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Terms of use

In effect from .

Short Leash is made by Frank The Programmer LLC ("we", "us"). These terms are between you and Frank The Programmer LLC, and cover the Short Leash app, its command-line tool and this website. Short Leash runs on your own computer. Its core is free to use; Short Leash Pro is a paid subscription that adds more. Using Short Leash means you accept these terms.

Your license to use Short Leash

We grant you a free, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to install and use Short Leash's free core on any number of computers, for personal or commercial work. Short Leash remains our property; this license doesn't transfer ownership.

Short Leash Pro

Short Leash Pro adds features to the free core, as listed on the Pricing page. Every copy of Short Leash includes a 14-day trial of Short Leash Pro, once per computer, with no payment.

  • What you buy. A Short Leash Pro license is a yearly subscription for one person, usable on up to 2 computers at a time. A Short Leash Pro for Teams subscription gives each person on it their own license on the same terms. Don't share a license key with someone else, or use it on more computers than it allows.
  • Payment. Polar is the merchant of record for Short Leash Pro: it takes the payment, charges any sales tax or VAT, and issues receipts and invoices, under its own terms. Prices are shown on the Pricing page and at checkout.
  • Renewal. Your subscription renews each year until you cancel it. A launch price you bought at is kept for as long as the subscription renews without a gap.
  • Canceling. Cancel any time in Manage license. Short Leash Pro stays on until the end of the year you paid for.
  • Refunds. If Short Leash Pro isn't what you wanted, ask within 14 days of a payment and we'll refund it in full.
  • When it ends. When a trial or subscription ends, Short Leash Pro's features stop starting; anything already running keeps going until you stop it. The free core keeps working, and nothing you made is deleted.
  • The license check. Short Leash checks your license with Polar about once a day and stays on for 30 days without a check. Don't try to get around the trial or the license check.

You may not sell, rent or redistribute Short Leash, remove its notices, or reverse engineer, decompile or modify it, except where the law allows this despite these terms. Download Short Leash only from this website.

Third-party components and models

Short Leash downloads or includes third-party components, each under its own license, including PHP builds, Python builds through uv, Node.js, cloudflared, Mailpit and the databases you choose to install.

The AI models Short Leash downloads keep their licenses too, for example Qwen (Apache-2.0), Parakeet (CC-BY-4.0) and Whisper (MIT). Each model has a published notice naming its creators, source and license.

Those licenses, listed on the Third-party notices page and in a copy that ships with the app, apply to those components and models.

Sharing sites through Cloudflare

When you share a site, receive webhooks through a shared address, or relay a Pair call, Short Leash uses Cloudflare's services: cloudflared runs on your computer, and requests to a public address, or a relayed call, pass through Cloudflare. Your use of those services is also governed by Cloudflare's own terms. In particular:

  • Quick shares are for development and testing, not for running a public service.
  • Only share content you have the right to share, and don't use a shared address for anything unlawful or abusive.
  • Anyone with a shared address can reach your site until you stop sharing. Turn on password protection for anything private.

Pair

You choose whom to invite, whom to let in, and when to give someone control of your screen. Send invites only to people you know. You're responsible for what you share in a call, including your screen, your sites and your terminals.

Meeting notes and dictation

Dictation listens only after you start it, and meeting notes only after you choose Take notes. Meeting notes transcribe everyone on a call, not only you: before you take notes on a call, tell the people on it, and get their consent where the law requires it.

AI features

Short Leash's chat, summaries and transcripts come from AI models running on your computer, and they can be wrong. Check what they say before you rely on it.

Chat asks before every action it takes, showing what it would do. You're responsible for the actions you approve, and for what you let a coding assistant do through Short Leash.

Your responsibilities

You're responsible for the projects you run with Short Leash, the data in them and anything you expose to the internet. Short Leash changes a few system settings during setup; they're listed in the app before you approve them, and Settings › Remove reverses them.

No warranty

Short Leash is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.

Limitation of liability

To the extent the law allows, Frank The Programmer LLC and Short Leash's contributors aren't liable for any claim, damages or other liability arising from the software or its use, including lost data and downtime.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. When we do, the effective date at the top changes, and significant changes are announced in the app's release notes.

Contact

Questions about these terms: Frank The Programmer LLC, [email protected]. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, United States.