Knowra Terms of Service
These terms govern your use of Knowra: the Knowra iOS app, knowra.app, our MCP service at mcp.knowra.app/mcp and the related Knowra APIs (together, the "service"). By creating an account or using the service, you agree to these terms. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle your information.
1. Who we are
Knowra is operated by Rex Zhang, an individual based in Hong Kong ("Knowra", "we", "our" or "us"). You can reach us at [email protected].
2. Who can use Knowra
- You must be at least 16 years old to use Knowra on your own.
- If you are between 13 and 15, you may use Knowra only with the consent of a parent or legal guardian, who agrees to these terms on your behalf.
- Knowra is not for children under 13.
If you use Knowra on behalf of an organization, you confirm that you are allowed to accept these terms for it.
3. Your account
Keep your sign-in methods and personal API keys secure. You are responsible for activity under your account, including requests made with your API keys or by assistants you have connected. Treat API keys as secrets: don't share them or put them in URLs, chats or tool arguments. Revoke a key or a connected app from your account if you think it has been exposed, and tell us at [email protected] if you suspect unauthorized use.
4. Using the service
You may use Knowra to discover and read research papers for yourself or your work. You agree not to:
- get around usage limits, quotas or access controls, for example by creating multiple accounts or sharing an account or API key;
- copy, scrape or download content from the service in bulk, or use it to build a competing database or dataset;
- resell, sublicense or offer the service, or Scout reports, as part of a product for others without our written permission;
- interfere with the service, test its security without permission, or overload it;
- use the service in a way that breaks the law or infringes others' rights.
5. Scout reports
Scout reports are generated automatically from the text of each paper to help you decide what to read and what to check. They can be incomplete or wrong, including numbers, figures and the authors' claims. Always verify anything important against the original paper. Scout is not professional, academic or peer-review advice, and you should not rely on it as the sole basis for any decision. To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for decisions made in reliance on Scout.
6. Papers and content
Papers belong to their authors and licensors. Knowra links to each paper's source and shows titles, abstracts and other metadata to help you find it; we do not grant you any rights in the papers themselves. Your use of a paper is governed by its own license.
You keep any rights you have in what you send us, such as search queries. You allow us to use it to provide and improve the service as described in the Privacy Policy. The Knowra software, design and Scout reports are ours, and these terms give you a personal, non-transferable right to use them through the service.
7. Plans, payment and renewal
- Free account. A free account includes a daily allowance of first-time Scout unlocks. Papers you have unlocked stay readable.
- Pro. Pro is a paid subscription with a monthly allowance of first-time Scout unlocks. Current prices and allowances are shown before you pay. Prices are in US dollars; applicable taxes, if any, are shown before you pay.
- Introductory offer. Each account can use the monthly and annual website introductory offers once each: US$1.99 for the first paid monthly period and US$69.30 for the first paid annual period, then US$9.90/month or US$99/year. An unused offer also applies when switching to that billing period. Gifted Pro does not use either offer. Canceling or receiving a refund does not restore an offer already used.
- Renewal. Pro renews automatically at the end of each billing period until you cancel. You can cancel at any time from your Knowra account; Pro then stays active until the end of the period you have paid for and does not renew.
- Changing plans. Moving from monthly to annual billing takes effect immediately, and you pay the annual price less the unused value of your current month. Moving from annual to monthly billing takes effect when your current annual period ends.
- Gifted Pro. If you subscribe while you have gifted Pro, you are charged when you subscribe and your paid period starts when the gift ends.
- Apple purchases. Subscriptions bought in the iOS app are sold and billed by Apple under Apple's terms. Manage or cancel them, and request refunds, through your Apple account.
- Price changes. We may change prices or allowances. We will tell you before a price change applies to your subscription, and it takes effect from your next renewal. If you don't agree, you can cancel before then.
Web payments are processed by our payment provider; Knowra does not receive your full card details.
8. Refunds
If you are not satisfied with your first Pro subscription bought on our website, email [email protected] within 14 days of that first payment for a full refund of the amount actually paid. Pro ends when the refund is issued. Renewal payments, later subscriptions and partially used periods are not refunded, except where the law requires it. Purchases made through Apple are refunded by Apple under its policies.
9. Changes, suspension and termination
We may add, change or remove features, limits or supported clients as the service develops. We may suspend or close an account, or revoke keys and connected apps, if it breaks these terms, puts the service or other users at risk, or if the law requires it. Where reasonable, we will tell you first. If we close your account for a serious breach of these terms, we do not refund the remaining subscription period.
You can stop using Knowra at any time and request account deletion as described in the Privacy Policy. If we stop offering Pro altogether, we will refund the unused part of any prepaid period.
10. Disclaimers
The service is provided "as is" and "as available". To the extent permitted by law, we make no warranties about the service or its content, including that it will be uninterrupted, error-free or complete, that search results will include every relevant paper, or that Scout reports will be accurate.
11. Limitation of liability
To the extent permitted by law:
- we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential losses, or for lost profits, data, research time or opportunities;
- our total liability for all claims relating to the service is limited to the amount you paid us for the service in the 12 months before the claim, or US$50 if you have not paid us.
Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, such as liability for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by negligence.
12. Your consumer rights
If you use Knowra as a consumer, you may have rights under the laws of the country where you live that cannot be changed by contract. Nothing in these terms affects those rights.
13. Governing law and disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The courts of Hong Kong have jurisdiction over disputes about these terms or the service, except that consumers may also bring claims in the courts where they live if the local law gives them that right. Before starting any formal claim, please contact us so we can try to resolve the issue.
14. Transfer
We may transfer these terms, and your account, to a company or other organization that takes over operating Knowra, for example a company we set up to run it. Your rights under these terms are not reduced by such a transfer. You may not transfer these terms or your account without our written consent.
15. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms as the service changes. We will post the new version on this page with a revised date and, for material changes, tell you in advance by email or in the service. If you keep using Knowra after the changes take effect, the new terms apply. If you don't agree, stop using the service and cancel any subscription.
16. Contact
Questions about these terms: [email protected].