Outlet Terms of Use
Last updated: August 21, 2026
These terms are an agreement between you and Outlet (useoutlet.dev). They cover the website, the approval screen at useoutlet.dev/grant, the vault, and the hosted parts of the Outlet service. By using any of them you agree to these terms. The Outlet SDK code itself is open source under the MIT license; the code license governs the code, and these terms govern the service.
The short version
This summary is for orientation and the full terms below govern. Direct mode is free and never touches our servers. In Vault mode you connect your own AI account, every app gets its own capped App key, and you can revoke any app at any time. Users pay Outlet nothing. Developers pay per active connection once paid billing starts, never per token. Caps are a strong safety mechanism with an honest limitation described below. Your AI conversations never pass through Outlet.
Words used here
Direct mode: you paste your own API key into an app and it is validated on your device. Vault mode: you connect a provider account once and Outlet provisions a capped, revocable App key for each app you approve. Connection: one app plugged into one provider account for one user. Cap: the monthly spend limit you set on a connection, enforced by Outlet. App key: the scoped key the vault creates inside your own provider account for exactly one app. Admin key: your provider's account management key, used to create and revoke App keys and read spend totals. Provider: the AI service your account belongs to, such as OpenAI or Anthropic. Developer: someone who registers an app that works with Outlet.
Who can use Outlet
You must be 18 or older. You must have the right to use the provider account you connect. Keep your sign-in and your provider credentials to yourself; what happens under your sign-in is yours.
Direct mode
Direct mode is free, for everyone. Your key is checked on your device and is not sent to Outlet. Because nothing reaches our servers in Direct mode, everything that happens between you, the app, and your provider is between you, the app, and your provider.
Vault mode, for users
Vault mode is free for users. When you connect a provider account you give Outlet your admin key so it can do four things inside your own account: create one capped App key per app you approve, read spend totals to enforce your caps, apply the limits you chose, and revoke keys when you say so or a cap is reached. Apps never receive your admin key. Apps talk to your provider directly with their own App key; your prompts and the AI's answers never pass through Outlet.
What caps do, and what they honestly cannot
Caps are enforced by reading the spend totals your provider reports and by narrowing each App key's request rate when it is created. Provider spend reporting lags behind reality, sometimes by many minutes. That means a connection can spend somewhat past its cap before enforcement catches it and kills the key. We built the system to keep that window small, and we test it with real money, but a cap is an enforcement mechanism, not an absolute guarantee of a maximum spend. Whatever a connection spends is billed by your provider under your agreement with them. To the extent the law allows, Outlet is not liable for provider charges, including spend above a cap that occurs inside enforcement lag.
Revoking
You can revoke any connection at any time with one click. Revoking sends the delete for that App key to your provider right away. Some providers keep honoring a deleted key for a short time; that behavior belongs to the provider and varies, so we do not promise a specific shutoff speed on any provider until we have measured it.
Acceptable use
Do not use Outlet to break the law, to violate your provider's terms, or to access accounts that are not yours. Do not probe, overload, or interfere with the service, evade its rate limits or security checks, or misrepresent what your app does to get a user's approval. We may suspend access that puts users, providers, or the service at risk.
For developers
Register your app to use the vault. Keep your app secret confidential and register the exact redirect addresses you use. Request only the access your app needs, describe your app truthfully on the approval screen, and never ask users for their admin keys yourself. We may suspend or expel apps that put users at risk or break these terms; expelling an app revokes its App keys.
Paid billing for developers is not yet enabled. When it starts: developers pay per active connection per month, at the rates published on the Outlet pricing page. Never per API call, never per token, no markup on usage. Users pay nothing. A connection starts billing only once its App key is actually delivered and stops billing automatically when it is revoked or ends at its cap. If your billing lapses, existing connections keep serving and only new connections are refused. Fee changes will be announced on the pricing page before they apply.
The SDK and the open protocol
The spec and SDK are open source. The SDK is published under the MIT license. Nothing in these terms takes away rights those licenses give you. Feedback you send us can be used to improve Outlet without obligation to you.
Ownership
The Outlet name, site, and service are ours. These terms give you use of the service, not ownership of any of it. What you create with your AI is between you, the app, and your provider; Outlet does not see it and claims nothing in it.
Honest disclaimers
Outlet is a young service and is provided as is and as available. We do not promise uninterrupted availability, and we do not make promises we have not tested. Your provider's services belong to your provider; we are not responsible for their availability, pricing, or decisions.
Limits on liability
To the extent the law allows: we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or lost profits, data, or goodwill. Our total liability for everything arising out of the service is capped at the greater of one hundred US dollars or the amounts you paid Outlet in the twelve months before the claim. Some places do not allow some of these limits, so parts of this section may not apply to you.
Your provider relationship, and covering us for your app
Your provider account, its charges, and its terms are yours. If you are a developer, you agree to cover Outlet for claims that arise from your app breaking these terms or the law.
Ending things
You can stop any time: revoke your connections, disconnect your providers, and ask us to delete your account at [email protected]. We can suspend or end access for abuse, security risk, or breach of these terms. Sections that by their nature should survive (like ownership, disclaimers, and liability limits) survive.
Changes to these terms
If these terms change, we will update this page and the date at the top. For meaningful changes we will post plain notice on the site before they take effect. Using the service after a change takes effect means the new terms apply.
Law and disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Louisiana, without regard to conflict of law rules. Disputes will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Louisiana, and both sides consent to those courts. If part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest stands.