The BelliedMonkey client is open source under MIT

2026-11-01 · License: MIT for the client repository · the existing repository stays GPL-3.0-or-later

Today we are publishing the BelliedMonkey client under the MIT license.

The MIT release is a new repository, not a rename of the existing one. It is an orphan tree cut from a fresh root, and the closed hosted code was stripped out before the cut — it is not sitting in the new repository under another name. That distinction matters: this is a code-level separation, not a license label swapped on top of the old tree.

It covers the browser extension and the desktop app, the CLI and agent, the local protocol layer that connects them, and the bring-your-own-key (BYOK) surface: the provider registry, local key storage, and direct-to-provider requests.

It does not cover the hosted side of the product. We want to be exact about that, because "open source" announcements often are not.

What is MIT

• Client — browser extension and desktop app, including the local UI.
• CLI and agent — the local agent runtime and the stdio MCP bridge.
• Local protocol — the interfaces the client and local tools use to talk to each other.
• BYOK — provider registry, local key storage, and the path that sends requests straight to the provider you choose.
• Public API contracts — the hosted-gateway contract plus mocks and stubs, so the open client can be built and tested without our servers.
• Release tooling and docs — build configuration, the global / china flavor recipes, and the release checklists.

Third-party dependencies keep their own licenses, and the NOTICE file lists them.

What stays closed

The open client can talk to the hosted gateway through its public contract. It cannot contain the gateway's keys, and we are not going to pretend that a local build is the hosted service. These surfaces were removed from the MIT tree; they are not merely undocumented.

Two repositories, two licenses — on purpose

The existing repository, belliedmonkey-translator, is GPL-3.0-or-later, and it stays that way. Its history is unchanged, and its license is not being flipped by an announcement.

The MIT release starts from a fresh root and contains only the code we could establish the right to relicense — through contributor consent or because it was ours to license. Where we could not establish that right, the code is not in the MIT repository. That is slower than a cosmetic license change, and it is the only version we can defend.

The old repository remains available under GPL-3.0-or-later at https://github.com/belliedmonkey/belliedmonkey-translator. The MIT repository is at https://github.com/belliedmonkey/belliedmonkey-translator-oss. If you need the historical tree, it is still there; if you want the open client, start with the MIT repository.

One product, two flavors

International and China builds come from the same product and the same source tree:

node build.js                # global  → dist/
node build.js --flavor china # China   → dist-china/

The China flavor filters the provider set and applies the regional compliance gate. The gate's implementation, filings and store-submission scripts are closed; the flavor switches and default endpoints are described in public docs. These are two builds of one product, not two unrelated products, and we will not market them as if they were.

BYOK is not a trial

Your provider key is stored locally on your device and sent directly to the provider you chose. By default it does not pass through our hosted gateway. Using your own key does not require a subscription, and there is no subscription on sale at this stage.

The client is complete for local use with your own key. There is no deliberately incomplete open client with the missing pieces sold back as a subscription. A hosted paid plan is planned but not available yet; pricing and timing are TBA. When it exists it will be optional, for hosted capacity and cloud sync — not to unlock the MIT code.

Hosted subscription: TBA

We are not launching a paid subscription now. Pricing, packaging and the on-sale date are TBA, and we will announce them separately when they are ready. We are not linking a pricing page today because there is nothing to buy there yet.

Until then, the current stage is free to use: BYOK is the main path — your key, your provider, no subscription gate — and the hosted free allowance is sized to last a long time. If free usage grows to the point where the hosted service has to stand on its own, we will revisit pricing then, not before.

If you only want to run the client with your own key, nothing changes for you: the open client is complete for local use.

Telemetry

The open build ships with telemetry off by default, or with a no-op stub where a build flag is required. The real ingestion pipeline is closed. We will publish the list of event names; the implementation stays closed. You can read the client and check.

What we are asking

• Read BOUNDARY.md before you assume what is and is not open.
• Build the client, point it at your own key, and tell us where it breaks: docs/oss-quickstart.md.
• If you want hosted capacity, use the free allowance while it lasts; a paid hosted plan is not on sale yet. If you only need BYOK, that path is complete today.

We would rather ship a smaller, honest MIT release than a large announcement with an asterisk.