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4. License: Apache-2.0

  • Status: Accepted
  • Date: 2026-07-01
  • Deciders: kristof (owner), Claude (orchestrator)
  • Relates: GitHub issue #22

Context

Commonwealth is open source by strategy (see vision) — OSS is the distribution and trust wedge. We must pick a license. The comparable cluster: GBrain (MIT), Dust (MIT), Mem0 (Apache-2.0), Cognee/Graphiti (Apache-2.0).

Decision

Apache-2.0.

Rationale: it is permissive (maximizes adoption, like MIT) and includes an express patent grant and contributor terms. For foundational infrastructure that other tools and companies will build on — and that we may take into enterprise settings — the patent grant is worth the marginally longer headers. Matches Mem0/Cognee, the infra-layer peers.

Consequences

  • Add LICENSE (Apache-2.0) and SPDX headers where appropriate.
  • Contributions inbound under Apache-2.0; a lightweight DCO (Signed-off-by) rather than a CLA to keep contribution friction low. (Revisit if a CLA becomes necessary.)
  • Compatible with our dependencies (MIT/Apache/ISC).

Alternatives considered

  • MIT — simplest and common in the cluster, but no explicit patent grant.
  • AGPL / source-available (BSL) — would protect against a cloud competitor re-hosting, but throttles the adoption/trust wedge that is the whole GTM. Rejected for now; the hosted tier competes on convenience, not license restriction.