The narrowest PolyForm grant. Noncommercial use only, no changes and no passing it on. A company at work needs another license.
On this page
What it does
The PolyForm Strict License 1.0.0 grants the least of the PolyForm family. You may do what copyright would otherwise stop you doing with the software, for a noncommercial purpose only, and the grant leaves out both passing the software on and making changes or new works from it. The text spells out what counts as noncommercial: personal study, hobby projects, private entertainment, research, experiment and testing for public knowledge, and religious observance. Use by a charity, a school, a public research body, a public safety or health body, an environmental body or a government body also counts, whatever pays for it.
Details
For a company this is the short answer: a dependency under this license is outside the grant at work, whatever you do with it. There is no threshold to stay under, as there is in PolyForm Small Business, and no internal exception, as there is in PolyForm Internal Use. The way forward is a separate license from the publisher, or a different package. The license does add a repair window. After a first written notice you keep your licenses if you put things right within 32 days.
What it allows and requires
Choose a category to see the full grant in one scannable list. Permissions show what the license allows, limits show what it withholds, and obligations show the conditions your release process must satisfy.
Permissions
Noncommercial use
Any noncommercial purpose is permitted, including personal study, hobby projects, research and testing.
Charities and schools
Use by a charity, a school, a public research, safety, health or environmental body, or a government body is permitted.
Patent use
The grant covers the patent claims the licensor can license that your use would infringe.
Limits
Commercial use
Commercial purposes are outside the grant. A company that wants the software at work needs a separate license.
Distribute
You may not pass the software on to anyone. The grant covers your own use of it.
Modify
You may not make changes or new works based on the software. The Strict license leaves that out.
Hold liable
The authors disclaim warranty. Recipients cannot hold them liable for damages arising from the software, except where law forbids that disclaimer.
Obligations
Stay inside the purpose
Every license here rests on the purpose staying a permitted one. Step outside it and the licenses end.
Fix within 32 days
After a first written notice you keep your licenses if you put things right within 32 days.
What PolyForm-Strict-1.0.0 requires when you ship
PolyForm-Strict-1.0.0 is readable source with use limits. The work is to match your use to the written grant, then keep the text on the record so procurement can read it. Do not treat a source-available identifier as OSI-style open source because the code is on GitHub.
The purpose is noncommercial: personal study, a hobby project, research, experiment or testing without a commercial application in sight.
Or the user is a charity, a school, a public research body, a public safety or health body, an environmental body or a government body.
You do not pass the software on to anyone, in a product, a service or on its own. The grant covers your own use.
You do not build changes or new works from it. Fixing a bug in your own copy is a change the grant does not cover.
If a company needs it at work, you have a separate license from the publisher before that use starts.
The duties named in PolyForm-Strict-1.0.0
The written grant is the source of the limits. These rows are the usual conditions teams have to match against their actual use, then keep on the record.
Stay inside the purpose
Every license here rests on the purpose staying a permitted one. Step outside it and the licenses end.
Fix within 32 days
After a first written notice you keep your licenses if you put things right within 32 days.
Things to be aware of
- Teams see PolyForm on a build tool and read it as permissive. Strict is the narrowest license in the family, and a company at work is outside it.
- Teams treat a build-only dependency as harmless. Building your commercial product with it is a commercial purpose, even when nothing is shipped.
- Teams confuse it with PolyForm Noncommercial. Both stop commercial use, and Strict also leaves out changes and passing the software on.
What the PolyForm Strict License 1.0.0 does not do
Search results often flatten PolyForm Strict License 1.0.0 into a slogan. These are the usual misreads. PolyForm-Strict-1.0.0 is a grant with conditions, not a permission to skip the paperwork below.
- PolyForm Strict is not an open source license. A grant limited to noncommercial purposes is a limit on the field of use, which open source does not allow.
- It does not let you change the software or pass it on. Those two permissions are written into other PolyForm licenses and left out of this one.
How PolyForm-Strict-1.0.0 differs from nearby licenses
These licenses are often confused with PolyForm-Strict-1.0.0, but their release duties differ. Each row summarizes what the license requires when you ship. Open the linked page for the full checklist.
- PolyForm-Strict-1.0.0
- The narrowest PolyForm grant. Noncommercial use only, no changes and no passing it on. A company at work needs another license.
- PolyForm-Noncommercial-1.0.0
- PolyForm Noncommercial allows non-commercial use only. Source is readable. This is not OSI open source. Paid products need a separate grant.
- PolyForm-Internal-Use-1.0.0
- Use inside your own company is allowed, including changes. Passing the software on to anyone outside it is not. This is not open source.
- source-available
- You can read the code. That is not the same as permission to use it any way you like. Source available is not open source.
Common questions about PolyForm Strict License 1.0.0
Answers to common questions about what PolyForm Strict License 1.0.0 requires, when its duties apply, and what evidence belongs with a release.
What is the PolyForm Strict License 1.0.0?
The PolyForm Strict License 1.0.0 grants the least of the PolyForm family. You may do what copyright would otherwise stop you doing with the software, for a noncommercial purpose only, and the grant leaves out both passing the software on and making changes or new works from it. The text spells out what counts as noncommercial: personal study, hobby projects, private entertainment, research, experiment and testing for public knowledge, and religious observance. Use by a charity, a school, a public research body, a public safety or health body, an environmental body or a government body also counts, whatever pays for it.
What does PolyForm-Strict-1.0.0 require when you ship a product?
The purpose is noncommercial: personal study, a hobby project, research, experiment or testing without a commercial application in sight. Or the user is a charity, a school, a public research body, a public safety or health body, an environmental body or a government body. You do not pass the software on to anyone, in a product, a service or on its own. The grant covers your own use. You do not build changes or new works from it. Fixing a bug in your own copy is a change the grant does not cover. If a company needs it at work, you have a separate license from the publisher before that use starts.
Is PolyForm-Strict-1.0.0 open source?
Not in the OSI sense. PolyForm-Strict-1.0.0 is source-available: you can read the code, but the grant restricts how you may use it. Read the actual text.
How is PolyForm-Strict-1.0.0 different from PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0?
PolyForm-Strict-1.0.0 asks this: The narrowest PolyForm grant. Noncommercial use only, no changes and no passing it on. A company at work needs another license. PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 asks this: PolyForm Noncommercial allows non-commercial use only. Source is readable. This is not OSI open source. Paid products need a separate grant. Open the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 page for what that license requires when you ship. Do not treat the SPDX ids as interchangeable because the short names look similar.
Where do I record PolyForm-Strict-1.0.0 for a buyer?
The catalog records PolyForm-Strict-1.0.0 as source available, and as a license a network deployment does not clear. A network distribution review item therefore appears on the checklist for SaaS and mixed projects, and publishing stays blocked until a person confirms it. The identifier is a templated one, so the fetch never lands it on confirmed. The component page also shows a restricted-use compatibility warning in every deployment context, because the limit is on what you may use the package for.
Where do I record PolyForm-Strict-1.0.0 for a buyer?
The catalog records PolyForm-Strict-1.0.0 as source available, and as a license a network deployment does not clear. A network distribution review item therefore appears on the checklist for SaaS and mixed projects, and publishing stays blocked until a person confirms it.
The identifier is a templated one, so the fetch never lands it on confirmed. The component page also shows a restricted-use compatibility warning in every deployment context, because the limit is on what you may use the package for.
Related licenses
See also
The hub is the pillar for this cluster. Sibling licenses are the other spokes. Product FAQ links explain how SourceTrust records the duty, not the license text itself.
Practical guidance for procurement review, not legal advice. Confirm high-stakes use with counsel.