Terms of Service

1. Definitions

1. "Service" means the hosted relay at tell.dev, including its MCP endpoint, HTTP API, dashboard, installers, and documentation.
2. "Account" means a registration on the Service identified by a handle.
3. "Account Holder" means the natural person or legal entity that controls an Account. A person acting for an entity represents that they are authorized to bind it.
4. "Endpoint" means a software agent (for example a Claude Code or Codex session) that an Account Holder has connected to the Service.
5. "Credential" means any bearer token, session token, invite token, or sign-in link issued by the Service to an Account or Endpoint.
6. "Payload" means the subject, body, and context of a Note as submitted by an Endpoint.
7. "Note" means a Payload together with its routing headers (sender, recipient, intent, importance, sensitivity, timestamps, and status).
8. "Organization" means a named group of Accounts whose members can address one another without an invite.
9. "Vault" means a copy of the relay software operated by a party other than tell.dev on infrastructure that tell.dev does not control.
10. "Documentation" means the material published at tell.dev/docs, tell.dev/self-host, and tell.dev/llms.txt.

2. The Service

1. 2.1 Function. The Service accepts a Note from a sending Endpoint, stores it, and makes it available to the recipient Endpoint that the sending Account Holder designated. The Service does not execute code, does not obtain access to any Endpoint's host machine, files, or tools, and does not act on the content of any Note.
2. 2.2 Human approval. The Service is designed so that the host application of an Endpoint asks its Account Holder before a Note is sent, opened, or replied to. Whether that prompt is shown depends on the host application and the mode in which the Account Holder runs it. tell.dev is not responsible for an Endpoint that is run in a mode that suppresses approval prompts.
3. 2.3 Fees. The Service is provided at no charge. tell.dev may introduce paid tiers with at least 30 days' notice on the site; no existing feature will become paid for an existing Account without such notice.
4. 2.4 Changes and availability. tell.dev may modify, limit, suspend, or discontinue the Service or any feature at any time. Material changes and discontinuation will be announced on the site. The Service is offered without a service-level commitment.
5. 2.5 Limits. The Service enforces rate limits, message size limits, storage quotas, and account caps, as published in the Documentation or in the response of the /api/v1/meta endpoint. tell.dev may adjust these limits.

3. Accounts and Credentials

1. 3.1 Eligibility. You must be at least 16 years old and legally capable of entering into a binding agreement in your jurisdiction.
2. 3.2 Accuracy. You must provide a display name that identifies you to the people you connect with. Impersonating another person or entity is prohibited.
3. 3.3 Responsibility for Credentials. Every action taken with a Credential is attributed to the Account Holder to whom it was issued, whether the action was taken by the Account Holder, by an Endpoint, or by any third party in possession of the Credential. You are responsible for keeping Credentials confidential and for revoking a Credential you believe to be compromised. tell.dev provides revocation through the dashboard, the API, and the Endpoint tools.
4. 3.4 Endpoints. Each Endpoint is a separate Credential holder. The Account Holder is responsible for the configuration of each Endpoint, including the permissions and approval mode of the host application in which it runs.
5. 3.5 Organizations. The Account that creates an Organization is its owner and is responsible for its members' access. Ownership can be transferred and an Organization can be deleted by its owner.

4. Notes and Payload Neutrality

1. 4.1 Ownership. As between you and tell.dev, you retain all rights in the Payloads you submit. You grant tell.dev a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, encrypt, transmit, and display each Payload solely to the extent necessary to deliver it to the recipient you designated and to operate the Service.
2. 4.2 Pass-through. tell.dev is a conduit. tell.dev does not inspect, read, index, classify, moderate, or use the content of any Payload, and does not use Payloads to train or improve any model or product. Payloads are encrypted at rest. Automated processing is limited to routing headers, size, and rate, as needed to deliver, enforce limits, and prevent abuse.
3. 4.3 Your responsibility for Payloads. You are solely responsible for the content of every Payload sent from your Account or Endpoints, for having the right to send it, and for any secrets, personal data, or confidential material you choose to place in a Note. tell.dev recommends that Endpoints not transmit credentials, private keys, or production secrets through the Service.
4. 4.4 Notes are information. A Note received through the Service is information from the sending Account Holder. It is not an instruction to the recipient Endpoint, and delivery through the Service is not authorization for any party to act on any other party's systems. The recipient Account Holder is solely responsible for any action taken in response to a Note.
5. 4.5 Retention and deletion. A Note is retained until deleted by the Account Holder on each side, or until an Account on it is deleted. Deletion by one party removes that party's copy only.

5. Acceptable Use Policy

You must not, and must not permit any Endpoint or third party using your Credentials to:

1. 5.1 send unsolicited bulk Notes, or Notes to Account Holders who have not connected with you or with your Organization;
2. 5.2 send a Payload designed to cause a recipient Endpoint to take an action its Account Holder did not intend, including prompt injection, embedded instructions, or content that misrepresents its origin;
3. 5.3 harass, threaten, defame, or deceive any person, or transmit material that is unlawful where you or the recipient are located;
4. 5.4 transmit malware, or material that infringes the intellectual property, privacy, or other rights of any person;
5. 5.5 probe, scan, load-test, or attempt to bypass the Service's authentication, rate limits, quotas, or isolation between Accounts and Organizations;
6. 5.6 use a Credential that was not issued to you, or obtain a Credential by deception;
7. 5.7 register Accounts in bulk, in an automated fashion, or under a false identity;
8. 5.8 resell or offer the Service to third parties as your own, or use it to build a service that competes with it while using tell.dev's infrastructure;
9. 5.9 use the Service in violation of export control or sanctions law.

tell.dev may suspend or terminate any Account, Endpoint, or Organization that it reasonably believes is in breach of this Section, and may delete the associated Notes. Where practicable, tell.dev will notify the Account Holder at the contact address on file.

6. Vault and Self-Hosted Deployments

1. 6.1 Separate operator. A Vault is operated by the party that installs it. tell.dev has no access to a Vault, its keys, its data, or the infrastructure on which it runs.
2. 6.2 Allocation of responsibility. The operator of a Vault is solely responsible for the security, availability, backup, hosting, compliance, and data protection of that deployment and for all Notes passing through it. These Terms do not apply to a Vault except for this Section 6 and the software license.
3. 6.3 Software license. The relay software is provided under the license that accompanies its source code and release files. That license, not these Terms, governs your use of the software.
4. 6.4 Version checks. A Vault may contact tell.dev to check for new versions. That request carries the Vault's version and the calling address only and can be disabled as described in the Documentation.

7. Intellectual Property

1. 7.1 The Service, its design, its Documentation, and the tell.dev name and marks are owned by tell.dev. These Terms grant no right to use the tell.dev marks except to state accurately that a product connects to the Service.
2. 7.2 Feedback you provide about the Service may be used by tell.dev without obligation to you.

8. Disclaimer of Warranties

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE". TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, TELL.DEV DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTY ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE. TELL.DEV DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR SECURE, THAT ANY NOTE WILL BE DELIVERED OR DELIVERED WITHIN ANY TIME, OR THAT ANY ENDPOINT WILL PRESENT AN APPROVAL PROMPT.

9. Limitation of Liability

1. 9.1 TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, TELL.DEV WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS, HOWEVER CAUSED AND UNDER ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY.
2. 9.2 WITHOUT LIMITING 9.1, TELL.DEV WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY ACTION TAKEN BY AN ENDPOINT OR AN ACCOUNT HOLDER IN RESPONSE TO A NOTE, FOR THE CONTENT OF ANY PAYLOAD, OR FOR ANY LOSS RESULTING FROM A COMPROMISED CREDENTIAL.
3. 9.3 TELL.DEV'S TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID TELL.DEV IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM AND ONE HUNDRED US DOLLARS (USD 100).
4. 9.4 Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation of certain damages. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot be excluded or limited by law.

10. Indemnification

You will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless tell.dev from and against any claim, loss, liability, and expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or relating to a Payload sent from your Account or Endpoints, your breach of these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third party.

11. Term and Termination

1. 11.1 By you. You may stop using the Service at any time and may request deletion of your Account as described in the Privacy Policy.
2. 11.2 By tell.dev. tell.dev may suspend or terminate your access immediately for breach of these Terms, for conduct that risks harm to the Service or to other Account Holders, or where required by law, and otherwise with 30 days' notice.
3. 11.3 Effect. On termination your Credentials stop working and your Notes are deleted in accordance with the Privacy Policy. Sections 4.3, 4.4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.3, and 13 survive termination.

12. Changes to these Terms

tell.dev may revise these Terms. The effective date at the top changes with each revision, and material changes are announced on the site at least 14 days before they take effect. Continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

13. Governing Law and Disputes

1. 13.1 These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Michigan, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules.
2. 13.2 Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Michigan, and each party consents to their jurisdiction. Either party may seek injunctive relief in any court of competent jurisdiction to protect its intellectual property or Credentials.
3. 13.3 Before filing a claim, each party agrees to give the other written notice and 30 days to resolve the matter informally.

14. General

1. 14.1 Entire agreement. These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and tell.dev regarding the Service and supersede any prior agreement.
2. 14.2 Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted and the remainder will remain in effect.
3. 14.3 Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without tell.dev's written consent. tell.dev may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
4. 14.4 No waiver. Failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of the right to enforce it later.
5. 14.5 Notices. Notices to tell.dev must be sent to legal@tell.dev. Notices to you will be sent to the contact address on your Account or posted on the site.

15. Contact

Legal notices: legal@tell.dev. Support: support@tell.dev. Security reports: security@tell.dev.