Terms of Service: Open Citadel

Agreement To These Terms

Open Citadel is developed and operated by Thamsanqa Ncube, an individual developer publishing on Google Play and the App Store. In these terms, "we", "us" and "our" mean that developer, and "you" means the person using the app. There is no separate company at this time. If that changes, these terms will be updated to name the responsible entity.

By installing the app, creating an account, buying a plan, or using Samwell Cloud, you agree to these terms and to our Privacy Policy, which is part of this agreement. If you do not agree, do not use the app. You can delete it at any time.

"The app" means Open Citadel on Android and iOS. "The service" means everything that runs on our server: accounts, Samwell Cloud, Compass, cloud reading voices, podcast transcripts, web search, and billing. The app works without the service, and these terms apply to both.

Summary

This summary is a guide only. The full terms below are what count.

The app is free to install. You can read, highlight, take notes and use on-device Samwell without an account or a payment.
Your books, notes, and goals are yours. They live on your device. You are responsible for having the right to the files you add.
Samwell is an AI. He can be wrong, and nothing he says is medical, legal, financial, or mental health advice.
Samwell Cloud is a monthly subscription bought through Google Play or the App Store. It gives you Neurons to spend. They have no cash value, and the store, not us, handles refunds.
Subscriptions renew until you cancel them in the store. Deleting your account does not cancel a subscription.
Do not abuse the service, share your access, or get around its limits.
The app's source code is open under the AGPL. These terms cover the service and your use of the official app. They do not take away any right that licence gives you.

Who Can Use Open Citadel

You must be at least 13 years old, or older if the law where you live sets a higher age for using an online service like this without a parent's consent. Open Citadel is not directed at children under 13.

If you are under 18, you may use the app only with the permission of a parent or guardian, and a parent or guardian must be the one to buy a subscription. By using the app you confirm you meet these requirements and that you are able to enter into this agreement.

You may not use the app if you are barred from doing so by law, or if we have ended your access for breaking these terms.

Your Licence To Use The App

We give you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to install and use the official app on devices you own or control, for your own personal use, and to use the service as these terms allow. The app is licensed to you, not sold.

Apart from what the law or the open source licence described in Open Source & Our Rights allows, you may not:

sell, rent, lease, or sublicense the official app or access to the service;
remove or hide the app's notices, or present your own copy as the official Open Citadel; or
use the app in a way that breaks the law or the rights of others.

Your Content

"Your content" means everything you bring to or make in the app: books you import, highlights, notes, thoughts, tags, chats with Samwell, goals, daily logs, check-ins, and anything you type.

You own it. These terms do not give us ownership of your content. It is stored in a local database on your device, and we do not keep a copy of it. Because of that, we cannot recover it if you lose your device or delete the app. Back up what matters to you.

Permission to process it. When you use Samwell Cloud or another cloud feature, you ask us to send the relevant part of your content through our server to the AI and other providers that do the work, as described in the Privacy Policy. You give us the limited permission needed to do exactly that, to return the result to you, and to keep the usage records the Privacy Policy describes. We do not use your content for anything else.

Your responsibility. You promise that you have the right to use every book, article, audio file, and other material you add to the app, and to have it read, summarised, quoted, or spoken by the features you use. Open Citadel does not check this and does not sell books. Do not add material you have no right to use.

Highlight cards and sharing. When you export a highlight or a note as an image or share it, you are responsible for what you share and for whether you may share it. Quotes from a book remain subject to that book's copyright.

Accounts & Your Device Identity

You do not need an account to read, highlight, or use on-device Samwell. You do not need one to buy a plan, either. Samwell Cloud works in two ways:

With an account. You sign in or register through our sign-in provider, and your plan and Neurons belong to that account. This is how you use your plan on more than one device.
Without an account. If you buy a plan without signing in, the app creates a private identity for your device and keeps its secret in your device's secure storage. Your plan and Neurons belong to that device identity. If you later sign in, the app links the two so your plan follows your account.

If you buy without an account and then lose the device, reinstall the app on Android, or switch phones before you have signed in, we may not be able to connect your plan to you again. Signing in and restoring purchases from inside the app is how you avoid that. We cannot restore something we cannot tie to you.

Keep your access safe. You are responsible for your sign-in, your device, and what happens through them. Tell us promptly if you think someone else has access. Accounts and device identities are personal. Do not share them, sell them, or let others spend your Neurons.

Give us accurate information, and keep your email address current so that we can reach you about your account. You can delete your account at any time from Settings, or by following Delete Your Account.

Samwell & AI

Samwell is an artificial intelligence companion. He is not a person, a therapist, a coach with credentials, or a substitute for one. He is built to help you think, remember, plan, and act on what you read, and he works from your reading and the goals you set.

He can be wrong. AI models make things up, misquote books, misremember what you told them, and sound sure when they are not. Check anything that matters, especially facts, quotations, dates, figures, and anything you will act on. You use Samwell's answers at your own risk.

Two kinds of Samwell. On-device Samwell runs an AI model on your phone, and what you say to him stays there. Samwell Cloud runs on larger models hosted by others and reached through our server. Cloud replies are generated by third-party AI providers, and we do not control what those providers' models say. Which models are offered, and to which plan, can change. See Updates & Availability.

What Samwell can do in your app. Samwell can look things up in your library, highlights, notes, and goals, and can propose or make changes such as tags, collections, your reading queue, and goal check-ins. Many changes wait for your approval before they happen. When you explicitly ask Samwell to delete a highlight or a note, that deletion is permanent. Read what you are approving.

Outputs. Replies are generated for you and may be similar to what other people receive. We make no promise that any output is unique, accurate, or fit for a particular purpose. As between you and us, you may use the replies you receive for your own purposes, subject to these terms and to any rights third parties hold in material the replies quote.

Not Professional Advice

Open Citadel is a tool for reading, reflection, and self-directed growth. Compass lets you set goals in areas such as health, fitness, learning, career, and relationships, and Samwell talks about them with you. None of it is medical, psychological, legal, financial, tax, religious, or other professional advice, and it does not create a professional relationship.

Speak to a qualified professional before making decisions about your health, medication, mental health, money, or legal position.
Do not start, change, or stop a medical, exercise, or dietary plan because of something Samwell said without checking with a qualified professional first.
Open Citadel is not a crisis service. If you are in danger or thinking of harming yourself or someone else, contact your local emergency number or a crisis line right away. Do not wait for a reply from an app.

Samwell Cloud Plans & Neurons

Samwell Cloud is sold as monthly subscription plans. At the time of writing the plans are called Maester, Grand Maester, and Archmaester Samwell. Each higher plan reaches more models and comes with a bigger monthly allowance. The plans on offer, their prices, the models each one reaches, and the size of each allowance are shown in the app and in the store before you buy, and they can change.

What a Neuron is. A Neuron is the unit we use to meter Samwell Cloud. It is a measure of how much of the service you have used, not money. Your plan grants a number of Neurons on purchase and on each monthly renewal. When you use a cloud feature, the cost of that use is worked out from what the underlying provider actually charges us for it and is taken from your balance in Neurons. A heavy message on an expensive model costs more than a light message on a cheap one. Charges are rounded up, and every metered request costs at least one Neuron.

The figures in the app. The app shows estimates before you send a message and your balance afterwards. Estimates are only estimates. What you are charged is settled after the work is done, and it can be higher or lower than the estimate. Your balance in the app is the figure that counts.

Rollover. Some unused Neurons carry over to the next month, up to a cap that is a share of your plan's monthly allowance and is shown in the app. Anything above the cap is lost when your plan renews.

What Neurons are not. Neurons have no cash value. They cannot be exchanged for money, transferred to another person, or sold. They are a licence to use the service, not property. They are not refundable. You need an active plan to spend them, and unused Neurons may be removed after your plan lapses or when your account is deleted.

Limits on a single message. To protect you from a runaway request, a single message has a ceiling on how many Neurons it may spend and on how many times Samwell may look things up while answering. If a message reaches a ceiling, it stops and you are told. The Neurons already used are charged, because the work was done.

Running out. If your balance is too low for a request, or you have no active plan, the request is refused. On-device Samwell and the rest of the app keep working.

Billing, Renewal & Refunds

The store sells it. Plans are bought through Google Play or the App Store. The store processes the payment under its own terms, and we never see or store your card or payment details. We use RevenueCat to manage subscriptions and to tell which plan you are on.

Prices and tax. The price shown in the store at the moment of purchase is the price you pay, in your local currency, and it may include taxes that the store adds.

Auto-renewal. A plan is a subscription that renews every month until you cancel it. Your store account is charged when you buy and again at each renewal, usually within 24 hours before the current period ends. Your Neurons for the new month are granted when the store confirms the renewal.

Cancelling. You cancel in the store, not in the app and not with us: in the Google Play app under Subscriptions, or on iPhone under Settings, your name, then Subscriptions. Cancel at least a day before the renewal date to avoid the next charge. When you cancel, you keep your plan until the end of the period you have already paid for. Deleting your account or uninstalling the app does not cancel a subscription.

Changing plans. You can move between plans in the store. How the change is charged and when it takes effect is decided by the store, and the app shows what you are getting before you confirm.

Price changes. We may change the price of a plan. A price change applies at your next renewal, and the store will notify you and may ask for your consent. If you do not accept it, cancel before the renewal.

Refunds. We do not take payment ourselves, so we cannot issue refunds ourselves. Google Play and the App Store handle refund requests under their own policies, and the decision is theirs. Request a refund from the store you bought from. Where the law gives you a right to a refund or a cooling-off period, that right is not affected by this section. Spent Neurons cannot be returned, because the work they paid for has already been done.

Insider Codes

From time to time we may give people an insider code. A code grants a plan for a set time, such as a day, a week, a month, or a year, and your Neurons for that plan are granted monthly until the time is up. You redeem a code in Settings.

A code can be used once. Do not share it, post it, or sell it.
It has no cash value, cannot be exchanged for money, and does not renew. When the time ends, the plan ends.
A code is a gift, not a purchase. We may withdraw one, and end the access it gave, if it was obtained or used in breach of these terms.
All the other terms on this page apply to access gained through a code.

Voices, Transcripts & Web Search

Besides chat, some cloud features use your plan and spend Neurons. They are provided by third-party AI providers through our server and are described in the Privacy Policy.

Cloud reading voices. Natural voices that read a book or article aloud. What you spend depends on how much text is read and on the voice you choose. Voices available to you depend on your plan, and a voice can be added, changed, or removed. You use the phone's built-in voice for free.
Podcast transcripts. Turning an episode into text. The cost depends on the length of the episode. Very long episodes may be refused. Transcripts are machine made and can contain errors, including wrong words and wrong speaker names.
Web search. Samwell Cloud can search the web to answer you. Results come from other people's websites. We do not check or endorse them, and the search itself costs Neurons.

To keep the service fast and fair for everyone, some features have fair use limits, such as limits on how many requests can run at once, how much can be requested in a day, or how long a piece can be. We may apply and change these limits, and a request over a limit may be refused.

Free Books, Podcasts & Blogs

Open Citadel is a reader and a companion. It is not a publisher or a bookshop. It gives you ways to read what you bring or choose, and it does not own, review, or take responsibility for that material.

Free books. The app can find and download free books from Project Gutenberg. A book that is free to read in one country is not always free everywhere. You are responsible for making sure that downloading and using a book is lawful where you are.
Podcasts and blogs. You add feeds, shows, and articles yourself. Their content belongs to the people who made it and is under their terms. We do not host, copy, or edit it for you beyond what is needed to show it in the app, and we are not responsible for what it says.
Your own files. Use books and audio that you own or have the right to use. Do not use the app to copy or share material in a way the owner has not allowed.

Summaries, transcripts, and audio that you create from someone else's material are for your own private use. They do not give you any right to publish or share that material.

On-Device Models

On-device Samwell runs an AI model stored on your phone. You choose which model to download inside the app. Models are made by other people, and each is offered under its maker's own licence and terms, which apply to you when you download and use it. We do not control those licences or the models.

Models are large. Downloading one uses your data and storage, and running one uses battery and may make your phone warm or slow. Whether a model runs well depends on your device. On-device models are smaller than cloud models and are more likely to give weaker or wrong answers.

Acceptable Use

Use the app and the service fairly and lawfully. You agree not to:

break any law, or the rights of anyone else, using the app;
use Samwell Cloud to make content that is illegal, that exploits or sexualises children, that promotes violence or hatred, or that is meant to harass, defraud, or deceive;
try to get around Neuron metering, plan limits, per-message ceilings, or fair use limits, or use the service without paying for what it costs;
share, sell, or pool an account, a device identity, or an insider code, or let someone else spend your Neurons;
send automated, bulk, or scripted requests to the service, or use it as a free way into AI providers, unless we have agreed to it in writing;
use the service or its replies to build or train a competing product or a machine learning model;
attack, overload, probe for weaknesses in, or break into the service, other users' accounts, or our providers' systems;
try to pull out the hidden instructions, keys, or private workings of the service, or to make Samwell act against its purpose; or
encourage or help anyone else to do any of the above.

If you break these rules, we may refuse requests, limit your access, or suspend or end your account, as described in Ending Your Use. Our AI providers also have usage policies, and they may refuse a request or report abuse without us being able to prevent it.

Open Source & Our Rights

The source code of Open Citadel is published under the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3 or later, at our GitHub repository. That licence, and not these terms, decides what you may do with the source code. Nothing here restricts a right the AGPL gives you.

What the AGPL does not give you:

The service. Our hosted server, accounts, plans, Neurons, and the agreements we have with AI and other providers are not part of the code. You cannot use our service, or our keys and accounts with other providers, except through these terms.
Our names and marks. "Open Citadel", "Samwell", the app's icon, and its branding are ours. If you build and distribute your own version of the code, give it a different name and icon so that nobody mistakes it for the official app.

Except for your content, and except for the open source components of the app that come with their own licences, we and our licensors own everything in the app and the service, including the writing, the design, the persona and prompts, and the catalogue.

If you send us feedback or ideas, you give us permission to use them freely, without obligation or payment to you.

Third-Party Services

The app and the service depend on other companies, including Google Play and the App Store, our sign-in provider (Logto), RevenueCat, OpenRouter and the AI model providers it routes to, Hugging Face, and Project Gutenberg. The Privacy Policy lists what each one does.

Your use of their services can be subject to their own terms. We do not control them and are not responsible for what they do. If one changes, fails, or stops working with us, part of Open Citadel may change or stop working with it, and we will try to replace it where we reasonably can.

Updates & Availability

Open Citadel is built and run by one developer. We work to keep it reliable, but we do not promise that it will always be available, fast, or free of errors, and we do not promise any level of uptime.

Updates. The app is updated through the stores and, for smaller changes, over the air. You may need to update to keep using the service. Older versions may stop working with the server.
Changes to the service. We may add, change, or remove features, models, voices, limits, and plans. Models and voices come from outside providers and can be repriced, replaced, or withdrawn by them. Where a change takes away something you are paying for in a way that matters, we will try to tell you in advance in the app or the release notes.
Maintenance and outages. The service may be down for maintenance, or because of a problem with us or with a provider. Neurons are not refunded for time the service was unavailable, but we aim not to charge you for a request that failed before it completed.
Shutting down. If we ever close Samwell Cloud, we will give reasonable notice. The app, and everything on your device, will keep working without it.

Ending Your Use

You. You can stop using Open Citadel at any time. To delete your account, use DELETE ACCOUNT in Settings or follow Delete Your Account. Cancel any subscription in the store first, because deleting an account does not cancel it. To remove everything on your device, uninstall the app.

Us. We may suspend or end your access to the service, with or without notice, if you break these terms, abuse the service, put it or others at risk, or the law requires it. Where we reasonably can, we will tell you why and give you a chance to put things right first. We may also stop offering the service as set out above.

What happens next. Your licence to use the service ends. Your Neurons end with it. If we ended your access because you broke these terms, we are not required to refund anything, though your store's refund rights are not affected. Your content stays on your device, and the app's offline features keep working.

The sections that by their nature should survive, including those on content, disclaimers, liability, your responsibility, and governing law, continue after your use ends.

Disclaimers

The app and the service are provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent the law allows, we make no promises or warranties of any kind, express or implied, including that they will be uninterrupted, secure, accurate, or fit for a particular purpose, or that they will meet your goals or produce any result in your life. We do not promise that Samwell's answers, transcripts, search results, or suggestions are correct, complete, or suitable for you.

Some places do not allow certain promises to be excluded. Where that is so, those promises apply to you only as far as the law requires. Nothing in these terms limits the rights you have under consumer protection law that cannot be waived.

Limitation Of Liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable to you for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive loss, or for loss of profit, income, data, goodwill, or opportunity, arising from or connected with the app or the service, even if we were told it was possible. This includes loss that results from relying on something Samwell said, from an AI or transcript error, from losing content stored only on your device, or from an outage.

To the fullest extent the law allows, our total liability to you for everything connected with the app and the service is limited to the greater of the amount you paid for Samwell Cloud in the 12 months before the event that gave rise to the claim, and USD 50.

Nothing in these terms limits or excludes liability that cannot be limited or excluded by law, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or deliberate wrongdoing.

Your Responsibility

If you use the app in a way that breaks these terms or the law, or you add material you have no right to use, and a third party makes a claim against us because of it, you agree to cover our reasonable losses from that claim, to the extent the law allows. This does not apply to losses that we caused, or where the law gives consumers greater protection.

Additional Terms For iPhone & iPad

If you got Open Citadel from the Apple App Store, these extra terms apply, and they win over the rest of this page where the two conflict:

This agreement is between you and us only, and not with Apple. We, not Apple, are responsible for the app and its content.
Our licence to you is limited to use on Apple-branded devices you own or control, as the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions and the App Store rules allow.
Apple has no duty to provide maintenance or support for the app.
If the app does not meet a warranty that applies to it, you may tell Apple, and Apple will refund the price you paid for the app. Apple has no other warranty duty for the app. Any other claim, loss, or cost caused by a failure to meet a warranty is our responsibility, as far as the law allows.
We, not Apple, answer any claim you or anyone else makes about the app or your use of it, including product liability claims, claims that it breaks a legal or regulatory rule, and consumer protection or privacy claims.
If a third party claims that the app breaks their intellectual property rights, we, not Apple, are responsible for looking into, defending, and settling the claim.
You confirm that you are not in a country under a United States government embargo or listed as a restricted party, and that you will follow any third-party terms that apply when you use the app.
Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms and may enforce them against you once you accept them.

Questions, complaints, or claims about the app can be sent to the address in Contact.

Changes To These Terms

We may update these terms as the app, the service, or the law changes. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page always shows the latest revision. For an important change, we will say so in the app or in its release notes, and, where the change affects what you pay for, we will try to give you notice before it takes effect.

A change applies from the date it is published or later, and not to something that already happened. If you do not accept a change, stop using the app and cancel any subscription before the change takes effect. Using the app after that date means you accept the updated terms.

Governing Law & Disputes

Talk to us first. If you have a problem, write to us at the address in Contact and give us 30 days to put it right. Most issues can be sorted out this way.

Which law applies. These terms and any dispute connected with the app or the service are governed by the laws of the country in which the operator of Open Citadel is established, and the courts of that country have jurisdiction, except as the next paragraph says. At the date of these terms, the operator is the individual developer named at the top of this page. If the service moves to a company or to another country, these terms will be updated to name it, as the section on changes above describes.

Your local rights. If you are a consumer, this does not take away the mandatory consumer protection that the law of the country where you live gives you, and it does not stop you from bringing a claim in the courts of that country if the law gives you that right. The app stores also have their own ways of resolving purchase disputes, which you may use.

General

Whole agreement. These terms and the Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between you and us about the app and the service, and replace anything earlier. The stores' own terms, including Apple's standard license agreement where it applies, are separate, and these terms apply to the extent they do not conflict with them.
If a part fails. If a court finds part of these terms unenforceable, the rest stays in force, and that part is replaced by the closest valid wording.
No waiver. If we do not enforce a right straight away, we have not given it up.
Transfer. You may not transfer your rights under these terms. We may transfer ours to a company or person who takes over Open Citadel, and we will tell you if we do. This does not reduce your rights under these terms.
Events beyond our control. We are not responsible for a failure or delay caused by something we could not reasonably control, such as an outage at a provider, a store, or a network, or a natural disaster.
Language. These terms are written in English. A translation is a courtesy, and the English version decides.
Notices. We may notify you through the app, by email to the address on your account, or on this website. You may notify us at the address below.

Contact

Questions about these terms, notices, and reports of misuse or of copyright concerns can be sent to thamsanqa.dev@gmail.com. For help with the app itself, visit Support. For how we handle your data, read the Privacy Policy.