License setup — .NET

You added DVAIBridge to your .NET MAUI, Avalonia, WinUI, or console project. You want to ship a release. Here's the licensing path.

TL;DR

Add dvai-license.jwt to your .csproj as content with CopyToOutputDirectory="PreserveNewest". The SDK reads it from the app's working directory at startup. Debug configurations ignore license problems.

Where the file goes

Add the file next to your .csproj:

MyApp/
  MyApp.csproj
  dvai-license.jwt

Mark it as content so it lands next to the binary:

<ItemGroup>
  <None Update="dvai-license.jwt">
    <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
  </None>
</ItemGroup>

For MAUI / mobile build profiles, also include it as a MAUI asset:

<ItemGroup Condition="'$(TargetFramework)' == 'net10.0-android' or '$(TargetFramework)' == 'net10.0-ios'">
  <MauiAsset Include="dvai-license.jwt" />
</ItemGroup>

Alternative locations the SDK also checks — in priority order:

1. Inline JWT via StartOptions { LicenseToken = "..." }.
2. Explicit path via StartOptions { LicenseKeyPath = "..." }.
3. DVAI_LICENSE_PATH environment variable.
4. DVAI_LICENSE_TOKEN environment variable.
5. dvai-license.jwt in AppContext.BaseDirectory — auto-discovered.

Code: with vs. without

Default — license deployed next to binary:

using DVAIBridge;

var bound = await DVAIBridge.Shared.StartAsync(new StartOptions
{
    Backend = BackendKind.Llama,
    ModelPath = modelPath
});

Console.WriteLine(bound.BaseUrl);          // http://127.0.0.1:38883/v1
Console.WriteLine(bound.LicenseStatus);    // Commercial { Licensee = "Acme", ... }

Inline JWT — e.g. read from a config service:

var token = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("DVAI_LICENSE_JWT")
            ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("missing license env");

var bound = await DVAIBridge.Shared.StartAsync(new StartOptions
{
    Backend = BackendKind.Llama,
    ModelPath = modelPath,
    LicenseToken = token
});

Explicit path:

var bound = await DVAIBridge.Shared.StartAsync(new StartOptions
{
    Backend = BackendKind.Llama,
    ModelPath = modelPath,
    LicenseKeyPath = Path.Combine(FileSystem.AppDataDirectory, "dvai-license.jwt")
});

Native license fields land in v3.3

In v3.2.x, the .NET SDK ships without LicenseToken / LicenseKeyPath on StartOptions. The Capacitor-wrapped path runs the JS validator automatically; pure-native .NET apps in v3.2 ship under a "dev preview" allowance. Native .NET validation arrives in v3.3 — pin to v3.3+ to enforce on .NET.

What happens without a license

In Release configurations, StartAsync(...) throws LicenseRequiredException:

try
{
    var bound = await DVAIBridge.Shared.StartAsync(...);
}
catch (LicenseRequiredException ex)
{
    // ex.Message is a multi-line, user-presentable string with
    // remediation steps. ex.Reason carries the machine-readable
    // failure kind ("FreeProd" or "FreeExpired").
    Console.Error.WriteLine(ex.Message);
    Environment.Exit(1);
}

Testing locally without a license

Debug builds skip license checks automatically. The SDK detects debug mode via Debugger.IsAttached and #if DEBUG.

Force dev mode explicitly:

DVAI_FORCE_DEV=1 dotnet run -c Release

Rehearse the production code path:

DVAI_FORCE_PROD=1 dotnet run -c Release

Per-flavour notes

• MAUI iOS / Android — the file loads from the bundled MauiAsset path on mobile and from AppContext.BaseDirectory on Catalyst.
• Avalonia / WinUI desktop — the file lives next to the binary in bin/<config>/<tfm>/.
• Console / server — same discovery rules as Node — env vars, cwd, etc.

When validation fails

Error reason fragment	What's wrong	Fix
no license token found	File didn't make it into the output dir	Verify CopyToOutputDirectory="PreserveNewest" in .csproj
signature did not verify	Wrong key or tampered token	Re-download from your licensor
does not authorise platform "dotnet"	License missing "dotnet" in platforms	Re-issue covering .NET
audience entries ... do not match	Assembly identity doesn't match aud	Re-issue, or use a wildcard
expired	Past exp	Renew

The runtime audience on .NET is the executing assembly's name — or the value of the DVAI_AUDIENCE env var if set. Most licenses ship a "*" fallback.

See also

• License setup index
• Pre-init inspection — run LicenseValidator standalone for a license-status badge in a MAUI / WPF dashboard without StartAsync().
• .NET SDK — full SDK reference.