Accounts and licences

What this does: explains what a Helm account holds, how a licence key unlocks Cues or DJ, how many machines it covers, and what happens when the internet is not there.

The account

• One Google sign-in across every Helm product at app.helm.show.
• Account shows: your profile, Plans & licences per product, Storage, Attach a licence, Connected devices.
• Licences attach by email. A key issued to you@example.com appears when that address signs in, even if it signed in for the first time a year later.

Beta keys

• Format: HELM-CUES-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX or HELM-DJ-…. No 0 O 1 I L U, so it reads aloud cleanly.
• Apply from Account → Apply for beta, or from helm.show/beta. A human reviews it; the key arrives by email.
• Attach a key you received elsewhere under Attach a licence. A key issued to another account refuses: “registered to a different Helm account”. Keys never move between accounts from the app; email support.
• Beta is free. Beta keys stop 30 days after v1.0 ships. Beta holders get a discount on the first licence.

Activate inside the app

Helm Cues: Settings → Licence. Paste the key, or sign in to the cloud and the licence arrives with the account. The panel shows access, licence kind and storage use, with Refresh.

Helm DJ: the first-run dialog, or Settings → Licence.

Each app checks on launch and about every 24 h after that.

The 3-device cap

• A licence activates on 3 devices by default. A device already on the licence always fits.
• The 4th device is refused: “This key is on 3 devices already.” That machine falls back to free rules; the other three keep working.
• There is no self-serve way to free a slot yet. Email support with the last four characters of the key and the device to drop. Account → Connected devices → Sign out signs a desktop out; it does not free a licence slot.

Access levels

Settings → Licence in Cues shows one of three:

Access	Means
FULL	A perpetual or beta licence for this product, not revoked, not expired, this version covered
SEAT ONLY	No licence of your own, but a seat on at least one project
FREE	Neither

• A licence is per major version: a v1 licence runs every 1.x release. A v2 build shows “This build is newer than the licence covers.” until you upgrade.
• Revoking a licence takes effect on the next check. It does not sign the desktop out.

Offline grace

1. Every successful check is remembered on this machine.

2. Offline, it holds for 7 days from the last check.

3. After 7 days the app applies free rules the next time it launches or opens a project. It never closes an open show.

4. Back online, the next check restores everything.

Seven days covers a festival run. It does not cover a month-long tour with no internet: get one check in per week.

Free mode (Cues)

No licence, or past the grace window:

• Local projects open and play. Up to 3 tracks per project.
• A 4th track is refused. New Track, Batch Import, Duplicate and Import Show say Free mode: a project holds 3 tracks. Activate a licence to add more. A project that already holds more opens and plays as it is.
• Cloud projects do not open. The desktop says so and offers the upgrade path.
• Shows on disk stay yours. Nothing is deleted.

Storage pools

• Every account has a personal pool with a free allowance. Projects live in a pool; the pool owner pays for the space.
• Account → Storage lists the pool, its status (Active · Grace period · Read only · Closed) and every project with media, show data and version sizes.
• At 80 % the bar turns amber. At 100 % uploads stop: “Storage full — delete files or upgrade.” Nothing is deleted on a lapse.
• Paid pools, pool members and project seats are the model. Checkout for them lands with v1.0. See pricing.

Connected devices

• Every paired desktop app appears with product, app version and last used … · signs out after 90 days unused.
• 90 days unused signs a device out on its own. Pair it again.
• Sign out signs that device out. It must pair again.
• Revoking a licence signs out the devices that relied on it.

When it goes wrong

• “That key is not on file.” A typo, or the wrong key. Copy it from Account → licence card → Reveal → Copy.
• “This key is on 3 devices already.” Email support to free one.
• “This build is newer than the licence covers.” Stay on the covered version or upgrade. The updater will not offer a build your licence does not cover.
• Full access yesterday, free rules today, no internet. The 7 days ran out. Any internet for one minute fixes it. The open show keeps running either way.
• Key says it belongs to another account. You signed in with a different Google address than the one the key was issued to. Sign in with that one, or email support to move it.
• Account page shows no licence after approval. The approval email went to one address and you signed in with another. Same fix.