terms of service

Welcome to Spool. These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and Spool App LLC, a Washington limited liability company ("Spool," "we," "us," or "our"), and govern your access to and use of the Spool mobile application, the website at spoolhq.co, and any related services we provide (collectively, the "Service").

By creating an account, downloading the app, or otherwise using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old to use the Service. By using Spool, you represent and warrant that you are 18 or older and have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms. The Service is not directed to, and we do not knowingly collect information from, anyone under 18.

2. What Spool Does

Spool is a tool that helps knitters organize, annotate, and follow knitting patterns you already own. You can upload PDF patterns you have lawfully acquired, and Spool transforms them into an interactive format (structured text instructions, row-by-row charts, progress tracking, and notes) for your personal use on your own devices.

Spool does not sell, distribute, or publish knitting patterns. We are a tool you use to work with patterns you already have.

3. Your Account

You create an account by signing in with Google or Apple through our authentication provider (Clerk). You are responsible for:

• Keeping your account credentials secure;
• All activity that occurs under your account;
• Providing accurate information and keeping it current; and
• Notifying us promptly if you believe your account has been compromised.

We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms, are inactive for extended periods, or are used fraudulently.

4. Your Content

4.1 What "Your Content" Means

"Your Content" means anything you upload, create, or store in the Service, including PDFs you import, notes you add, progress you track, and any annotations you make.

4.2 You Keep Your Rights

You retain all ownership rights in Your Content. Uploading something to Spool does not transfer ownership to us.

4.3 The License You Grant Us

To operate the Service, you grant Spool a limited, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, process, transform, reproduce, and display Your Content solely for the purpose of providing the Service to you. This license exists only so we can run the app — parse your PDFs into structured data, store your notes, sync your progress across devices, and similar operational functions. It ends when you delete the content or close your account, except as described in Section 4.6 below.

We will not sell Your Content, use it to train machine learning models, or use it for advertising.

4.4 Your Warranties About Uploaded Content

When you upload a pattern or other content, you represent and warrant that:

• You own the content or have lawfully acquired a copy of it (for example, you purchased it, received it as a free pattern from the designer, or it is in the public domain);
• Your use of Spool to organize or annotate that content is for your own personal, non-commercial use;
• You are not redistributing, sharing, or publishing the content through Spool or otherwise; and
• Your upload does not violate any law, contract, or third-party right.

You are solely responsible for what you upload. If you are unsure whether you have the right to use a particular pattern with Spool, do not upload it.

4.5 Prohibited Uploads

You may not use Spool to upload, process, or store:

• Patterns you do not own or have not lawfully acquired (including pirated, leaked, or shared-without-permission copies);
• Content you intend to redistribute to others;
• Content that infringes anyone's intellectual property, privacy, or other rights;
• Malware, exploit code, or content designed to damage or disrupt the Service;
• Content that is unlawful, harassing, hateful, or sexually explicit.

4.6 Pattern Processing, Non-Retention of Originals, and Deduplication

When you upload a pattern PDF, our extraction pipeline processes it into a structured representation (rows, charts, stitch instructions, metadata) for your use inside the app. Once processing is complete, your original PDF is discarded. Spool does not retain original uploaded PDF files in its storage systems, and you cannot re-download the original PDF from Spool.

What we do retain for each processed pattern:

• A cryptographic hash (SHA-256) of the PDF, used for deduplication;
• The derived structured representation generated from the PDF (including any rendered charts or extracted imagery necessary to display the pattern);
• Your notes, annotations, and progress tied to that pattern.

For performance and efficiency, if a new upload's SHA-256 hash matches a file previously processed, we reuse the previously generated structured representation instead of re-parsing. We do not share your notes, annotations, or progress with other users. Deduplication applies only to the derived structured representation. If you delete your account, your notes, annotations, and progress are deleted; deduplicated derived data may persist if other users are actively relying on it.

5. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Reverse-engineer, decompile, scrape, or extract data from the Service except as permitted by law;
• Use automated means to access the Service beyond what a normal user interface allows;
• Attempt to circumvent usage limits, authentication, or payment mechanisms;
• Interfere with, overload, or disrupt the Service or its infrastructure;
• Use the Service to violate any law or the rights of any third party;
• Resell, sublicense, or commercially exploit the Service or access to it.

6. Subscriptions, Founding Member Purchases, and Billing

6.1 Tiers

Spool offers a Free tier, a Maker/Pro subscription, and a limited Founding Member one-time purchase. Current pricing, features, and limits are shown in the app and on spoolhq.co, and may change from time to time. If we change pricing for existing subscribers, we will give you reasonable notice before the change takes effect.

6.2 Apple In-App Purchases

If you subscribe or purchase through the iOS app, the transaction is processed by Apple under Apple's terms. Apple — not Spool — is responsible for billing, payment method storage, and refunds for iOS purchases. Subscriptions auto-renew according to the terms shown at purchase unless you cancel through your Apple ID settings at least 24 hours before the renewal date. To request a refund for an iOS purchase, you must contact Apple.

6.3 Web Purchases (Stripe)

If you subscribe or purchase through spoolhq.co, the transaction is processed by Stripe. Subscriptions auto-renew on the billing cycle shown at checkout until you cancel. You can cancel at any time through your account settings; cancellation stops future renewals but does not retroactively refund the current billing period.

Refund requests for web purchases should be sent to support@spoolhq.co. We generally offer refunds within 14 days of the original purchase for subscriptions that have not been meaningfully used, at our reasonable discretion. Consumers in the EU and UK retain any statutory right of withdrawal that applies.

6.4 Founding Member Purchases

Founding Member purchases include a fixed number of pattern import credits that do not expire and a time-limited Pro access period. Credits are tied to your account, are non-transferable, and have no cash value. If we discontinue the Service, we will make reasonable efforts to provide notice and, where legally required, a prorated refund for unused Pro time.

6.5 Taxes

Prices shown may or may not include applicable taxes depending on your jurisdiction. You are responsible for any taxes, duties, or levies imposed by your local laws.

7. Intellectual Property

The Service — including the Spool software, interface, charts-rendering engine, mascot, logos, and documentation — is owned by Spool App LLC and protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Service solely in accordance with these Terms. Nothing in these Terms transfers any Spool intellectual property to you.

8. Copyright Complaints (DMCA)

We respect intellectual property rights. If you believe content accessible through the Service infringes your copyright, send a written notice to our designated agent that includes:

1. Your physical or electronic signature;
2. Identification of the copyrighted work you claim has been infringed;
3. Identification of the material you claim is infringing and information reasonably sufficient to locate it (e.g., a pattern title, a user account, or a specific upload);
4. Your contact information (address, phone, email);
5. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
6. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

Send notices to: support@spoolhq.co or by mail to Spool App LLC, 522 West Riverside Avenue, Ste N, Spokane, WA 99201, Attn: DMCA Agent.

Because Spool does not retain original uploaded PDF files (see Section 4.6), a takedown may take one or more of the following forms depending on the circumstances: (a) removal of the derived structured representation associated with the work; (b) blocking future uploads whose SHA-256 hash matches a file identified in a valid notice; and (c) action against specific user accounts, including termination of accounts of repeat infringers. We will respond to valid notices consistent with the DMCA. A counter-notice process is also available under 17 U.S.C. § 512(g).

9. Third-Party Services

The Service relies on third-party providers (including Apple, Google, Clerk, Railway, Cloudflare, and Stripe). Your use of those providers' services is subject to their own terms, and we are not responsible for their acts or omissions.

10. Apple-Specific Terms

If you access the Service through an Apple-branded device, the following apply in addition to the rest of these Terms:

• These Terms are between you and Spool App LLC only, not with Apple. Apple is not responsible for the Service or its content.
• Your license to use the iOS app is limited to use on Apple-branded devices that you own or control, as permitted by the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions.
• Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for the Service.
• Apple is not responsible for any product warranties, whether express or implied. If the Service fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price (if any) you paid for the app; to the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation.
• Apple is not responsible for addressing any claims by you or any third party relating to the Service, including product liability claims, consumer protection claims, or claims that the Service fails to conform to any legal or regulatory requirement.
• If a third party claims the Service or your use of it infringes their intellectual property, Spool — not Apple — is responsible for investigating, defending, and resolving that claim.
• You represent that you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. Government embargo or designated as a "terrorist supporting" country, and that you are not on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
• Apple and Apple's subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you.

11. Disclaimers

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties; in those jurisdictions, the above exclusions apply to the fullest extent permitted by law, and you may have additional statutory rights that cannot be waived.

12. Limitation of Liability

Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited under applicable law, including, for EU/UK consumers, liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be excluded by law.

13. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Spool and its members, employees, and contractors from any claims, damages, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to (a) your violation of these Terms, (b) Your Content, or (c) your violation of any law or third-party right. This section does not apply to the extent a claim arises from Spool's own wrongdoing.

14. Termination

You may stop using the Service at any time and delete your account through the app or by contacting us. We may suspend or terminate your access if you materially breach these Terms, if we reasonably believe your use poses legal or security risk, or if we discontinue the Service. Sections 4.6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15, and 16 survive termination.

15. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Washington, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. The state and federal courts located in King County, Washington have exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes not subject to binding arbitration or consumer-protection rules, except that:

• EU/UK/Swiss consumers may bring claims in the courts of their country of residence and benefit from the mandatory protections of their local consumer law; nothing in this section overrides those rights.
• Small-claims disputes may be brought in any court of competent small-claims jurisdiction.

The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.

16. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you through the app, by email, or on spoolhq.co at least 14 days before the changes take effect. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date means you accept the updated Terms. If you don't agree, stop using the Service before the changes take effect.

17. Miscellaneous

• Entire agreement. These Terms and our Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and Spool regarding the Service.
• Severability. If any provision is unenforceable, the rest remains in effect.
• No waiver. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of that provision.
• Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
• Notices to you may be given by email to the address associated with your account or by posting in the app.

18. Contact

Spool App LLC
522 West Riverside Avenue, Ste N
Spokane, WA 99201, USA
Email: support@spoolhq.co (for DMCA notices, include "Attn: DMCA Agent" in the subject line)