Licensing

NGX View Builder is in public beta, so licenses aren't for sale yet. They go on sale with the 1.0.0 release. Everything below describes the license model you'll buy into at launch.

The runtime is free forever and never requires a license key, at 1.0.0 or any version after. Everything on this page describes the commercial license for the builder only.

Since 0.5.0 that split is enforced by packaging rather than by promise. @ngxviewbuilder/runtime and @ngxviewbuilder/designer are separate npm packages with separate license files:

Package	LICENSE.md
@ngxviewbuilder/runtime	Proprietary but free, perpetual, no key. Commercial and client work allowed. You may not resell it on its own, build a competing product from it, or build a visual editor on top of it.
@ngxviewbuilder/designer	The commercial agreement described on this page.
@ngxviewbuilder/plugin-templates	Follows the designer.
@ngxviewbuilder/plugin-logic-map, @ngxviewbuilder/plugin-docs, @ngxviewbuilder/plugin-shared	Follow the designer.

An application that only renders views therefore installs no commercially licensed code at all, which is the answer to the question procurement usually asks first. Writing the view JSON by hand, or generating it with an AI agent, is explicitly allowed by the runtime license: what you cannot do is ship your own editor UI on top of it.

Is this open source?

No. NGX View Builder is commercial software, not open source (not MIT, Apache, GPL, or any OSI-approved license). Installing it from npm gives you the right to use it under the terms below. It does not grant a license to fork, redistribute, or build a competing product from it.

If you've used commercial component libraries before, the model will feel familiar: install from the public npm registry, evaluate for free with a watermark, unlock full use with a paid key.

Attempting to remove, disable, or circumvent the license check (the watermark, the signature validation, or the server check) is a breach of the license agreement, regardless of how it's done (patching the package, monkey-patching at runtime, stripping the check at build time, etc.). See Restrictions below.

Supplying the key

The key is read by the designer. There is nowhere to put one in a runtime-only application, and nothing there would check it.

Pass it through runtimeSettings:

readonly builderSettings: INgxViewBuilderBuilderSettings = {
  licenseKey: 'NVB-eyJjdXN0b21lcklkIjo...',
};

<ngx-view-builder-builder [runtimeSettings]="builderSettings" ... />

How validation works

1. Local check: the key embeds customerId, plan, and expiresAt; version coverage is checked immediately (see below).
2. Offline signature check: keys are ECDSA P-256 signed; the builder verifies the signature against an embedded public key (WebCrypto). Tampered or self-made keys are treated as invalid. No network required.
3. Server check: the builder additionally calls the official license service (fixed, non-configurable URL) with { key, domain }. The result is cached in localStorage for 7 days; network failures fall back silently to the local checks, so air-gapped environments keep working. A revoked key always shows the watermark.

Version coverage (perpetual fallback)

Every published build embeds its release date. A license covers all versions released before its expiresAt, permanently:

• While the license is active, every update is covered.
• After the license expires, the versions you already use keep working forever, without a watermark.
• Versions released after the license expired run in degraded mode (watermark) until the license is renewed, so installing the latest package from npm without an active license does not grant access to new features.

What users see

State	UI
Valid for this version	Nothing
No key supplied	A diagonal “NO LICENSE” watermark across the builder canvas + a banner
Version not covered (released after license expiry)	The canvas watermark + a banner + a reminder modal (at most once per 24 h)
Invalid / tampered / unparseable / revoked	The canvas watermark + an invalid-license banner + modal (at most once per 24 h)

The reminder modal can be closed with Continue without updates (or Continue without license when the key does not check out) once a 15 second countdown on the button has run out.

The runtime never shows any license UI. Rendering views in production is unaffected; license messaging is builder-facing only. The check itself lives in the designer package, so a runtime-only application does not even ship the code that draws a watermark.

AI access

Letting an AI assistant work in the builder over MCP comes with the license, there is nothing extra to buy. It is also the one part that already needs a key before 1.0.0. The builder only opens the connection for a key that is genuine and not expired, whether it goes to our hosted server through the Connect button or to a server you run yourself. Without such a key the AI access (MCP) group in the settings says what is missing. Our hosted server also checks the key with the license service before it pairs anything, and again every hour. It lets as many browsers use AI access at the same time as the license has seats (see Seats). The server only relays requests between the AI client and the builder and stores none of your views or data (what it keeps).

Licensed plugins

The Logic map and the Documentation plugin come with the license as well. Like AI access, they already need a key before 1.0.0: their tab and panel open for a key that is genuine and not expired, and otherwise say what is missing and where the key goes. The check is the one AI access uses in the builder: the key's signature and its expiry date, done in the browser with no network call, so it works in air-gapped environments too. The public demo runs them without a key. The Templates plugin needs no key.

To know in your own code whether the key unlocks them, read proAccess on the designer's LicenseService. It is a signal that holds 'ready' once the key checks out, 'checking' while the check runs, and 'missing', 'invalid' or 'expired' otherwise:

import { LicenseService } from '@ngxviewbuilder/designer';

const license = inject(LicenseService);
const unlocked = computed(() => license.proAccess() === 'ready');

The licensed plugins wrap their own screens in <nvb-pro-feature-gate> from @ngxviewbuilder/plugin-shared. It shows what is inside it while the key unlocks them, and otherwise explains what is missing and where the key goes, in the builder's language. feature names the feature in that explanation, and compact fits it into the Properties panel:

<nvb-pro-feature-gate feature="Logic map">
  <my-logic-view />
</nvb-pro-feature-gate>

License terms

The designer is commercial software, distributed under the NGX View Builder Commercial License Agreement, and the full text ships as LICENSE.md inside the published npm package (also shown on the npm package page). The runtime package ships its own, free license text instead. In short: a paid key covers all versions released during your license term perpetually; client work is included and either side can hold the license: an agency's key covers the applications it builds for its clients, or the end customer buys the key and it covers contractors developing their application (operating a delivered application never needs a key); evaluation without a key is free but watermarked; redistributing the library on its own or circumventing license enforcement is prohibited. The open-source dependencies keep their own licenses: the designer installs CodeMirror, Prettier and Lodash under MIT, the runtime installs Jexl and Lodash under MIT, and both install tslib under 0BSD.

Notes

• Keep the key out of client repositories where possible; inject it from environment configuration.
• The domain sent to the validation server is window.location.hostname; issue keys per environment if you validate domains.

Licensing questions: info@heydelabs.com.