Licence FAQ
What is Apache-2.0, what is not, and where each boundary actually sits.
This page states what the licence files in each repository actually say. It
is not legal advice — read the LICENSE file in the package you are using.
Is the SDK/CLI open source?
Yes. cool-nwc and its alias cool-tee — the library and the cool CLI
built from it — are Apache License 2.0, published on npm and at
github.com/Northwind-Cipher/cool-sdk.
That covers the evidence engine, the offline verifier, the receipt schema,
and everything documented on this site under
CLI reference and receipt spec.
npm view cool-nwc license # Apache-2.0
npm view cool-tee license # Apache-2.0Can I run my own verifier, or fork the SDK?
Yes. That is what "offline, with a verifier we do not control" in the
quickstart means in practice — Apache-2.0 permits use,
modification, and redistribution, with attribution and the licence's patent
grant intact. If you build a second, independent implementation of
cool.receipt.v2 from the published schema and conformance vectors, nothing
here requires it to come back to this project.
Is the website or the investor portal open source?
No. The code behind this site — the marketing pages, the /verify and
/pipeline evidence surfaces, the console, and the investor portal — is a
separate, private repository with no licence granted for reuse. It is not
published for redistribution, and nothing on this page extends the SDK's
Apache-2.0 terms to it.
What about the receipt format itself?
The schema is documentation, not code — it is published as part of the
Apache-licensed SDK's source and this site's docs so that independent
verifiers can be built against it. Implementing a verifier for
cool.receipt.v2 does not require accepting any licence beyond what applies
to whichever published source you copy from (the SDK's Apache-2.0 terms, if
you copy from it).
Who holds the copyright?
The SDK packages list Northwind Cipher Pvt. Ltd. as author. Confirm the
current holder and any contribution terms in the LICENSE file shipped with
the package you installed — npm pack cool-nwc and read LICENSE inside it
if you want it in hand before agreeing to anything.
Next
- CLI reference — what you can actually do with the Apache-2.0 CLI
- Receipt spec — the schema this licence covers