BSL 1.1 License
Understanding the Business Source License and what it means for Optima Forge users.
What is BSL 1.1?
The Business Source License (BSL) 1.1 is a source-available license created by MariaDB Corporation. It is used by many leading infrastructure companies, including CockroachDB, Sentry, HashiCorp, and now Optima Forge. BSL provides a middle ground between fully proprietary software and traditional open source licenses.
Under BSL 1.1, the source code is fully available for reading, auditing, learning, and non-production use. Production use requires a valid commercial license (in the form of an Optima Forge subscription). After a defined change date, the code automatically converts to a permissive open source license.
Usage Rights
What You Can Do Without a License
- Read the Source Code: The entire Optima Forge codebase is available for inspection. Audit our security pipeline, review our routing algorithms, or study our architecture.
- Use for Development and Testing: Run Optima Forge locally for development, testing, evaluation, and proof-of-concept purposes without any license or fee.
- Use for Education: Use the code for learning, teaching, academic research, and personal projects.
- Contribute: Submit bug reports, feature requests, and contributions through our community channels.
- Fork and Modify: Create forks and modifications for non-production use.
What Requires a License
- Production Use: Running Optima Forge to serve real users, handle production traffic, or process live data requires a valid subscription (Free tier or above).
- Commercial Hosting: Offering Optima Forge as a managed service or including it as part of a commercial product requires a commercial license agreement.
- Resale: Reselling or redistributing Optima Forge for commercial purposes requires a Channel Partner agreement.
Production vs. Non-Production
The key distinction in BSL 1.1 is between production and non-production use:
| Use Case | Classification | License Required? |
|---|---|---|
| Local development and testing | Non-production | No |
| CI/CD pipeline testing | Non-production | No |
| Staging/QA environments | Non-production | No |
| Academic research | Non-production | No |
| Personal projects (non-commercial) | Non-production | No |
| Security auditing | Non-production | No |
| Serving production API traffic | Production | Yes (Free tier or above) |
| Processing live customer data | Production | Yes |
| Offering as a managed service | Production | Yes (commercial license) |
The Free tier counts as a valid license for production use. You can run Optima Forge in production at no cost within the Free tier limits (3 providers, 60 req/min, 1 ForgeBot).
Conversion to Open Source
A defining feature of BSL 1.1 is the automatic conversion to open source. After four years from each release date (the "Change Date"), the code for that release automatically converts to the Apache License 2.0. This means:
- Code released on March 1, 2026 becomes Apache 2.0 on March 1, 2030.
- Each subsequent release has its own Change Date, four years after its release.
- After conversion, the code can be used for any purpose, including commercial production use, without a license from Optima Forge.
- This conversion is automatic and irrevocable -- it cannot be extended or reversed.
Why BSL?
We chose BSL 1.1 because it aligns with our values of transparency, trust, and sustainable innovation:
Protecting Innovation
Building enterprise-grade AI infrastructure requires significant investment in engineering, security research, and compliance. BSL ensures that we can sustain this investment while preventing cloud providers from taking our code and offering it as a competing managed service without contributing back.
Maintaining Transparency
Unlike proprietary software, every line of code in Optima Forge is available for inspection. Our 8-stage security pipeline, routing algorithms, memory systems, and payment logic are all auditable. For an infrastructure platform that handles sensitive AI workloads, this transparency builds trust.
Giving Back to the Community
The automatic conversion to Apache 2.0 ensures that our work eventually becomes fully open source. We build on open source technologies (Node.js, Redis, NATS, Qdrant, Neo4j, and many more), and BSL ensures we give back to the ecosystem on a defined timeline.
Industry Precedent
BSL 1.1 is well-understood and widely adopted by infrastructure companies. Organizations like CockroachDB, Sentry, HashiCorp, and MariaDB have proven that BSL creates a sustainable model for building high-quality infrastructure software.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use Optima Forge for free?
Yes. Non-production use (development, testing, education, research) is always free with no license required. Production use is available on the Free tier at no cost within its limits. The Free tier is a valid production license.
Can I read and audit the source code?
Yes. The entire source code is available for reading and auditing. We encourage security researchers, compliance teams, and curious developers to review our code. If you find a vulnerability, please report it to security@optima-forge.com.
Can I self-host Optima Forge?
For non-production use, yes. For production self-hosting, you need a valid subscription tier (Free or above). Enterprise customers can arrange on-premise or dedicated infrastructure deployments through a commercial agreement.
Can I modify the source code?
You can create forks and modifications for non-production use. Running modified code in production requires a commercial license. We welcome contributions through our community process -- accepted contributions are incorporated into the official release.
What happens after the Change Date?
After four years, the code for that specific release automatically becomes Apache 2.0, with no restrictions on use, modification, or distribution. This is irrevocable. However, newer releases may still be under BSL until their own Change Dates arrive.
How does BSL compare to other licenses?
BSL is more permissive than proprietary licenses (you can read all code), more restrictive than MIT/Apache for production use (you need a license), and has a built-in expiration (automatic open source conversion). It is similar in philosophy to the licenses used by CockroachDB (BSL), HashiCorp (BSL), and Elastic (SSPL, a different source-available license).
License Text
The full BSL 1.1 license text is included in the LICENSE file at the root of the Optima Forge repository. Key parameters for our license grant:
- Licensor: Optima Forge
- Licensed Work: Optima Forge (all components)
- Additional Use Grant: Production use permitted with a valid Optima Forge subscription (Free tier or above)
- Change Date: Four years from the date of each release
- Change License: Apache License 2.0
Contact
For licensing questions, commercial licensing inquiries, or to discuss specific use cases:
- Legal: legal@optima-forge.com
- Enterprise: enterprise@optima-forge.com