How licensing works
MD Automation uses a simple model: you buy a licence once, it’s yours. This page explains the concepts; the activation guide shows the actual clicks.
Licence types
Section titled “Licence types”There are three licence types. Standalone is the only one sold today: the other two are built into the product but not currently offered.
- Standalone: what you buy. A perpetual, one-time licence delivered as a signed key that is bound to one machine and verified locally: no account, no sign-in, and it never contacts a server. It can’t be transferred: a different machine needs a newly generated licence. See activation for the steps.
- Single-user (not currently offered): one user across several of their own machines, through an online account sign-in.
- Floating (not currently offered): a team shares a pool of seats: any machine can use a seat and release it when done, and the server enforces the cap.
All MD plugins share one Licence Manager (MDLICENSEMANAGER): buy several plugins, manage them
in one place.
Free trial
Section titled “Free trial”Every plugin includes a 15-day free trial: no account, no payment. Open the Licence Manager
(MDLICENSEMANAGER), go to the Plugins tab, and click Start trial on the plugin’s row. The
trial is bound to your machine and can only be started once per machine (it can’t be reset). When
it ends, buy a Standalone licence to keep going. See activation for the
steps.
What the plugin does day to day
Section titled “What the plugin does day to day”When you run a licensed command, the plugin checks its cached licence state: no network call on every command. A Standalone licence is a signed key the plugin verifies locally on every load, so it never contacts a server at all (see offline activation).
The online types (single-user and floating) instead re-confirm periodically with the licence server, and keep working through a 3-day offline grace window if the machine is temporarily offline.
Licence states you might see
Section titled “Licence states you might see”The Licence Manager shows a badge beside each product name, and the two tabs answer different questions.
On the Plugins tab, the badge says whether that plugin’s commands will run:
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Licensed | A licence is active on this machine: commands run normally. Expiry reads Perpetual for a Standalone key. |
| Trial | The free trial is running, and Expiry is the day it ends. |
| Expired | The trial’s 15 days are over: commands are blocked until a licence is activated. |
| Inactive | Installed, with no trial and no licence: commands are blocked. |
| Not installed | The plugin isn’t installed in this AutoCAD, so Expiry reads N/A. |
On the Licences tab, the badge says whether this machine is using the licence on that row:
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Activated | This machine holds a seat. A Standalone key always reads Activated on the machine it was issued for. |
| Deactivated | The licence exists but this machine holds no seat. |
When a command is blocked, it tells you why on the command line, for example:
MDALIGN unavailable: no active licence — run MDLICENSEMANAGER to request and/or activate a license.The wording changes with the cause: a licence term that ended, a suspended licence, or, on a floating pool, every seat in use, which you clear by releasing a seat on another machine and retrying.
Privacy
Section titled “Privacy”The licensing layer sends only what it needs: your licence identity and an anonymous machine fingerprint used to count seats. No drawing data and no file names ever leave your machine.
Anonymous usage information is separate from licensing, and it is collected only if you say yes. The plugin asks once; if you decline, it is not collected and you are not asked again.
Opting out, whenever you want
Section titled “Opting out, whenever you want”You can withdraw at any time, and it takes one click. Open the Licence Manager
(MDLICENSEMANAGER), expand the Privacy section at the bottom of the window, and untick
Allow the collection of anonymous usage information. Nothing else about your licence changes.
