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Legal · Terms & Conditions (EULA)

Terms & Conditions

These Terms & Conditions form a binding contract between you and The App Foundry governing your use of Catalyst. They explicitly establish the boundaries of our liability — particularly regarding the shell commands, privilege escalation, and system modifications you may execute using the App — and they incorporate our Catalyst Privacy Policy by reference.

Version 1.1 Effective: 15 July 2026

Please read carefully before using Catalyst.

BY DOWNLOADING, INSTALLING, ACCESSING, SIGNING IN TO, OR OTHERWISE USING THE APP IN ANY WAY, YOU: (1) ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD THESE TERMS & CONDITIONS AND THE PRIVACY POLICY; (2) AGREE TO BE LEGALLY BOUND BY BOTH DOCUMENTS; AND (3) REPRESENT THAT YOU ARE LEGALLY ELIGIBLE TO DO SO. THE PRIVACY POLICY IS HEREBY INCORPORATED INTO THESE TERMS BY REFERENCE AND FORMS AN INTEGRAL AND INSEPARABLE PART OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO BOTH, DO NOT DOWNLOAD, INSTALL, OR USE THE APP, AND DELETE IT FROM YOUR DEVICE.

1. Acceptance & Incorporation of the Privacy Policy

These Terms & Conditions (the "Terms," "Agreement," or "EULA") constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("you," "your," or "User") and The App Foundry ("The App Foundry," "we," "us," "our," or the "Developer"), governing your access to and use of the Catalyst macOS application and all related software, services, content, documentation, updates, and backend APIs (collectively, the "App").

Your acceptance of these Terms also constitutes your acceptance of the Privacy Policy. The Privacy Policy is expressly incorporated into these Terms by reference. By agreeing to these Terms — whether by tapping or clicking an acceptance control in the App, by acknowledging an updated version when prompted, by signing in, or by continuing to use the App — you simultaneously and irrevocably (a) accept and agree to be bound by the Privacy Policy, and (b) confirm that you have had the opportunity to read, and have read and understood, both documents in full. The two documents are intended to be read together as a single, unified agreement.

Clickwrap acceptance and versioning. The App records your acceptance of these Terms, including the accepted version number. From time to time the Developer may issue an updated version of these Terms and/or the Privacy Policy. When a materially updated version is published, the App may require you to review and affirmatively accept the updated Terms before continuing to use some or all features. Each acceptance is a fresh, standalone agreement to the then-current versions of both documents.

Continued use as acceptance. Where affirmative re-acceptance is not separately required, your continued access to or use of the App after the Terms or the Privacy Policy have been updated constitutes your acceptance of, and agreement to be bound by, the updated documents. If you do not agree, your sole and exclusive remedy is to stop using and uninstall the App.

2. Definitions

"App" means the Catalyst macOS application and all associated software, services, content, documentation, backend APIs, and updates. "Content" means all text, metadata, documentation, and materials made available by the Developer. "Subscription" or "Pro" means any paid, auto-renewable plan offered through the App. "Grant" means a non-recurring entitlement, such as the student plan. "Device UUID" means the hardware-derived identifier used to bind a license to a single Mac. "Entitlement" means the server-signed token (a JSON Web Token signed with an Ed25519 key) that verifies your subscription or grant status to the App. "Third-Party Services" means external software (for example, Homebrew, Python, pip, Git) or infrastructure (for example, Cloudflare, Razorpay, Vercel, Google Firebase, Sparkle, GitHub) that the App relies on or interoperates with. "Privacy Policy" means the Catalyst Privacy Policy, as updated from time to time, incorporated herein by reference.

3. Eligibility & Age

You must be at least the age of majority in your jurisdiction, and in any case at least 13 years old (or the higher minimum age required in your country), to use the App and to enter into this Agreement. If you are under the age of majority, you may use the App only with the involvement and consent of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to be bound by these Terms on your behalf. The App is a professional developer tool that grants system-administration privileges and is not designed or intended for minors. By using the App, you represent and warrant that you meet these requirements and that all information you provide is accurate.

4. License Grant

Subject to your continuous compliance with these Terms and payment of any applicable fees, the Developer grants you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to download, install, and use one copy of the App on Mac computers that you own or control, solely for your own personal or internal business use. This license does not grant you any ownership interest in the App. All rights not expressly granted are reserved by the Developer and its licensors.

5. Restrictions

You agree that you will not, and will not permit any third party to:

  • copy, modify, adapt, translate, or create derivative works of the App or any Content, except as expressly permitted;
  • reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to derive the source code, algorithms, cryptographic keys (including any Ed25519 key pairs), or underlying structure of the App, except to the limited extent applicable law expressly permits despite this restriction;
  • circumvent, disable, or interfere with any security, attestation, device-binding, entitlement, licensing, rate-limiting, or offline grace-period mechanism;
  • spoof, forge, or manipulate your Device UUID, entitlement token, system clock, or any network request to or from the backend;
  • access the App's backend endpoints or APIs other than through the genuine, unmodified App, or use any automated means, script, scraper, or bot to interact with them;
  • share, resell, or make an account, license, trial, or student grant available to any person other than the licensed user, or otherwise defeat the single-seat model;
  • remove, alter, or obscure any proprietary notices, branding, or labels;
  • rent, lease, lend, sell, sublicense, distribute, or commercially exploit the App or any Content;
  • use the App to build or train a competing product or service, or to develop a substantially similar application;
  • use the App in any way that is unlawful, fraudulent, or harmful, or that infringes the rights of others.

6. The App & Its Features

Catalyst provides a native graphical and automation layer over macOS developer environments. It interacts with your local filesystem, package managers (such as Homebrew and pip), Python virtual environments, Git repositories, shell configuration files (such as ~/.zshrc), SSH keys, startup items, disk and battery health data, and related system state, and it can capture and restore your environment via portable snapshot files.

Some features depend on Third-Party Services, on a working macOS installation, and/or on an active internet connection. The Developer does not guarantee the continuous availability of any feature, and may at any time and without liability add, modify, suspend, limit, or discontinue any feature, in whole or in part, and may impose or change usage limits, including limits tied to Subscription status.

7. Execution, Sudo & System Modification

7.1 Destructive actions. The App executes shell commands on your behalf. Certain features — such as the Cruft Sweeper (which removes directories like node_modules, .venv, and build artifacts), package installations and uninstallations, system-wide installs using --break-system-packages, PATH and alias edits, startup-item changes, or modifications to ~/.zshrc — are capable of altering or removing data and system state. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT INITIATING THESE ACTIONS CAN RESULT IN DATA LOSS, CONFIGURATION LOSS, OR OPERATING-SYSTEM INSTABILITY, AND THAT YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK.

7.2 Privilege escalation (sudo). When a command requires elevated privileges, the App may prompt for your macOS password via a native dialog and pipe it, in memory, to sudo. The password is never written to disk, logged, or transmitted over the network. You are entirely responsible for the consequences of executing any command with elevated (sudo) privileges.

7.3 Consent, reversibility, and your backups. The App is designed to be safe by default: it favors reversible operations (for example, moving deletions to the Trash rather than permanent removal), gates destructive and system-altering actions behind explicit, informed consent, and backs up your shell profile before writing to it. These safeguards reduce but do not eliminate risk. You remain solely responsible for maintaining your own backups of your device, data, and configuration, and for reviewing each action before you confirm it. The Developer does not maintain a copy of your local environment and cannot recover, restore, or reset data that is lost, deleted, or corrupted for any reason.

8. Authentication & Device Binding

8.1 Passwordless login. The App uses email one-time passwords (OTP) for sign-in. You are responsible for maintaining the security of your email account and for all activity that occurs under your account.

8.2 Single-seat license. Access is licensed strictly on a single-seat basis. One Subscription or grant authorizes use on exactly one active Mac at a time. Upon sign-in, your account is cryptographically bound to that Mac's hardware-derived identifier (Device UUID).

8.3 Device releases. You may move your license to a new Mac by explicitly releasing the current device from within the App. To prevent account sharing, releases are hard-capped to a maximum of two (2) releases per rolling 90-day period. Attempting to circumvent this limit, spoof a device, or otherwise share a seat may result in immediate suspension or termination of your account without refund.

9. Subscriptions, Trials & Billing

Continued access to the App requires an active Subscription or a valid grant. All payments are processed by Razorpay; the Developer does not receive, process, or store your payment card numbers, bank account details, or other financial account information.

  • Free trial. We may offer a 5-day free trial, limited to one per verified email and Device UUID. No payment is required to begin the trial.
  • Billing & auto-renewal. Monthly and yearly Subscriptions renew automatically at the then-current price at the end of each period unless auto-renewal is cancelled before the renewal date.
  • Cancellation. You may cancel at any time from the App's Profile view. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current paid period; you retain access until that date, and no further charges are made once cancelled.
  • Refunds. Because a fully functional free trial is provided, subscription fees are non-refundable except where required by applicable law. See our Cancellation & Refund Policy.
  • Price & plan changes. The Developer may change pricing, tiers, features, and usage limits prospectively; changes do not affect a period already paid for.

10. Student Pricing & Grants

Discounted student pricing is a one-time, non-recurring grant that requires verification of a supported academic email address (for example, a .edu or .ac.in address). Student grants provide one year of Pro access, do not auto-renew, and must be manually re-verified upon expiration. A verified academic email is permanently bound to a single Catalyst account to prevent duplicate usage. The Developer reserves the right to verify eligibility and to suspend or revoke student access, without refund, where an eligibility claim is inaccurate, expired, or fraudulent.

11. Third-Party Services & Dependencies

The App relies on and interoperates with Third-Party Services, including macOS, Homebrew, Python, pip, Git, Cloudflare (Workers, D1, KV), Razorpay, Vercel, Google Firebase (Analytics and Crashlytics), Sparkle, and GitHub. These services are provided by third parties under their own terms and privacy policies, over which the Developer has no control. The Developer does not endorse and is not responsible for any Third-Party Service, including its accuracy, availability, security, legality, downtime, API changes, or any act or omission of the third party. Your use of any feature that depends on a Third-Party Service is at your own risk and subject to that third party's terms.

12. Analytics & Telemetry

You acknowledge and agree that the App uses a privacy-respecting analytics and crash-reporting service (Google Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics) to understand feature usage and to diagnose crashes and errors, as described in the Privacy Policy. This involves limited, non-advertising event and diagnostic data, and is deliberately scoped to exclude your source code, file contents, shell configuration, environment variables, and secrets. This data is not used for advertising and is not used to track you across other companies' apps or websites. By using the App, you consent to this processing. You may limit analytics through your device privacy settings, as described in the Privacy Policy.

13. Intellectual Property

The App and all Content, including its software, design, user interface, text, graphics, logos, and the "Catalyst" and "The App Foundry" names and branding, together with all associated intellectual property rights, are owned by the Developer or its licensors and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws. Except for the limited license granted in Section 4, nothing in these Terms transfers any right, title, or interest in the App or Content to you. You must not use the Developer's names, logos, or trademarks without prior written permission. Feedback you provide may be used by the Developer as described in Section 15.

14. Acceptable Use

You agree to use the App only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. You must not use the App to violate any law or regulation; to infringe any third party's rights; to attempt to gain unauthorized access to any system, account, or data; to interfere with the integrity, security, or performance of the App or its backend; to burden, overload, or abuse our Cloudflare infrastructure or any rate-limited endpoint; to distribute malware; or to engage in any conduct that the Developer reasonably considers harmful, fraudulent, or abusive. The Developer may investigate and take appropriate action, including suspending or terminating your access, for any actual or suspected violation.

15. User Content & Feedback

You retain ownership of the data and configuration you use with the App. If you submit feedback, suggestions, bug reports, or feature ideas to the Developer, you grant the Developer a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, fully sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, and exploit that feedback for any purpose, without any obligation, attribution, or compensation to you. The Developer is under no obligation to use, maintain, or keep confidential any feedback you provide.

16. Privacy

The Developer's collection and handling of information is described in the Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference and which you accept when you accept these Terms (see Section 1). In the event of any conflict between these Terms and the Privacy Policy specifically regarding the handling of personal information, the Privacy Policy controls as to that subject matter; in all other respects these Terms control.

17. Disclaimer of Warranties

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE APP AND ALL CONTENT, FEATURES, AND SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. THE DEVELOPER EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, REPRESENTATIONS, AND CONDITIONS, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, ACCURACY, QUIET ENJOYMENT, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

THE DEVELOPER DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE APP WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS; THAT SYSTEM ENVIRONMENTS, PACKAGES, OR CONFIGURATIONS WILL BE PRESERVED WITHOUT CORRUPTION OR LOSS; THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED; OR THAT THE APP OR ITS RESULTS WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM THE APP OR THE DEVELOPER CREATES ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED HEREIN. YOU ASSUME TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK FOR YOUR USE OF THE APP. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN WARRANTY EXCLUSIONS, SO SOME EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU; IN SUCH CASES WARRANTIES ARE LIMITED TO THE MINIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

18. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL THE DEVELOPER (THE APP FOUNDRY / SHIVANG GULATI), OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES, CONTRACTORS, OR REPRESENTATIVES, BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, OR ENHANCED DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, SOURCE CODE, SYSTEM INTEGRITY, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR ACCESS TO, USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE THE APP, REGARDLESS OF THE THEORY OF LIABILITY (CONTRACT, TORT INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE) AND EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, THE DEVELOPER SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, HARM, OR LOSS ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO: (a) any action initiated through the App, including file or directory deletion, package installation or removal, sudo execution, PATH or shell-profile modification, or any other system change; (b) any data loss, configuration loss, or operating-system instability; (c) your reliance on any output, health score, diagnostic, or recommendation of the App; (d) any act, omission, failure, downtime, or security incident of any Third-Party Service, including macOS, Homebrew, pip, Cloudflare, Razorpay, Vercel, Firebase, Sparkle, or GitHub; (e) any unauthorized access to or alteration of your device, data, or account; or (f) any interruption, suspension, or discontinuation of the App.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE DEVELOPER'S TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY FOR ANY AND ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE APP OR THIS AGREEMENT SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (i) THE TOTAL AMOUNT YOU ACTUALLY PAID TO THE DEVELOPER FOR THE APP IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (ii) FIVE U.S. DOLLARS (US $5.00). YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THESE LIMITATIONS ARE AN ESSENTIAL BASIS OF THE BARGAIN AND THAT THE APP WOULD NOT BE PROVIDED WITHOUT THEM. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN LIMITATIONS, SO SOME MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU; IN SUCH CASES LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE SMALLEST AMOUNT PERMITTED BY LAW. NOTHING HEREIN EXCLUDES LIABILITY THAT CANNOT LAWFULLY BE EXCLUDED.

19. Indemnification

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Developer (The App Foundry / Shivang Gulati) and its affiliates, contractors, and representatives from and against any and all claims, demands, actions, liabilities, damages, losses, judgments, settlements, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to: (a) your access to or use of the App; (b) your violation of these Terms or the Privacy Policy; (c) your violation of any applicable law or the rights of any third party; (d) your execution of any destructive, privileged, or system-altering command through the App; or (e) any content or information you submit, generate, or transmit. The Developer may, at its own expense, assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification, in which case you agree to cooperate.

20. Assumption of Risk & Release

You knowingly and voluntarily acknowledge and accept that installing, uninstalling, cleaning, modifying, migrating, or otherwise administering a macOS developer environment carries inherent risks — including irreversible data loss, loss of configuration, corruption of system or Python environments, and operating-system instability — and that you assume full and exclusive responsibility for all such risks. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you hereby release, waive, and forever discharge the Developer (The App Foundry / Shivang Gulati) from any and all claims, liabilities, and causes of action, known or unknown, arising out of or relating to your use of the App, including any data loss, financial loss, or damage of any kind. You agree that you use the App of your own free will and at your own risk, and that the Developer bears no responsibility for the consequences of your choices.

21. Updates & Availability

The App may check for and install updates automatically using the Sparkle framework, verifying each update cryptographically before applying it. By using the App, you consent to receiving such updates, which may add, change, or remove features. The Developer does not guarantee that any particular version, feature, or backend endpoint will remain available, and may discontinue support for older versions. Continued use after an update constitutes acceptance of that version.

22. Term & Termination

This Agreement is effective until terminated. You may terminate it at any time by ceasing all use of and uninstalling the App. The Developer may, at its sole discretion and without notice or liability, suspend, restrict, or terminate your license and access to the App or any feature, in whole or in part, including for any actual or suspected violation of these Terms (such as device-binding abuse) or for any reason permitted by law. Upon termination, the license granted to you ends immediately. Sections that by their nature should survive termination — including Sections 13 through 20 and 24 through 25 — survive termination of this Agreement.

23. Changes to These Terms

The Developer may update these Terms and the Privacy Policy from time to time. When changes are made, the version number and effective date will be updated, and material changes may be communicated within the App, which may require your renewed acceptance. As stated in Section 1, your acceptance of any updated Terms also constitutes acceptance of the then-current Privacy Policy, and your continued use of the App after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of both. If you do not agree to the updated documents, you must stop using and uninstall the App.

24. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to them, the Privacy Policy, or the App shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles, except where the mandatory consumer-protection laws of your country of residence apply and cannot be excluded. You agree to first attempt to resolve any dispute informally by contacting the Developer before initiating formal proceedings. Subject to any mandatory laws that apply to you, any dispute that is not resolved informally shall be resolved exclusively by binding arbitration seated in Bengaluru, India, conducted in English under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. To the fullest extent permitted by law, disputes shall be resolved on an individual basis, and class actions and representative proceedings are not permitted.

25. General Provisions

Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy incorporated by reference, constitute the entire agreement between you and the Developer regarding the App and supersede all prior or contemporaneous understandings. Severability. If any provision is held invalid or unenforceable, it shall be limited or severed to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect. No waiver. The Developer's failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it. Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms; the Developer may assign them, including in connection with a transfer of the App or its assets. No third-party beneficiaries. These Terms create no third-party beneficiary rights. Headings. Section headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation. Force majeure. The Developer is not liable for any delay or failure to perform due to causes beyond its reasonable control.

26. Contact

If you have any questions about these Terms or the App, you may contact the Developer:
The App Foundry — toshivanggulati@gmail.com.

This document is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. The Developer recommends consulting a qualified attorney to confirm these Terms meet all legal requirements applicable to the App's distribution markets.