0. License

In plain words: Design rule 00: The license

3 min read 4 glossary terms 2 connected pages
The short version written for the Snayu team

Explains why LychD uses the MPL-2.0 license (the Iron Pact): changes you distribute to core files must stay open, while separate files you add can carry their own terms.

Why read it: Read this before shipping modified LychD code or building private add-ons, so you know what must be published and what can stay private.
  1. 1If you distribute modified core files, their source must be made available to recipients under MPL-2.0.
  2. 2Separate, non-covered files can use other terms; private or in-company use requires no publication.
  3. 3Contributions come in and go out under the same MPL-2.0 terms; the repository LICENSE file is the binding text.

Words on this page, decoded click one for its card

The License (MPL-2.0)
Where it sits in LychD

The License (MPL-2.0) Iron Pact

Changes to LychD files you distribute must stay open. Your own separate files and client work stay yours.

It's like: Borrow from the shared toolbox freely, but if you improve a shared tool, put it back improved.

Click a dot to open that part's card.

Glossary page In the network
The original text Underlined words open their plain-English card.

Context

An operator must be able to compose private organs around LychD while sharing distributed changes to its covered core. MPL-2.0 supplies that file-level boundary. This CovenantDesign Rule (ADR) calls it the Iron PactLicense (MPL-2.0) and explains the choice; the binding text remains the repository LICENSE, which this ADR does not amend.

Requirements

  • Distributed modifications to covered core files remain open to their recipients.
  • Separate, non-covered files can carry their own terms; private use, including intra-organization use, does not require publication.
  • The project uses an OSI-approved license, and contributions enter and leave on the same terms.
  • MPL's Secondary License compatibility remains available unless a later CovenantDesign Rule (ADR) changes that choice.

Options

License family Pressure that ruled it out
MIT / Apache-2.0 Broad reuse, but a distributor may close modifications to the core itself.
AGPL-3.0 Its network trigger is broader than the desired boundary for private and local composition.
LGPL-3.0 Tuned to a library boundary, not this daemon and composed runtime.
BSL / SSPL / FSL Use restrictions or non-OSI status conflict with the intended pact.
Unlicense / WTFPL No chosen reciprocity, patent, or distribution terms.
MPL-2.0 File-level reciprocity permits a Larger Work of genuinely separate files.

Decision

LychD is licensed under MPL-2.0.

The boundary follows covered source files. Distributed Source Code Form containing Covered Software, including a Modification, stays MPL-2.0. When an executable contains Covered Software, its distributor must make the corresponding Source Code Form available as the license requires. A Larger Work can still contain separate files under different terms: a new file containing no covered code does not become a Modification merely by being compiled or bundled with the work.

Private use and modification require no publication. Network serving alone is not distribution of server code, although client code actually delivered raises its own distribution question. Local sovereignty also needs architectural support: local-first operation, portable custody, and replaceable composition must make the legal freedom usable.

The boundary of the Pact

The project may use mythic names for ownership, but MPL follows covered source—not anatomy.

Material Result
LychD source containing covered code MPL-2.0 governs it.
A modified covered file, when distributed Its modification is MPL-2.0 to recipients.
Separate extension with no covered code It may use other terms.
File copying or incorporating covered code It is a Modification regardless of name or directory.
PhylacteryMemory Vault data, secrets, configuration, prompts, and model artifacts containing no code Not covered merely because LychD stores or processes them.
A2AAgent-to-Agent Line or REST peer Protocol use alone neither copies nor distributes covered server source.

Independent implementations of an architecture or protocol remain possible because MPL does not make abstract ideas proprietary. Copying covered expression is a different act, governed by the license. Calling copied core code an Extension does not change that boundary.

Contribution terms

Contributions are inbound under MPL-2.0 and distributed outbound under MPL-2.0. There is no CLA, no relicensing grant, and presently no DCO or required Signed-off-by trailer. Any future DCO must add its certification, instructions, and enforcement together.

The repository does not use MPL Exhibit B. Secondary License compatibility is therefore available under MPL section 3.3 unless a later CovenantDesign Rule (ADR) deliberately changes that position.

Consequences

The Iron PactLicense (MPL-2.0) keeps distributed changes to covered files open while leaving separate code and private material to their proper owners. To resist cloud capture, LychD must also provide a body that can run locally, preserve its state, expose provenance, and be left. The license cannot do that architectural work alone.