Terms of Service

What this covers

These terms govern your use of Dotvault — the macOS application and the www.dotvault.dev website. By downloading, installing, or using Dotvault, you agree to these terms. If you don’t agree, don’t use the app. Fair enough.

Dotvault is operated by William Wilson, a sole trader based in the United Kingdom, trading as Dotvault. You can contact us at hello@dotvault.dev.

What Dotvault is

Dotvault is a desktop application for managing .env files on your local machine. It provides a visual editor, version history, diff tools, encryption support, and related developer utilities. Everything runs locally — your files and secrets never leave your machine.

Licence

When you purchase a Dotvault licence, you receive a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the application. One licence covers one person and can be activated on up to 2 machines — so your work Mac and your personal one, for example. You can’t share your licence key with colleagues or mates.

If you need to move an activation to a different machine, you can deactivate an existing one and reactivate on the new device.

Payments and licence fulfilment are handled by Lemon Squeezy, our merchant of record. Lemon Squeezy handles VAT and sales tax collection on our behalf. Their terms apply to the payment transaction itself.

Trial period

Dotvault includes a 14-day free trial. During the trial you get full access to the app. When the trial ends, you’ll need a licence to keep using it. No payment details are required to start a trial.

Your statutory rights

If you’re a consumer in the United Kingdom, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you rights that these terms can’t override. Under that Act, digital content must be of satisfactory quality, fit for a particular purpose, and as described. If Dotvault falls short of those standards, you may be entitled to a repair, replacement, or refund. Nothing in these terms limits or excludes those rights — they’re yours by law.

Cancellation right

Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, you’d normally have a 14-day right to cancel a digital content purchase without giving a reason. Dotvault offers a 14-day free trial with full access before you pay anything, so you get plenty of time to kick the tyres. When you do purchase, the licence is delivered digitally and you consent to immediate supply — which means you lose that statutory cancellation right once the download begins. That said, we still offer a voluntary 14-day goodwill refund separately. Details in our Refund Policy.

Your data and privacy

Dotvault is local-first by design. Your .env files, encryption keys, variable names, and values never leave your machine. We don’t have access to any of it and we don’t want access to any of it. That’s the whole point.

For details on what data we do collect (website analytics, update checks), see our Privacy Policy.

What you can’t do

The usual stuff, really:

• Don’t reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble the application.
• Don’t redistribute, resell, or sublicence the app or your licence key.
• Don’t use the app for anything illegal. I shouldn’t need to say that, but here we are.
• Don’t remove or tamper with any licence verification mechanisms.

Availability and updates

I do my best to keep Dotvault working well and to ship regular updates. That said, I’m a sole developer — not a team of hundreds. I can’t guarantee 24/7 uptime on the website or instant bug fixes. What I can promise is that I care about the product and I’ll fix things as quickly as I reasonably can.

Updates are delivered automatically through the app. You’re not obligated to install them, but running the latest version is generally a good idea.

Refunds

Full details are in our Refund Policy, but the gist is: if Dotvault isn’t working for you, email me within 14 days and I’ll refund you. No fuss.

Limitation of liability

I take care to build reliable software, but I can’t guarantee it’ll be completely free of bugs or that it’ll meet every possible use case you have in mind. Beyond what’s implied by statute — including the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (see Your statutory rights above) — Dotvault is provided without additional warranties.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, I’m not liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of the app. This includes — but isn’t limited to — data loss, lost profits, or business interruption. My total liability for any claim related to Dotvault is limited to the amount you paid for your licence.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for death, personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or anything else that can’t be excluded under English law.

Intellectual property

Dotvault, including its code, design, documentation, and branding, is the intellectual property of William Wilson. Your licence gives you the right to use the app — it doesn’t transfer ownership of anything.

Your data is yours. Always has been, always will be. Dotvault doesn’t claim any rights over your .env files or their contents.

Termination

You can stop using Dotvault at any time by uninstalling it. I can revoke your licence if you materially breach these terms — though I’d rather talk to you about it first and give you a chance to put things right. If your licence is revoked, you should stop using the app and delete any copies.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts. If you’re a consumer in the EU or UK, this doesn’t affect your statutory rights under local consumer protection laws.

Changes to these terms

I may update these terms from time to time. When I do, I’ll update the date at the top of the page. If anything changes substantially, I’ll make an effort to let you know — but it’s worth checking back occasionally. Continued use of Dotvault after changes are posted means you accept the updated terms.

Contact

Questions about these terms? Email hello@dotvault.dev.