Workspace

Why Elastic License 2.0?

Let's address this directly: Workspace is licensed under ELv2, not MIT or Apache 2.0. We know this invites criticism from some purists, and we've thought hard about it.

We're a tiny team building something we're proud of. ELv2 lets individuals do almost everything: self-host, modify, contribute, build on top of it, learn from it. What you can't do is take our code, wrap it in a managed service, and compete directly with us.

This isn't hypothetical. We've watched AWS and others strip-mine open source projects — taking years of work from small teams, offering it as a service, contributing nothing back, and sometimes even undermining the original creators. We're not interested in subsidizing that.

Is this "open source"?

We don't call it that because "Open Source" has a specific meaning (the OSI definition), and ELv2's managed-service restriction doesn't meet it. It is source available: you can read, run, modify, self-host, and learn from the code. What you can't do is offer it to others as a managed service.

Our standalone libraries like Firebreak are Apache 2.0 with no restrictions at all. We're not allergic to permissive licenses. We just think the core platform, the thing that pays our rent, deserves some protection from players who won't think twice about out-resourcing us.

What happens if Hyperclast disappears? Am I exposed to a rug pull?

The license already protects you here. ELv2 grants you the right to use, copy, modify, and distribute the code, and that grant doesn't depend on us existing. If we vanished tomorrow, your self-hosted instance keeps running, and you, or a community fork, can keep patching and improving it indefinitely, the same way people keep using and patching abandoned Apache or MIT-licensed projects. The only things off the table are offering the software to third parties as a managed service and removing license notices.

Relicensing can't reach backwards either: if a future version ever shipped under a worse license, every version already released stays under ELv2. You can stay on it or fork from it.

And your data is never hostage. Pages are plain text, and you can pull everything out through the API at any time.

Can I self-host this?

Individuals and small teams: Yes, absolutely. Deploy it on your own infrastructure, run it on a VPS, spin it up locally. The code is all there — no artificial limits, no phone-home, no "enterprise features" held hostage.

Businesses: If you're a company using this beyond evaluation, you need a commercial license. This applies whether you self-host or use our hosted version. We're optimizing for sustainability, not maximizing free usage.

What's the difference between hosted and self-hosted versions?

Same codebase. The hosted version on Hyperclast gives you managed infrastructure, automatic backups, and support — so you don't have to think about ops. Self-hosting means you're responsible for all of that, but you own your data and infrastructure completely.

Either way, businesses need a commercial license. The choice is just about who runs the servers.

Do I need Redis and PostgreSQL?

For kicking the tires, SQLite works fine. For production or real-time collaboration, you'll want PostgreSQL and Redis. The README walks through the setup.

How does the AI Ask feature work?

Pages are chunked and embedded using OpenAI's embedding API. When you ask a question, we find relevant chunks via vector similarity, then generate an answer using the LLM with those chunks as context (RAG pattern). Bring your own API key.

Can I contribute?

Please do. Bug fixes, features, documentation — all welcome. Check the issues for good starting points. We review PRs promptly.

By submitting a PR, you agree to our Contributor License Agreement.