chore: relicense from MIT to AGPLv3 with proprietary dual-licensing#147
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Per ADR-0009, the open-source distribution moves from MIT to the GNU AGPLv3 so a third party cannot run a closed-source hosted fork (AGPLv3 section 13 closes the network-use loophole MIT leaves open). Copyright is held solely by the owner, who reserves a proprietary dual-licensing path for a planned closed-source SaaS; future contributions require the CLA to keep that path clean. This supersedes ADR-0006's broad-adoption posture, trading some adoption breadth for moat protection. Forward-only: code already published under MIT stays under MIT. LICENSE is the verbatim FSF AGPLv3 text; the copyright assertion and the dual-licensing terms live in the README. No per-file headers (the single-root LICENSE convention is retained). This session's history-maintenance dev-mode audit entries in overrides.log also land here, since that work was a history rewrite with no work commit of its own. CHANGELOG: codeArbiter is now licensed under AGPLv3 (previously MIT) as of v2.6.0. Proprietary/commercial licensing is available from the copyright holder; future contributions require a CLA. The license change is forward-only. Ref: ADR-0009 Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01QaLw7nTrRbHwygFar2R6zu
This was referenced Jun 27, 2026
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* docs(changelog): roll the 2.6.0 release notes Reconcile the [2.6.0] CHANGELOG section for the release: broaden the intro beyond the farm work, add context-drift provenance (#145) and file-scoped context injection (#146) under Added, note the MIT to AGPLv3 relicense (#147, ADR-0009) under Changed, and add a Fixed section for #143, #139, and #138. Dated 2026-06-27. Also flips v2.feature.0001 to done now that file-scoped context injection has shipped and merged; the flip rides this release commit per ADR-0008. No version bump: plugin.json is already 2.6.0 and the ca-scoped commit window is unchanged. The relicense and docs commits touch no plugins/ca/ payload. Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01QaLw7nTrRbHwygFar2R6zu * docs(license): reserve the dual-licensing right without offering it yet Soften the README "Commercial licensing" wording. The prior text implied proprietary licenses were actively on offer; the intent is narrower: the owner retains sole ownership and reserves the right to dual-license, but is not offering commercial licenses at this time. Inquiries may still be sent through GitHub and will be considered if and when a commercial path is established. The legal substance is unchanged. AGPLv3 plus sole copyright already secures the right; this only corrects the public statement so it does not overstate an active commercial offering. ADR-0009, the CLA, and the CHANGELOG already use the reserves-the-right framing, so no other file changes. Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01QaLw7nTrRbHwygFar2R6zu --------- Co-authored-by: SUaDtL <SUaDtL@users.noreply.github.com>
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…ons (2.6.1) (#151) * fix(release): roll changelog into the bracket heading form Phase 1 of the release skill instructed rolling the new section under a bare `## v<version>` heading, but the repo's CHANGELOG.md -- and every prior GitHub Release -- uses the Keep-a-Changelog `## [<version>]` form, which is also the form the _releaselib notes/date guards (hardened in #150) now match. The roll prose was the last spot still naming the bare-v form, so a literal reading would have written a heading the guards don't recognize. Aligns the roll instruction to the bracket form and pins it with a SkillProseTest assertion. The version bump rides this commit because the change touches the published `plugins/ca/` payload (the version-bump gate requires it). CHANGELOG: the /ca:release skill now documents the Keep-a-Changelog `## [X.Y.Z]` changelog heading, matching the repo convention and the hardened release guards. Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_015tNUy37dx7DJGDzmVUB8Wf * fix(license): align manifest + README with the AGPLv3 relicense Two declarations were left stale after the relicense (#147/#149, ADR-0009): - plugins/ca/.claude-plugin/plugin.json still declared "license": "MIT" -- the machine-readable field plugin registries display. Now AGPL-3.0-only, matching the LICENSE file and the README badge. SPDX -only per the v3, no-or-later grant the docs and ADR state (per-file headers were explicitly declined). - The top-of-README License notice still carried the pre-#149 "available separately" offering wording; #149 corrected only the detailed Dual-Licensing section and left this callout. Now uses the same reserves-the-right / not-offered-at-this-time framing as that section. CHANGELOG: the plugin manifest now declares AGPL-3.0-only (was a stale MIT), and the README license notice no longer implies commercial licenses are on offer. Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_015tNUy37dx7DJGDzmVUB8Wf --------- Co-authored-by: SUaDtL <SUaDtL@users.noreply.github.com>
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What this does
Relicenses the open-source distribution of codeArbiter from MIT to the GNU AGPLv3 and records the dual-licensing posture. Implements ADR-0009, which supersedes ADR-0006.
Why
MIT lets a third party run a closed-source hosted fork with no reciprocity. AGPLv3 section 13 closes that network-use loophole, so a hosted fork must offer its source. Sole copyright ownership preserves a clean proprietary dual-license for a planned closed-source SaaS. The project stays open source (AGPLv3 is OSI-approved); what changes is the reciprocity strength of the license and the addition of a commercial path. This trades some adoption breadth (AGPL is banned in many enterprises) for moat protection, a tradeoff weighed and chosen by the owner.
Changes
## Licensesection explaining AGPLv3 and the forward-only transition; a new## Dual-Licensing & Contributionssection (open-source AGPLv3, commercial licensing via GitHub, CLA-required contributions). Also fixes a now-broken link to the deletedarchive/v1branch.Notes
SUaDtLfor now. A real legal entity is to be set up before any commercial license is granted..codearbiter/, notplugins/ca/**, so the plugin payload version is unchanged.Review and test plan
coverage-auditoris not applicable (nothing testable in a license/docs change).Ref: ADR-0009