DRAFT for review by a lawyer; not legal advice; not yet in force. Notes in [LAWYER: ...] are questions for the lawyer. Notes in [OWNER: ...] are facts or choices the owner must confirm. Both come out before publishing. See docs/legal/README.md.

Terms of Service: StitchBench, StitchShop and StitchHub

Version: [VERSION DATE, YYYY-MM-DD]

_Rewritten for the free model (16 Oct 2026): the programs, the hub and the hosted service are free, paid for by YouTube and donations._

These terms are the agreement between your business and us. Please read them. We've tried to write them in plain English. If something isn't clear, write to us at bwattendorf@gmail.com before you agree.

1. Who we are

We are Bruce Wattendorf dba SiteSentrix ("we", "us"), of 8 Maplewood Drive, Mapleville, RI 02839. We make:

• StitchBench, a program for sewing, embroidery, quilting machine, vacuum and small appliance repair shops;
• StitchShop, the same program set up for sewing and quilt shops; and
• StitchHub, the community server the programs connect to, at https://hub.stitchbench.app.

In these terms, "the programs" means StitchBench and StitchShop, "the hub" means StitchHub, and "the services" means all three, plus the hosted service described in section 4.

"You" means the business that uses the services: the shop. The person who signs up must be the owner of the shop or someone allowed to agree to these terms for it.

The services are for businesses, not for personal or household use.

What these terms do not cover. StitchFoundry and LightFoundry are separate open-source programs, under their own licences (MIT or Apache-2.0) on GitHub; these terms don't apply to them. Our website (stitchbench.app) and our YouTube videos are not services under these terms: the website only gives information and links, and the videos are on YouTube (section 6).

2. Agreeing to these terms

You agree to these terms when you tick the box to accept them, either in the program (Settings → Account), on the hub's sign-up page, or when you accept an update to these terms. The hub records the version you accepted and the date (section 23). If you don't agree, don't use the services.

Our Privacy Policy (at https://hub.stitchbench.app/privacy) is part of these terms. It says what data we hold, where it sits and who sees it.

You must be 18 or older to accept these terms.

3. Your StitchHub account

• An account is an email address and a password on the hub. It belongs to the shop's owner and can own one or more shops (for example a repair shop that hosts its partner quilt shops). For now the account email must be the same email the owner uses to sign in to the program.
• Staff sign-ins inside the program are separate. You decide who gets one and what they can do, and you're responsible for what they do with it.
• Keep your password private. Tell us at once at bwattendorf@gmail.com if you think someone else has used your account.
• On the Windows program you can choose to allow a password reset from your StitchHub account (off unless you turn it on). If you turn it on, someone who controls your hub account can reset the owner's password on the shop PC. The new password is shown only on that PC's screen.
• You can use the programs without a hub account. You need one to start a hosted shop from the hub, and to connect a shop to the hub (for the community, partner shops and the marketplace).

4. The three ways to run the programs

You choose how each shop runs. You can change your mind later (section 16).

A repair shop hosting StitchShop for its partner shops. A repair shop may run its own copy and put its partner sewing shops in it as separate companies. Then the repair shop is the host for those shops, not us. The repair shop must treat their data as section 11 says we treat yours, and must have its own agreement with them.

Self-hosting. The StitchBench and StitchShop programs' code is open source under the MIT licence or the Apache License 2.0, at your choice; the licence texts come with the code. A shop that runs its own copy may use, change and share that code as those licences allow. These terms do not take away any right the open-source licences give you.

The hub is the same for everyone. It is optional: a Windows program that never connects keeps working.

5. Free of charge

• The programs, the hub and the hosted service are free. StitchBench, StitchShop and StitchHub cost nothing to use: no plans, no price per shop or per person, no free trial that ends, and no card. Every feature and every add-on (for example Vac Shop, Small Appliance Repair, Scheduling and Marketing) is included, for every shop, however it runs (section 4).
• There is no subscription. Nothing renews, nothing is charged to you, and we hold no payment details for you.
• Limits. To keep the free hosted service fair for everyone, we may limit how much a shop can store or send (for example photos, backups, or messages through the hub). We'll say what the limits are where they apply.
• If we ever charge. We have no plan to. If we ever did, we would email every account at least 90 days before it applied, it would apply only to what you use after that, nothing would be deleted because you chose not to pay, and you could export everything and move (section 15).
• Taxes. We charge you nothing, so there is no sales tax to add. You are responsible for any taxes on your own sales to your customers.

6. How the project is paid for: YouTube and donations

The services cost us money to run (hosting, email, and our time). We pay for them with the income from our YouTube channel and with donations from people who find the programs useful. Not the shops that use them.

• YouTube. We make videos about the programs and the work they are made for, at https://www.youtube.com/@MakerFoundryApp. The channel, the videos and their comments are on YouTube and are covered by YouTube's own terms and privacy policy, not by these terms. Whatever the videos earn (advertising, memberships, sponsorships) is separate from the services. The services show no advertising, and nothing in them is sponsored content.
• Donations. You can give a donation, once or every month, at https://buymeacoffee.com/bwattendorf, through Buy Me a Coffee. A donation is a voluntary gift, not a payment for the services, and it creates no contract:
  • it does not buy extra features, support or priority. A shop that gives nothing has exactly the same services as one that gives every month;
  • the platform takes your payment under its own terms, and we never see your card number;
  • donations are not refundable, except where the platform's rules or the law require it. If you gave by mistake, write to bwattendorf@gmail.com and we'll try to put it right.
  • a donation to us is not a tax-deductible charitable contribution.
• No pressure. Nothing in the programs or the hub will lock or slow down because you haven't donated.

7. If something changes or stops

Because the services are free, nothing ends for want of payment. These are the ways something can change:

• No lock-outs for money. The programs never go read-only because you haven't paid; there is nothing to pay. The programs may check a licence key the hub signs for your shop. Keys are free and run for many years. A Windows program that never connects to a hub keeps working.
• We may change or stop things. We may change what the services do, limit how much each shop can send, or stop offering the hub or the hosted service. We'll give at least 90 days' notice where we can, and help you move your company to a Windows PC or your own server (section 15). The Windows program and a self-hosted copy keep working without us, except for the things that need the hub (sharing, partner shops, the marketplace).
• Suspension. If we suspend a shop because it seriously broke these terms (section 16), the shop becomes read-only. We never delete your data because a shop was suspended. While read-only, you and your staff can still: look at everything, search, print, and export your data; finish and close open tickets and repairs; take payments, and do returns and voids; and run backups. What waits: new tickets, new sales, new parts, and edits. The shop's online booking page and online shop show as paused, and automatic messages to customers stop.
• Offline Windows program. The program carries a key from the hub that says how long it may run. A PC that is offline keeps working until the key's last day plus its days of grace.

8. Stopping, and refunds

• Stopping. You can stop using the services at any time. There is nothing to cancel. To close your hub account or your hosted company, write to bwattendorf@gmail.com (section 16). You can export your data whenever you want (section 15).
• Refunds. The services are free, so there is nothing to refund. Donations are covered in section 6.

9. Using the programs: what you may and may not do

We give you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the programs for your own shop's business while these terms apply. This is the right to use the programs and the hosted service; it does not limit the open-source licence on the code.

You may not:

• resell, rent out or sublicense the programs or our hosted service, except as section 4 allows for a repair shop hosting its partner shops, or as the code's open-source licence allows for the code itself;
• get around, copy or forge licence keys or the suspension rules;
• use the services for anything illegal, to send spam, or to harass anyone;
• try to break into the hub, the hosted service or another shop's data, or overload them on purpose;
• copy or reverse-engineer the programs, except where the law allows it or the code's licence does.

The hub's own code is open source (AGPL-3.0), and that licence governs the hub's code. These terms govern your use of the hub that we run.

We own the programs and the hub service (apart from open-source parts, which keep their own licences). You own your data (section 15).

10. The hub: sharing with other shops

The hub is a community of repair and sewing shops. It holds manual links (never the manuals themselves), tech notes and photos, small figure pictures from manuals, a parts cross-reference, a marketplace for shops, partner links between shops, and counts of parts used. The Privacy Policy lists exactly what it stores.

Sharing is your choice, item by item. The program sends something to the community only when you choose to "offer" it: a hint about a model, a part on the marketplace or to your partners, a fix to a manual link or a part entry. Sending your monthly parts-used counts is a setting, off until you turn it on. One exception: when the program draws a small figure from a manual on your PC for a factory setting, it sends that picture to the hub automatically, as the Privacy Policy says.

What you share. When you share something on the hub:

• you promise you have the right to share it, and that it doesn't contain your customers' names, contact details or machine serial numbers (the program checks for some of this, but it can't catch everything);
• you give us, and every shop on the hub, a free, worldwide, lasting right to store, show, copy, change and use it for running and improving the community (for example, correcting a part entry you added);
• your shop's name, and the name of the person who shared it, are shown with it;
• don't share manuals or large parts of them. Links and small figures only.

We may remove anything on the hub, stop a shop from writing to it, or block an install, if we think it breaks these terms or harms the community. We may post short announcements of new notes, link fixes, new listings and new members to the community's Discord channel (never orders).

The marketplace is between shops. The buyer pays the seller directly (for example by PayPal, Zelle or check). We are not a party to the sale, we don't hold money, and we're not responsible for the goods, payment, shipping or returns. Ratings must be honest.

Partner links connect one repair shop with one sewing or quilt shop. The two shops agree their own terms in the program (commission, consignment, settlements). That agreement is between them; we are not a party to it. The hub only carries the messages between the two programs.

The hub is free and may change. We may change what the hub does, limit how much each shop can send, or stop running it, with reasonable notice where we can. The programs keep working without it, except for the things that need it (sharing, partners, the marketplace).

Other people's hubs. Anyone may run their own hub with the open-source code. A hub someone else runs is theirs, not ours, and these terms don't cover it.

Bug reports. When you press Report a bug in a program (or use the hub's report page), what you type is filed as an issue on GitHub, so we can fix the problem. For StitchBench and StitchShop it goes in our private repository; for the open-source programs and the hub's own page it goes in a public repository, which anyone can read. Don't put customers' details or anything private in a report. Your shop's name and your email address are not put in the issue, but anything you type is. We may use what you report freely to fix and improve the programs. The Privacy Policy (section 5.2a) says what is sent.

11. Your customers' information

Your shop keeps information about your customers: names, phone numbers, emails, addresses, machines and serial numbers, repairs, photos, purchases, messages, and their consent to messages.

• You are in charge of your customers' information. You decide what to collect and what to do with it. You must have the right to collect it and use it, give your customers any privacy notice the law requires (for example on your website if you use online booking or the online shop), and answer their requests to see, correct or delete their information.
• Windows program and self-hosted: your customers' information stays on your computer or server. We don't have it and can't see it, except what you choose to send to the hub (section 10) or to a partner shop.
• Hosted by us: we hold it for you, as your service provider. We use it only to run the service for you, to keep it secure, to fix problems you ask us to fix, and when the law requires. We don't sell it, we don't use it for advertising, and we don't look at it otherwise. The Privacy Policy says more.
• Deleting a customer. The program doesn't yet let a shop delete or merge a customer record. Until it does, a shop on the hosted service asks us at bwattendorf@gmail.com and we do it; a shop on its own PC or server can ask us how. Some records you should keep even if asked, such as opt-outs and consent records (section 12).

12. Email and texts to your customers

With the Marketing module, the program sends email and texts to your customers. It sends them through your own accounts: your own email account (for example Gmail or Microsoft 365, or a sending service) and your own Twilio account for texts. You are the sender of every message, not us.

You are responsible for following the law on messages, including:

• the TCPA (the US Telephone Consumer Protection Act) and the FCC's rules: marketing texts need the customer's prior express written consent; texts may only go at allowed times; opt-outs must be honoured;
• CAN-SPAM for marketing email: who it's from, a real postal address, a working unsubscribe, honoured quickly;
• state laws on texts and calls (some are stricter than the TCPA, for example on calling hours and consent);
• your mail provider's and Twilio's own rules, and the phone carriers' rules, including registering your number for business texting (A2P 10DLC or toll-free verification).

The program helps, but doesn't make you compliant. It records each customer's consent with the exact words they agreed to; keeps a record of every opt-in, opt-out and change that is never edited or deleted; stops every text to a number that replies STOP and answers HELP; sends marketing texts only to US numbers and only between 9 am and 8 pm (shop time, and the number's own time zone); adds your postal address and an unsubscribe link to marketing email; holds marketing after a restore until someone checks; and caps how many go out a day. These tools are not legal advice. Settings you change (quiet hours, wording, consent text) are your choice.

Keep your records. A dispute over texts can be brought for four years. Keep your consent records, opt-outs, sent messages and replies at least that long. The program never deletes consent records or opt-outs, and keeps sent messages and replies; don't delete your backups or database early.

You agree to cover us (section 22) if a claim is made against us because of messages your shop sent.

13. Payments

You pay us nothing for the services (section 5). If you give a donation, the donation platform takes it (section 6), and we never see or store your card number.

Your online shop (StitchShop and StitchBench, hosted service first) takes your customers' payments through Stripe Checkout, Stripe's own payment page. Card numbers never reach the program or us. You choose who takes the money:

• Your own Stripe account (recommended). You are the seller and Stripe's customer. Stripe's terms between you and Stripe apply. You handle refunds, disputes and sales tax. Your Stripe keys are stored in your shop's database, encrypted.
• The hosted service's Stripe account ("through StitchShop's account"), where we offer it. We take the payment for you and pay it to you by hand. We pay out weekly by bank transfer. We take off Stripe's fees. The shop bears refunds and chargebacks, which we deduct from its payouts. You are still the seller: you are responsible for the goods, delivery, refunds, and sales tax at your own rate (Stripe's tax service is offered only with your own account).

The marketplace on the hub doesn't take payments at all: the buyer pays the seller directly (section 10).

14. The Assistant

The Assistant is an optional add-on that is not available yet. Before it ships we'll publish its terms and ask you to accept them; nothing in these terms covers it, and nothing is sent to an AI service until you turn it on after that.

15. Your data: yours to keep, export and move

• You own your shop's data. You give us only the rights we need to run the services for you (for example to store your data on the hosted service, or to carry partner messages through the hub).
• Export at any time. Settings → Your data downloads your records as spreadsheets (CSV): customers, machines, tickets, repairs, payments, sales, inventory, messages and consent records, campaigns, classes, appointments, shifts, online orders and more. This works even when your shop is read-only.
• Moving a company. The owner can move the whole company between a Windows PC, the hosted service and a self-hosted server (Settings → Company → Move this company). The move file holds everything, including every staff login's password hash. Keep it safe, don't email it, and delete it once the move is done. Passwords for your mail, Twilio and Stripe are left out; you enter them again on the new side. The old copy becomes read-only and can be deleted after 30 days. The hub follows the company, so partner links and listings carry on.

16. Ending the agreement

You can stop using the services at any time (section 8), and ask us at bwattendorf@gmail.com to delete your hub account or your hosted company.

We may suspend or end your use of the services if you break these terms in a serious way, use them illegally, or put other shops or the hub at risk. Except for urgent cases (security, illegal use), we'll email you first and give you a chance to fix it. A suspension makes the shop read-only (section 7); it doesn't delete anything.

If the hosted service ends for your shop, we keep your company read-only for at least 90 days so you can export it or move it, then delete it, after emailing you.

If we stop offering the hosted service entirely, we'll give at least 90 days' notice and help you move your company to a Windows PC or your own server.

Sections 6 (donations), 10 (the content licence), 11, 12, 15, 19 to 22 and 24 to 25 continue after the agreement ends.

17. Keeping things safe: your part

We work to keep the services secure (the Privacy Policy explains how). You must do your part:

• keep the shop PC, its Windows login and your staff passwords safe;
• backups are not encrypted and hold everything, including your customers' details and password hashes. Keep them as private as the PC. Windows may copy your Documents folder to OneDrive; decide whether you want that;
• treat a move file like a backup;
• if you open the program to the internet (for example with a tunnel for estimate links or tablets), set it up as the installation guide says.

18. Other companies' services

The services work with other companies' services: Railway (our hosting), Stripe (payments in your online shop, if you use it), Twilio and your mail provider (your messages), GitHub (bug reports), Discord (community chat), UPCitemdb (barcode lookups, the barcode number only), Tailscale or Cloudflare (if you set up a tunnel), and manufacturers' websites (manual downloads). Our website runs on Cloudflare, our videos on YouTube, and donations go through Buy Me a Coffee. Their own terms apply to your use of them. We aren't responsible for them, for their prices, or for them being available.

19. Repair information

The programs and the hub include tension specs, factory settings and test procedures taken from manufacturers' manuals, and notes, part matches and figures shared by other shops. We try to keep them right, but they can be wrong or out of date. Check against the manufacturer's manual before relying on them, especially for anything electrical or safety-related. You are responsible for your repairs.

20. No promises beyond these terms

We provide the services "as is" and "as available". To the extent the law allows, we make no promises beyond those in these terms, including that the services will always be available, free of errors, or right for your purpose. The hub and the hosted service may be down at times (for updates, problems, or our providers' outages). The Windows program keeps working when the internet is down. We do not promise any uptime for the hosted service.

21. Limit on our responsibility

To the extent the law allows:

• we are not responsible for lost profits, lost business, lost data, or indirect or consequential losses; and
• our total responsibility to you for everything to do with the services is limited to $100. (The services are free, so you have paid us nothing to measure it against.)

This doesn't limit responsibility the law doesn't allow us to limit.

22. Your responsibility to us

You agree to cover us (pay our reasonable costs, including lawyers' fees, and any amount we have to pay) if someone makes a claim against us because of:

• messages your shop sent (section 12);
• your customers' information, or your handling of it (section 11);
• what you shared on the hub (section 10), or your marketplace sales;
• sales in your online shop; or
• your breaking these terms or the law.

23. Changes to these terms, and versions

Each version of these terms and of the Privacy Policy has a version date in the form YYYY-MM-DD, shown at the top. Every version is published on the hub at https://hub.stitchbench.app/terms and https://hub.stitchbench.app/privacy, and earlier versions stay available there.

The hub records which version your account accepted, and when: at sign-up, and again each time you accept an update.

If we change these terms in a way that matters to you, we'll email the account at least 30 days before the change applies, and show "We updated our terms" when you next sign in to the hub and in Settings → Account. If you don't agree, you can stop using the services before the change applies (section 8). If you keep using the services after that, the new version applies.

Small fixes (spelling, contact details) may apply straight away.

24. The law, and disagreements

These terms are governed by the laws of Rhode Island and of the United States.

If you have a problem, please write to us first at bwattendorf@gmail.com; we'll try to sort it out within 30 days. If we can't, a claim goes to the state or federal courts in Rhode Island, except that either of us may use small-claims court for a claim that qualifies.

25. General

• These terms and the Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between us about the services.
• You may not transfer this agreement without our written agreement. We may transfer it to someone who takes over the services, and we'll tell you.
• If part of these terms can't be enforced, the rest still applies.
• If we don't enforce something straight away, we can still enforce it later.
• We send notices by email to the account's address. You send notices to bwattendorf@gmail.com and by post to 8 Maplewood Drive, Mapleville, RI 02839.
• Neither of us is responsible for delays caused by things outside our reasonable control (power cuts, internet outages, providers' failures, natural disasters).

26. Contact

Bruce Wattendorf dba SiteSentrix 8 Maplewood Drive, Mapleville, RI 02839 bwattendorf@gmail.com