Your licence
A licence key activates Showmesh on two computers. The key arrives by email: beta testers request one at licenses.showmesh.app/beta, buyers get theirs with the purchase.
The beta does not require a licence yet
This build shows your licence state and blocks nothing. You can install Showmesh, build a show and run it without activating. Activation is worth doing anyway — it is how you find out early whether it works on your machine, which is the point of a beta.
Activate
- Choose View ▸ License. The same panel sits at the bottom of the Resources list.
- Paste the key into License key and press Activate.
The machine needs to reach the internet once. After that Showmesh runs offline for up to 30 days at a time — see Working offline below.
The panel never shows your full key again, only its last characters (Key …1C-V3). Keep the email.
What the panel tells you
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Licensed | Activated and checked with the server recently. |
| Licensed (offline) | Activated and valid, running on the stored certificate. Normal. |
| Not activated | No key on this computer. |
| Expired | A rental ran out, or a beta ended. |
| Suspended | The licence was withdrawn — after a refund, for instance. |
| Error | Something specific went wrong; the panel says what. |
License expires and Offline access until are different dates and the panel shows both. The first is when your licence ends. The second is when this computer next needs the internet — reconnecting extends it, and it does not shorten your licence.
Working offline
Showmesh does not need a connection to run a show. Activation writes a signed certificate to this computer, and that certificate is good for 30 days at a time. Every launch quietly renews it when there is a connection; if there is not, nothing changes and nothing is said.
The warning Online check needed appears only when the offline window is genuinely close to closing. Connect once and it goes away.
A show already running is never interrupted
If a rental expires, or a licence is withdrawn, mid-show, playback continues for up to 12 hours so the performance finishes. The next launch is what enforces the change.
Move to another computer
Press Deactivate on the old computer while it is online. The slot is freed only once the server confirms it, so nothing is lost if the network fails halfway — press it again.
Then activate on the new computer with the same key.
If you cannot reach the old computer — it died, it was reinstalled, it belongs to a venue you have left — email [email protected] and the slot is released for you.
When something is wrong
"This key is already active on its allowed number of machines." Two computers are already using it. Deactivate one, or write to support if you cannot reach it.
"The licensing server could not be reached." Your connection, or ours. An already-activated computer is unaffected — this only blocks activating a new one.
"The system clock moved backward." Showmesh keeps a record of the latest time it has trusted, and refuses a clock that has jumped behind it. Set the clock correctly, connect once, and press Refresh.
"This machine's activation was released on the licensing server." Support freed the seat, or you did from elsewhere. Press Activate with the same key to take it back.
The key never arrived. Ask again at licenses.showmesh.app/beta with the same address — you will get the same key resent, not a second licence. Check the spam folder first.
What Showmesh sends
Activation sends your licence key and a fingerprint of this computer, and nothing else. The fingerprint is a one-way hash: it identifies the machine to the licence server without telling it anything about the machine.
Showmesh does not report what you play, what your show contains, or when you run it.