Terms of Service

Last updated: February 2026

By downloading or using Shoulders, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy.

1. The Service

Shoulders is a writing and research environment. It includes a document editor, reference management, AI chat, and terminal. Files are stored locally on your machine.

Early-stage software. Shoulders is under active development. Features may change, be modified, or be discontinued. We work to ensure reliability, but you should maintain your own backups of important work.

2. Accounts

Shoulders can be used without an account. If you create one (for the AI subscription), you must be at least 16 years old. You are responsible for your account security and for all activity under it. Notify us promptly if you suspect unauthorised access.

3. AI Access and Future Billing

Shoulders is currently in a research preview. During this period, AI features are provided at no cost to registered users. We intend to introduce paid plans in the future, with at least 30 days' notice.

Free accounts. Free accounts receive an initial balance to explore AI features. Additional balance is available on request. The editor and all local features remain available without an account.

4. Your Content

You own your work. We do not claim intellectual property rights over anything you create. Your documents remain on your machine unless you choose to use features that transmit data to external services (such as AI providers).

If you use the Shoulders AI subscription, you grant us a limited licence to process your content solely to provide the service. This licence ends when you delete your content or close your account.

Portability. Your files are stored locally in standard formats (Markdown, LaTeX, DOCX, CSV). You can access, move, or delete them at any time without using Shoulders. There is no lock-in.

5. Acceptable Use

Do not use Shoulders to:

• Violate laws or infringe intellectual property rights
• Upload malware or attempt unauthorised access
• Generate content that violates AI providers' usage policies
• Circumvent usage limits or abuse the subscription system
• Resell or redistribute the service

6. AI Features

AI outputs are suggestions, not professional advice. AI can produce errors and inaccuracies. You are responsible for verifying citations, facts, and critical content. AI features are subject to the terms of the underlying providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, or others you configure).

AI models and capabilities may change as providers update their services. We do not guarantee that specific models will remain available.

7. Third-Party Services

Shoulders integrates with third-party services including AI providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google), academic databases (OpenAlex, CrossRef), and web search (Exa). These services are governed by their own terms and privacy policies. We do not control and are not responsible for the availability, accuracy, or conduct of third-party services.

If a third-party service becomes unavailable or changes its terms, we may modify or discontinue the affected features in Shoulders without liability.

8. Intellectual Property

The Shoulders source code is publicly available and subject to its licence terms. The Shoulders name, brand, and visual identity are protected. You may not use them to imply endorsement or affiliation without permission.

Feedback. If you provide suggestions, feature requests, or other feedback, we may use it to improve Shoulders without obligation or compensation to you.

9. Availability

We aim for reliability but cannot guarantee uninterrupted access to online features. We may perform maintenance, modify features, or experience outages beyond our control. The desktop application works offline for local editing.

10. Disclaimers

The service is provided "as is" and "as available." To the extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the software will be error-free, that AI will be accurate, or that your data will never be lost.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of data, loss of profits, or interruption of research. Our total liability is limited to the greater of amounts you paid us in the prior 12 months or €100. Some jurisdictions may not allow these limitations; in such cases, liability is limited to the minimum extent permitted.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify us from claims arising from your use of the service, your content, or your violation of these Terms or third-party rights.

13. Termination

You may stop using Shoulders at any time. If you have a subscription, you may cancel it in your account settings. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or fail to pay outstanding fees.

Upon termination, your right to use subscription features ends. Your local files remain on your machine and are unaffected. Account data on our servers is deleted within 30 days of account closure, unless retention is required by law.

14. Changes

We may modify these Terms. For material changes, we provide at least 30 days' notice via email or in-app notification. Continued use after the notice period constitutes acceptance. If you disagree with the changes, you may cancel your subscription before they take effect.

15. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by German law. Disputes are subject to the courts of Berlin, Germany. EU consumers retain the mandatory protections of their country of residence.

16. General

Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full effect.

Assignment. You may not assign your rights under these Terms. We may assign ours in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

Force majeure. Neither party is liable for delays or failures caused by events beyond reasonable control, including natural disasters, infrastructure failures, or third-party service outages.

Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Shoulders regarding the service.