Terms of Service

1. What This Agreement Covers

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of Refracted Cortex ("RC", "the Service"), a cognitive architecture product operated by Digitally Demented Ventures LLC ("DDV", "we", "us", "our"). By creating an account or using RC, you agree to these Terms.

RC is a cognitive architecture — a structured system of persistent memory, session continuity, values-based accountability, and agent coordination that makes AI work as a thinking partner. RC is not an artificial intelligence product. RC does not generate AI outputs. RC provides the architecture layer that organizes, remembers, and coordinates your interactions with AI.

2. How the Service Works

RC provides AI access as part of your subscription. AI requests are routed through RC's API proxy to multiple AI providers via OpenRouter. You do not need your own API key.

What this means:

1. RC provides the architecture: persistent memory, session continuity, agent coordination, skill libraries, and governance frameworks.
2. RC provides AI access: your subscription includes access to AI models from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google, routed through OpenRouter using RC-managed API credentials.
3. You select your model: choose from available AI models within your RC session. The default model is Claude Sonnet.

Because of this model:

• RC is not responsible for the content, accuracy, or quality of AI-generated outputs. Those outputs are generated by third-party AI providers.
• AI usage is included in your RC subscription: $25 per month of model compute, routed through OpenRouter and billed at cost. If you reach the included amount, you may top up in $25 increments at any time, or connect your own OpenRouter key and pay the provider directly. You will receive alerts as you approach your included amount.
• RC's API proxy handles routing and usage metering but does not store conversation content. Only metadata (token counts, cost, model, duration) is persisted for billing purposes. Conversation content is stored only in your personal container.

3. Service Tiers and Pricing

RC is offered as a single subscription product, with optional consulting alongside.

Refracted Cortex — $97/month

• Chief of Staff architecture
• Always-on heartbeat with proactive priority surfacing
• CLAUDE.md profile build (done-for-you during onboarding)
• Memory governance and session persistence
• All models included via OpenRouter (Claude, GPT, Gemini) — $25 of monthly compute
• API integrations (Google Workspace, Calendar, Gmail, YouTube)
• Web chat interface
• Full skill library
• Optional: connect your own OpenRouter key for uncapped compute — billed directly by OpenRouter at their rates
• Community and documentation support

Future tiers and team-scale engagements

Higher tiers (multi-user team deployment, admin dashboards, dedicated support, full local desktop integrations) are not currently offered as packaged SKUs. Team-scale engagements are handled bespoke — see "Bespoke engagements" below. Subscription tiers and features are subject to change with notice as RC evolves.

Consulting alongside the subscription

• Quick Start Audit: $500 one-time — 60-minute working session with the architect. For RC users: setup review and gap analysis. For evaluators: honest read on whether RC fits. Recorded with a written summary. No follow-on engagement implied.
• Bespoke engagements: For team-scale, organizational deployments, or any work bigger than a subscription seat — pricing and scope are defined together via the contact form. No packaged SKU.

Prices are in US dollars. All subscription prices are billed monthly unless otherwise specified. The Refracted Cortex subscription is a flat $97/month for everyone, with no scheduled increase. See Section 5 for the founding member offer.

4. Free Trial

RC offers a 7-day free trial limited to 10 sessions.

1. A valid payment method (credit card) is required at signup.
2. You will not be charged during the 7-day trial period.
3. The trial is limited to 10 sessions. If you reach the session limit before the 7-day period ends, the trial concludes and you may convert to a paid subscription or cancel.
4. If you cancel before the trial ends, you will not be billed.
5. If you do not cancel, your subscription automatically converts to a paid subscription at your tier's rate at the end of the trial period.
6. Trial access includes the complete feature set of your selected tier — there are no feature restrictions during the trial beyond the session limit.

5. Founding Member Terms

The RC subscription is a flat $97/month for everyone, with no scheduled increase. The first 10 RC subscribers are designated "Founding Members" and receive:

1. Free Connected Intelligence course: The first 10 members to complete their free trial and first paid month get the Connected Intelligence course — a $297 value — free.
2. One-time group session with the founder (Daniel Walters).
3. Optional listing on the Founding Members page on refractedcortex.ai.
4. Input on feature priorities — your feedback is weighted in the product roadmap.

Founding course offer conditions:

• The course benefit is granted once you have completed both the free trial and your first paid month on a continuously active subscription.
• The course benefit is limited to the first 10 subscribers to meet these conditions.
• Your $97/month rate is flat and does not increase, whether or not you qualify for the founding course offer.

6. 30-Day Operational Guarantee

If RC is not working for you within 30 days of your first paid billing cycle, we will pause your billing until the issue is resolved. This is a billing pause, not a refund.

1. Contact support@refractedcortex.ai within 30 days of your first charge.
2. We will work with you to diagnose and resolve the issue.
3. Your billing is paused during the resolution period.
4. If we cannot resolve the issue to your satisfaction, you may cancel with no further charges.

This guarantee applies once per account, to the first 30 days after trial conversion.

7. Your Data — Ownership and Rights

You own your data. This includes:

1. Your CLAUDE.md profile (the document that defines how your AI operates alongside you)
2. Your memory files and session logs
3. Your handoff documents and agent configurations
4. Your customizations, workflows, and context files
5. Any content you create or input into the system

What DDV owns:

1. The RC methodology — the frameworks, templates, skill definitions, and architectural patterns that make RC work.
2. The RC platform — the software, infrastructure, and integrations that deliver the service.
3. Agent DNA modules — the base behavioral patterns for RC agents (your customizations on top of these are yours).

License grant:

• DDV grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the RC methodology and platform for the duration of your subscription.
• You grant DDV a limited license to process your account data and AI usage metadata (token counts, cost, model, duration) as necessary to deliver the service. DDV does not retain or use your AI conversation content.

8. Data Storage and Infrastructure

Your data is stored across the following infrastructure:

1. Supabase (US): Account information, authentication, billing records, subscription status, and onboarding data.
2. Fly.io (user-selected region): Your personal container — CLAUDE.md, memory files, session logs, handoffs, agent configurations. Each user gets an isolated container.
3. GitHub (US): Backup repository for your architecture files. Your GitHub account, connected during onboarding.

RC does not store AI conversation content on its central servers. Your conversations are routed through RC's API proxy and OpenRouter to your selected AI provider for processing. Only usage metadata (token counts, cost, model, duration) is persisted by RC. Conversation content is stored only in your personal container.

9. Cancellation and Data Export

Cancellation

1. You may cancel your RC subscription at any time. No long-term contracts, no minimum commitment.
2. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period. You retain access until then.
3. Consulting add-on engagements can be cancelled with 30 days' notice.

After Cancellation

1. Your container is stopped but not deleted for 90 days after cancellation.
2. During this 90-day window, you may export your data or reactivate your subscription.
3. After 90 days, your container and its contents will be permanently deleted.
4. Your GitHub backup repository remains yours — it is on your GitHub account and is not affected by cancellation.
5. Your Supabase account data (email, billing history) is retained as required for legal/accounting purposes and deleted upon request (subject to legal retention requirements).

Data Export

You can export your data at any time by:

1. Pulling your GitHub backup repository (contains your full architecture)
2. Requesting a full data export from support@refractedcortex.ai
3. Directly downloading files from your container during an active session

10. Acceptable Use

You agree not to use RC to:

1. Violate any applicable law or regulation.
2. Infringe on the intellectual property rights of others.
3. Generate, store, or distribute content that is illegal, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable.
4. Attempt to access other users' containers, data, or accounts.
5. Reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract the source code of RC's proprietary systems.
6. Resell, sublicense, or redistribute RC access without written authorization.
7. Use RC to build a competing cognitive architecture product.
8. Circumvent usage limits, authentication, or security measures.
9. Use automated tools to scrape, crawl, or bulk-extract RC content or methodology.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms, with notice except in cases of imminent harm or legal obligation.

11. AI Governance and Responsible Use

RC is designed around the principle that AI should empower people to be more human — not replace human judgment.

Human-in-the-Loop

1. RC is designed as a human-in-the-loop system. The architecture assists, recommends, and coordinates — but does not take autonomous action on your behalf without your approval.
2. You are responsible for reviewing and approving all outputs before they are sent, published, or acted upon.
3. RC includes review gates (Communication Review, Content Review) designed to catch issues before they reach the outside world. These are tools, not guarantees.

AI Output Disclaimer

1. AI outputs generated through the AI providers available in RC may contain errors, hallucinations, or inaccuracies. RC's architecture mitigates this through structure and governance, but cannot eliminate it.
2. You are responsible for verifying the accuracy of any AI-generated content before relying on it for decisions, communications, or deliverables.
3. RC does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or fitness of AI-generated outputs for any particular purpose.

No PII Guarantees

1. RC does not enforce restrictions on what data you input into your architecture.
2. You are solely responsible for the content you put into your CLAUDE.md, memory files, session logs, and conversations.
3. If you input personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive business data, or confidential information, you do so at your own risk.
4. We strongly recommend against storing highly sensitive information (SSNs, financial account numbers, passwords, medical records) in your architecture.

12. Intellectual Property

RC Methodology

The RC methodology — including but not limited to the cognitive architecture framework, agent design patterns, DNA modules, skill definitions, template structures, and architectural patterns — is the intellectual property of DDV. Your subscription grants you a license to use this methodology. It does not transfer ownership.

Your Customizations

Your customizations, configurations, and content created within RC are your intellectual property. This includes:

1. Your CLAUDE.md profile and all personal configurations
2. Custom agent instructions you write
3. Workflow customizations and personal skill modifications
4. All content you create using the system

Consulting Deliverables

Work product created during consulting engagements (Quick Start Audit and bespoke engagements) is owned by you, the client. DDV retains the right to use anonymized patterns and frameworks derived from consulting work to improve the RC methodology.

13. Limitation of Liability

RC Provides Architecture and AI Access

RC is an architecture layer that includes AI access via third-party providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google) through OpenRouter. We do not generate or control AI outputs. AI outputs are produced by third-party AI providers, and DDV does not guarantee their accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any purpose.

Limitation

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law:

1. DDV's total liability to you for any claims arising from or related to these Terms or your use of RC shall not exceed the total amount you paid to DDV in the 12 months preceding the claim.
2. DDV shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, data, business opportunities, or goodwill.
3. DDV shall not be liable for any damages arising from:
   • AI-generated outputs or their accuracy
   • Your reliance on AI-generated content for business decisions
   • Downtime or service interruptions of third-party services (OpenRouter, Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Supabase, Fly.io, GitHub)
   • Data loss due to your failure to maintain backups
   • Unauthorized access resulting from your failure to secure your account credentials

Service Availability

We aim for high availability but do not guarantee uptime. RC depends on third-party infrastructure (Supabase, Fly.io, GitHub, OpenRouter, and AI providers) and their availability is outside our control.

14. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless DDV, its owner, agents, and affiliates from any claims, damages, or expenses arising from:

1. Your use of the Service
2. Your violation of these Terms
3. Content you create, store, or distribute through RC
4. Your violation of any third-party rights
5. Your use of AI-generated outputs

15. Modifications to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do:

1. We will post the updated Terms on refractedcortex.ai.
2. We will notify you by email at least 30 days before material changes take effect.
3. Your continued use of RC after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.
4. If you disagree with the changes, you may cancel your subscription before the effective date.

16. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Alabama, United States, without regard to conflict of law principles.

Informal Resolution

Before initiating any formal dispute resolution, you agree to contact us at support@refractedcortex.ai and attempt to resolve the dispute informally for at least 30 days. Most concerns can be resolved this way.

Binding Arbitration

If informal resolution fails, any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of RC shall be resolved by binding arbitration administered in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association ("AAA"). Arbitration shall take place in Jefferson County, Alabama, or at a location mutually agreed upon by the parties. The arbitrator's decision shall be final and binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Individual Basis Only

You agree that any dispute resolution proceedings will be conducted only on an individual basis and not in a class, consolidated, or representative action. You waive any right to participate in a class action lawsuit or class-wide arbitration against DDV.

Small Claims Exception

Notwithstanding the above, either party may bring an individual action in small claims court in Jefferson County, Alabama, if the claim falls within that court's jurisdictional limits.

17. Miscellaneous

1. Entire Agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and DDV regarding RC.
2. Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in effect.
3. No Waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision does not waive our right to enforce it later.
4. Assignment. You may not assign your rights under these Terms without our written consent. We may assign our rights in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
5. Force Majeure. DDV is not liable for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including natural disasters, pandemics, infrastructure outages, or government actions.

18. Contact

For questions about these Terms:

• Email: support@refractedcortex.ai
• Entity: Digitally Demented Ventures LLC
• Website: https://refractedcortex.ai