These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the AI Story Engine API and related services ("Service") provided by AI Story Engine ("we", "us", "our"). By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms.

1. Account Registration

To use the Service, you must create an account with a valid email address and password. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your API keys and account credentials. You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.

You must be at least 18 years old or the age of legal majority in your jurisdiction to use the Service.

2. Acceptable Use

You agree not to use the Service to:

• Generate content that is illegal, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable
• Attempt to circumvent rate limits, authentication, or security controls
• Reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract the source code of the Service
• Use the Service to build a competing product or service
• Resell access to the Service without prior written consent
• Transmit any viruses, malware, or other harmful code
• Interfere with or disrupt the integrity or performance of the Service

3. API Usage and Rate Limits

The Service enforces rate limits and usage quotas based on your subscription tier. Free-tier accounts are limited to 10 NPCs per project and shared LLM capacity. We reserve the right to throttle or suspend accounts that exceed reasonable usage patterns.

4. Subscription and Billing

Paid plans are billed through Stripe. By subscribing to a paid plan, you authorize us to charge your payment method on a recurring basis. You may cancel your subscription at any time through the billing portal; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period.

We reserve the right to change pricing with 30 days' notice. Price changes do not apply to the current billing period.

5. BYOK (Bring Your Own Key)

If you provide your own LLM provider API keys ("BYOK"), you are responsible for any charges incurred with that provider. We store BYOK keys encrypted and use them only to make LLM API calls on your behalf. We are not liable for charges, rate limits, or policy violations on your provider account.

6. Content Ownership

Your Content: You retain all rights to content you create using the Service, including NPCs, dialogue trees, story structures, and exported data. We claim no ownership over your generated content.

Our Service: We retain all rights to the Service itself, including the API, documentation, algorithms, and underlying technology.

7. Data Retention

Your data (NPCs, dialogue, events) is stored as long as your account is active. Upon account deletion, we will delete your data within 30 days, subject to any legal retention requirements. See our Privacy Policy for details on data handling.

8. Service Availability

We strive for high availability but do not guarantee uninterrupted service. The Service is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. We are not liable for any downtime, data loss, or service interruptions.

9. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits or revenues, whether incurred directly or indirectly, or any loss of data, use, goodwill, or other intangible losses resulting from your use of the Service.

Our total aggregate liability for any claims arising from or relating to the Service shall not exceed the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim.

10. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your account if you violate these Terms. You may terminate your account at any time by contacting support@aistoryengine.dev. Upon termination, your right to use the Service ceases immediately.

11. Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes via email or a prominent notice on the Service. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

12. Contact

For questions about these Terms, contact us at legal@aistoryengine.dev.