Version: 1.0 Effective Date: April 27, 2026
Thank you for your interest in contributing to Open Tentacles (the "Project"), maintained by Waren Gonzaga (the "Maintainer"). This Contributor License Agreement ("Agreement") documents the rights granted by contributors to the Maintainer. This is a legally binding document, so please read it carefully before agreeing to it.
Open Tentacles is built on the belief that AI-powered chat integrations should be accessible to everyone. To keep the project open source forever while also making it sustainable long-term, the Maintainer offers a dual-licensing model - free under GPL-3.0, with an optional commercial license for companies that need it. Revenue from commercial licenses goes directly into funding development, infrastructure, and keeping Open Tentacles free for the community.
The CLA ensures the Maintainer has the necessary rights to offer both licenses without legal ambiguity. Without a CLA, open source projects can find themselves legally unable to evolve their licensing to meet sustainability needs - as seen with projects like OpenClaw, where the lack of contributor agreements made it impossible to offer a commercial license later. We don't want to repeat that mistake. The CLA also signals that you're a serious contributor who understands and supports the project's mission. This isn't red tape - it's how we protect both the project and its contributors while building something that can grow and thrive for years to come.
- "You" (or "Your") means the individual or legal entity exercising permissions granted by this Agreement. For legal entities, "You" includes any entity that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with You.
- "Contribution" means any original work of authorship, including any modifications or additions to existing work, that You intentionally submit to the Project for inclusion in or documentation of the Project. "Submit" means any form of communication sent to the Project, including but not limited to pull requests, issues, patches, and commits submitted via GitHub or any other electronic means.
- "Project" means the Open Tentacles software and associated documentation maintained at https://github.com/warengonzaga/opententacles.
Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, You hereby grant to the Maintainer and to recipients of software distributed by the Maintainer a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute Your Contributions and such derivative works. This grant includes the right for the Maintainer to relicense Your Contributions under alternative license terms, including commercial licenses, as described in Section 6.
Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, You hereby grant to the Maintainer and to recipients of software distributed by the Maintainer a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable patent license to make, have made, use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer the Project, where such license applies only to those patent claims licensable by You that are necessarily infringed by Your Contribution(s) alone or by combination of Your Contribution(s) with the Project to which such Contribution(s) was submitted. This patent license applies to all license terms under which the Project is distributed, including any commercial license offered by the Maintainer.
You represent that:
- (a) Each of Your Contributions is Your original creation and You have the legal right to submit it under this Agreement.
- (b) Your Contribution does not violate any third party's intellectual property rights, including but not limited to copyrights, patents, trademarks, or trade secrets.
- (c) You are legally entitled to grant the licenses described in this Agreement. If Your employer(s) has rights to intellectual property that You create that includes Your Contributions, You have received permission to make Contributions on behalf of that employer, or Your employer has waived such rights for Your Contributions to the Project.
If any part of Your Contribution includes or is based on work from a third party, You must:
- (a) Identify the third-party content and its origin.
- (b) Include all applicable license terms and attributions.
- (c) Ensure the third-party content is compatible with the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later (GPL-3.0+).
The Project uses a dual-licensing model:
- (a) Open Source License. The Project is and will remain available under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPL-3.0) or a later version as published by the Free Software Foundation. The Maintainer commits to always making the Project available under this open source license.
- (b) Commercial License. The Maintainer may also offer the Project (including Your Contributions) under a separate commercial license for organizations or individuals who wish to use the Project without the obligations of the GPL-3.0 (e.g., the copyleft requirement). Revenue from commercial licenses supports the continued development and maintenance of the Project.
By signing this Agreement, You acknowledge and agree that Your Contributions may be distributed under both the GPL-3.0 open source license and a commercial license offered by the Maintainer. You understand that You will not receive royalties or other compensation from commercial licensing of the Project.
Your Contributions are provided on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied, including without limitation any warranties or conditions of TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
You understand that the decision to include Your Contribution in the Project is entirely at the discretion of the Maintainer and that this Agreement does not create any obligation on the part of the Maintainer to use or incorporate Your Contribution.
You agree to notify the Maintainer of any facts or circumstances of which You become aware that would make Your representations in this Agreement inaccurate in any respect.
By submitting a Contribution to this Project, You agree to the terms and conditions of this Contributor License Agreement.
This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Philippines, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. Any disputes arising under or in connection with this Agreement shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in the Philippines.
If any provision of this Agreement is found to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable under applicable law, such provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, or if modification is not possible, it shall be severed from this Agreement. The remaining provisions of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect.
The Maintainer may amend this Agreement from time to time by publishing a new version at the Project repository. Amendments do not apply retroactively to Contributions submitted under a prior version of this Agreement unless the contributor expressly agrees in writing to be bound by the amended terms. Contributors who submit Contributions after a new version is published are bound by the terms of that new version.
Either party may terminate this Agreement upon written notice to the other party. Upon termination, the licenses granted under Sections 2 and 3 of this Agreement with respect to Contributions already submitted shall survive and remain in full force and effect. Termination does not affect any rights or obligations that arose prior to the date of termination.
Project: Open Tentacles Version: 1.0
Effective Date: April 27, 2026 Maintainer: Waren Gonzaga
License: GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPL-3.0) + Commercial Repository: https://github.com/warengonzaga/opententacles