.

For a machine-readable report, which shows verifiedLocally and authorized separately:

In your shell

orek license status --json

To check your online device credential with the licensing service:

In your shell

orek license status --online

An online error never removes a valid saved license. If this device was activated by an earlier Orek version that saved only an online credential, run orek license migrate while connected to save a license on the device without using another slot.

Optional account-approved device flow

Use orek license login to approve a device in your browser without copying a license key:

Start device login in your terminal: Run orek license login (or orek license login --no-browser over SSH). Orek shows a short verification code and opens Approve a device.
Verify and approve in your browser: Sign in, enter the code on /activate-device, confirm the device name, OS, and fingerprint, select your trial or paid license, and click Approve.
Finish in your terminal: Orek receives the license, verifies it, and saves it, with an online device credential if one is issued.

Optional purchase handoff from an online device

If you started on a trial and want to upgrade from the terminal:

Run orek license buy (or orek license buy --no-browser to print the URL, or orek license account to open the customer console directly).
If the device has an online device credential, Orek shows a code for Continue a device purchase so you can confirm your account and device before continuing to Pricing.
After your purchase, run orek license refresh-paid to download and save your permanent license for this installation.

Deactivate a device

To deactivate the current installation:

In your shell

orek license deactivate

Orek waits for the licensing service to confirm before removing the device credential. A license already saved on the machine keeps working until you run orek license remove-local, which removes it from this machine without releasing a device slot.

The customer console can release a device slot for another installation. Releasing a slot cannot remotely erase an offline activation code already on the old device. Regenerating a license key does not release existing device slots; these are separate actions.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to do
The licensing service is unreachable	`orek license status` still checks your saved license offline. Retry the online command when the service is reachable.
The OS credential store is unavailable or access is denied	Restore access to the operating system’s credential store, then retry. Orek never falls back to saving the secret in plain text.
The installation secret in the OS credential store is missing	Restore access to the credential store, or a backup, if possible. If it is permanently lost, run `orek license replace-installation`, release the old device slot in the console, and issue a new code from the replacement request.
Local cleanup fails after deactivation	Retry deactivation. Repeating it is safe.
You activated against a custom licensing server	Pass the same `--server` address for status and deactivation.
No device slots remain	Review your devices in the console and deactivate an installation you no longer use. The allowed number follows your license.
An older purchase’s edition or version is not recognized	Keep your existing license and contact support or check the customer console.

Service address

Orek connects to https://orek.ai by default. Pass --server only when you are told to use a different licensing server:

In your shell

orek license --server https://licensing.example.com activate
orek license --server https://licensing.example.com status --online

To deactivate that installation, pass the same --server address:

In your shell

orek license --server https://licensing.example.com deactivate

Browser login, account, purchase handoff, and refresh-paid always connect to https://orek.ai and reject --server.

Where license data is stored

Your OS credential store holds the installation secret and any online device credential. Saved licenses live in your user data folder (or under data-local/licenses/ when OREK_HOME is set). Orek checks them at startup without contacting the licensing service.

Next steps

Quickstart: connect a provider and ask your first question.
Installation & updates: install, upgrade, roll back, or uninstall Orek.
Customer console: manage your licenses and devices.