How We Operate

The One Rule

Don't be a dick.

That's it. Everything else flows from this. Every decision we make, every feature we build, every interaction we have. All filtered through one question: are we being dicks about this?

What That Means in Practice

• No dark patterns. We don't trick you into anything.
• No data harvesting. We collect what we need to make tools work. Nothing more.
• No rug pulls. If you build on our stuff, we won't yank it away.
• No corporate bullshit. We say what we mean. No lawyer-speak unless legally required.
• No punching down. We exist to help the community, not extract from it.

We're Modders Too

We've been in the trenches. We've debugged load orders at 2am. We've had mods break with updates. We've dealt with the frustration of tools that don't work, sites that go down, and projects that get abandoned.

We're building the tools we wished existed. If we ever forget that, call us out.

Why B-Corp?

We're on the path to becoming a certified B Corporation. Not because it's trendy, but because it legally binds us to consider impact on workers, community, and environment, not just shareholders.

Traditional corporations are legally obligated to maximize shareholder value. That's how good companies turn bad. B-Corp certification creates legal protection for doing the right thing, even when it's not the most profitable thing.

What This Means

• Accountability: We'll be measured against rigorous social and environmental standards
• Transparency: B-Corps publish their impact reports publicly
• Legal protection: Our mission is protected in our corporate charter
• Community: We join a network of companies committed to using business as a force for good

Current Status

We're pre-revenue and pre-certification. We're building with B-Corp standards in mind from day one. When we're ready to certify, we won't have to change who we are.

Why This Matters

We've all seen it. A tool you depend on disappears. The developer moves on. The domain expires. Years of work, gone. The community left scrambling.

We refuse to be that story. If we can't keep going, the code goes to someone who can. No sunset notices. No "download it while you can." The work survives.

How We'll Do It

• Everything is already open source under AGPL-3.0
• If we quit: We'll transfer repos to a community organization (like modding groups or a foundation)
• Relicense if needed: We'll relicense to MIT/Apache if AGPL creates adoption barriers for the inheritors
• Documentation handoff: We'll ensure infrastructure docs, secrets management, and deployment guides are included

No Exceptions

This isn't contingent on how we shut down. Bankruptcy. Acquisition. Boredom. Burnout. Alien invasion. Doesn't matter. The code goes to the community.

If We Grow

If ezmode.games becomes a "real company" (revenue, employees, the whole thing), we commit to making decisions that benefit the gaming and modding community. Not just decisions that benefit us.

What That Looks Like

• Free tier forever: Core functionality stays free. We won't paywall features after you depend on them.
• Community input: Major decisions that affect users get community input before implementation.
• Transparent pricing: If we charge for something, you'll know exactly what you're paying for and why.
• No vendor lock-in: Export your data. Self-host if you want. We compete on being better, not on trapping you.
• Accessible: We build for everyone. Accessibility isn't an afterthought.

The Long Game

We're not here to flip the company in 3 years. We're building something we want to exist for the next decade.

Our B-Corp charter will legally enshrine our commitment to the gaming community. If we ever sell, the new owners inherit those obligations. They can't gut the mission and extract value. The commitment transfers with the company.

We exist to benefit the modding community. That's not a marketing line. It'll be in the legal documents.

AGPL-3.0

Our code is licensed under AGPL-3.0. This means:

• You can view, modify, and use the code
• You can self-host everything (we provide the docs to do it)
• If you modify and deploy it, you share your modifications

Why AGPL?

AGPL ensures that if someone takes our work and builds a service on it, they have to share their improvements. It prevents the "embrace, extend, extinguish" playbook that kills open source projects.

For modders using our tools directly: AGPL doesn't affect your mods. You're a user, not a distributor. Mod away.

MIT

Some of our tools are licensed under MIT. These are general-purpose libraries that aren't specific to ezmode:

• Ferritest: RAM and VRAM stress testing
• Phantom-Zone: Zod-to-form generation
• Rafters: Design intelligence for AI agents
• Smuggler: SQLite to D1 data migration

Why Two Licenses?

AGPL for platform code. MIT for standalone tools.

MIT has no restrictions. Use it however you want, commercial or otherwise, no strings attached. We use MIT for tools that benefit from maximum adoption. The more people use them, the better they get.

AGPL protects the platform. MIT spreads the tools.

Contributions

We welcome contributions: bug fixes, features, documentation, all of it. Contributors retain copyright on their contributions but grant us a license to use them. Standard CLA stuff, nothing sneaky.