---
title: license / activate
description: Managing a self-hosted Pro or Enterprise license — activate, verify, deactivate, the machine fingerprint, and offline verification.
keywords: clawmetry license, self-hosted license key, clawmetry activate, air-gapped license
eyebrow: CLI reference
---

# `clawmetry license` / `clawmetry activate`

Manage the self-hosted Pro or Enterprise license.

```bash
clawmetry activate CLAW1.xxxxx        # shortcut
clawmetry license activate CLAW1.xxxxx
clawmetry license status
```

## `license`

```bash
clawmetry license [ACTION] [KEY] [--json]
```

| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| `status` | Current license state (the default) |
| `activate <KEY>` | Activate a license key |
| `deactivate` | Remove the license from this machine |
| `fingerprint` | Print this machine's fingerprint |
| `verify <KEY>` | Verify a key without activating it |

`--json` emits `{action, ok, ...}`.

## `activate`

A shortcut for `license activate`, because it is the one people run.

```bash
clawmetry activate CLAW1.xxxxx
clawmetry activate CLAW1.xxxxx --json
```

The `--json` envelope is byte-identical to
`clawmetry license activate <KEY> --json`, so a wrapper does not need to branch
on which spelling was used.

## Verification is offline

Keys are verified cryptographically on the machine. There is no license server
call in the activation path, which is what makes an air-gapped install possible
at all.

`CLAWMETRY_LICENSE_PING` controls whether an optional check-in happens;
`CLAWMETRY_LICENSE_SERVER` points at an alternative server if you run one.

## Fingerprints

```bash
clawmetry license fingerprint
```

Prints the machine fingerprint a key can be bound to. This is what you send when
requesting a node-locked key, and what to check when a key that worked
yesterday stops working — a fingerprint changes when the underlying machine
identity does, which containers do more often than people expect.

## Verify without activating

```bash
clawmetry license verify CLAW1.xxxxx --json
```

Useful in provisioning: check a key is valid and covers what you need before
committing a machine to it.

## Where the license lives

`~/.clawmetry/license.key`. It is a file — back it up with the rest of your
configuration, and do not commit it.

## When something looks locked

```bash
clawmetry diagnose --json
```

That prints every input the resolver used: the license file, the cached cloud
plan, the enforce environment variable, and the in-process cache state. It is
much faster than guessing. → [diagnose](/docs/cli/diagnose/)

## Tier

`air_gapped_license` is an Enterprise feature. Self-hosted Pro keys work
offline too; the Enterprise variant covers the fully disconnected case with no
optional check-in at all.