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Sign-in, plans & the offline license
The desktop app uses the same account and the same plans as the web app. What's different is how sign-in round-trips through your browser, and (the big one) that your paid plan keeps working without internet for up to 30 days at a time, backed by a signed license the app caches on the machine.
Signing in on desktop
The desktop app asks you to sign in before the workbench opens, exactly like the hosted web app, with the same methods: email + password, a magic link, Google, or Apple (the Google and Apple buttons appear only where that provider is enabled for the deployment).
Email + password works entirely inside the app window. Everything that involves a link or a third-party provider takes a short trip through your system browser:
- Clicking Continue with Google / Continue with Apple opens the provider's sign-in page in your default browser (the app window never hosts a third-party login page).
- After you authenticate, the browser shows a brief "Signing you in…" page ("Returning you to the LED.FYI app. You can close this window.") and hands a one-time sign-in code back to the app through the
ledfyi://link type the installer registered. Only the copy of the app that started the sign-in can use that code, and the page removes it from the browser's address bar as it goes. - The app comes to the foreground, signed in.
Magic links, verification emails, and password-reset links return the same way, and it does not matter whether the app was open at the time:
- App already running: it comes forward and you are signed in where you left off. Nothing reloads, so anything you had open stays open and unsaved work is not disturbed.
- App closed: clicking the link launches it, and it opens already signed in.
A password-reset link goes straight to the set a new password step rather than dropping you into the workbench first. If a link has expired or been used already, the app says so instead of quietly doing nothing: a That link has expired notice appears in the bottom-right corner of the sign-in screen (the other notices are listed under If a sign-in is refused). Request a fresh link and try again; the notice clears itself once you're signed in.
WARNING
Signing in with Google or Apple requires being able to open a web browser on the machine. On a locked-down machine where that's not possible, use email + password; it never leaves the app.
Once you've signed in, the session is cached on the machine: relaunching the app, even with no network, goes straight to your work after a brief Loading… splash.
Creating a new account from the desktop app records the same single sign-up event as on the web, on the server, carrying only your account id and the sign-in method, never your email address or name; see Cookies, analytics & data.
How your paid plan works offline
While you're online, the app checks your plan live. In the background it also caches a cryptographically signed license of your current plan on the machine, and quietly refreshes it about once a day. That cached license is what keeps your paid tier fully working when the machine goes offline, through a grace window that by default runs 30 days from the last successful online check (the exact window is set by the server and can differ per license).
| What | Value |
|---|---|
| Offline grace window | 30 days from the last online check (server-set per license) |
| Reconnect warning appears | When 7 or fewer grace days remain |
| License refresh cadence | Roughly every 24 hours while online (automatic, background) |
| Payment-retry buffer | A lapsed subscription keeps working 7 days past its end date |
Trials and complimentary access are covered too: if your account holds a free trial or a comped plan, the cached license carries that tier offline exactly like a paid subscription. A trial's offline window is bounded by the trial itself: once its end date (plus the same 7-day buffer) passes, the app lapses to Free until you're back online, even if grace days remain.
You don't manage any of this. Stay online at least once a month and you'll never see it.
The license warning banner
When the license needs attention, a small amber banner appears at the top of the workbench; it's hidden the rest of the time (and always hidden on the web):
| State | Banner message |
|---|---|
7 or fewer grace days left | "Connect to the internet to refresh your license (N day(s) left)." |
| Grace window ran out | "License refresh required. Connect to the internet to verify your subscription." |
Subscription ended (+7-day buffer) | "Your subscription has ended. Renew to restore paid features." |
| License can't be verified | "Your license could not be verified. Please sign in again." |
The banner's Refresh button forces an immediate online re-verification (it shows a spinner while checking); on success the banner clears. The app also re-checks on its own every 60 seconds and the moment the machine's connectivity flips from offline to online, so simply getting the machine online usually clears the banner by itself.
When the grace window runs out
If the grace window lapses (or the subscription has ended past its buffer), the app degrades to the Free tier. It never locks you out of your open project mid-show; you keep designing, and only the paid features gate off (for example DXF export needs Studio and CSV export needs Pro; see Plans & billing for the full breakdown). Reconnecting to the internet restores your paid tier automatically.
The cached license is a signed file: you can read it, but any modification (say, editing it to claim a higher tier) breaks the signature, and the app drops to Free with "Your license could not be verified. Please sign in again." Signing in again while online mints a fresh license.
The app checks that signature against a key built into the app itself. On the rare occasion that key is replaced (a security rotation, shipped as part of an app update), any license cached by the older build stops matching, and you'll see the same "could not be verified" message until the app is next online. One online launch re-mints the license and clears it for good. Be online the first time you launch a newly-updated app, and you'll never notice this happening.
Signing out and the license
Signing out (Account menu → Sign out) deletes the cached license, so the next person using the machine can't inherit your paid tier.
Sign out only while online
If you sign out while offline, you can't sign back in until the machine has internet, and without a cached license the app runs at the Free tier until then. If you'll need to keep working paid, stay signed in, or sign out only once you're back online.
Terms of Service on desktop
Accepting the Terms of Service is part of desktop setup, so a desktop user with a valid offline license normally skips the in-app Accept the Terms of Service screen, as long as the version they accepted is still current. If the Terms are updated, desktop users are re-prompted like everyone else. An offline desktop user is never locked out by this: the app lets them through and asks them to re-accept the next time they're online. See Accounts & signing in.
Plans on desktop
Plans, limits, and prices are identical to the web: Free, Pro, and Studio, with the same export formats, share-link and cloud-project allowances, and capacity caps (screens, surfaces, outputs, and panels per screen), and the same limit messages (Plans & billing). The only desktop difference is availability offline, as described above. Upgrading works the same way too: Account menu → Plan & billing… opens the plan dialog, and checkout opens in your browser.