Buying and licensing #
What do I buy? A license to install Starwisp in your own accounts, with 12 months of updates. It is not a hosted service. No subscription from us, no revenue share.
What happens after 12 months? Nothing stops. You keep running the version you have. You only lose new releases unless you renew. See updates.
Can I use it for clients? Check the license terms on the site. This page does not give license advice.
What if I lose my key? Use https://getstarwisp.com/retrieve-key: enter the email you bought with and we send the key again. Check one offline with npx starwisp license <key>.
Accounts and keys #
Do I need my own Claude account? Yes: an Anthropic API key. Usage is billed to you by Anthropic, at Anthropic's prices. We never see, store or resell your key.
Can I use my Claude Pro or Max subscription? No. Anthropic directs automated products to API keys.
Is this made or endorsed by Anthropic? No. It runs on Claude. We are not affiliated with Anthropic.
Do I need a GitHub organization? Yes. Personal accounts are not supported. A free organization is enough.
Why do I have to make all the accounts myself? The stores and vendors require that you, the developer, own them. You are the developer of record for your apps. We do not create accounts for you.
Cost and time #
How much will an app cost to build? Almost all of it is Claude. A Prototype is about $135 to $225 in Claude (typical about $170, estimated); Ship to testers about $265 to $310, from one measured run of about $290. See costs.
How do I stop it from spending too much? Set an Anthropic monthly spend limit and the budget caps in Settings → Budget. See costs.
How long does a build take? Under 90 minutes of your time to start, then the run takes hours unattended (an estimate of 6 to 9 hours).
Why is my first store launch not same-day? Apple and Google accounts and reviews take days to weeks. See Apple and Google Play.
The stores #
Do you publish my app? No. Starwisp automates your own uploads with your own accounts and keys. Submitting to review is a button you tap.
Will Apple approve my app? Not promised. Each app must be your own distinct idea. Apple may look hard at first submissions of AI-generated apps.
Do I need the 14-day Google test? If your Play developer account is a personal account created after 13 Nov 2023, yes: 12 testers for 14 days before production. Internal testing is not affected.
Data and security #
Where do my keys live? In your own GitHub secrets. See security.
Do you see my code? No. Your code goes from your accounts to Anthropic under your own agreement with them.
Does it phone home? Only to download a release you ask for. An optional version check (a public list of versions and changelogs; it sends nothing about you) can be turned off in Settings → Updates. See security.
Using it #
What can it build? Expo / React Native apps in TypeScript for iOS, Android and web, with a Supabase backend. See presets.
Can I edit the code? Yes. It is your repo. Edits to files Starwisp ships may conflict with updates; your own settings under .factory/local/ never do.
Where is the Setup page? Setup in the console menu, until every required row passes. After that it is at <console>/setup. Keys themselves are still saved on Settings → Vault.
Plain-text version of this page: /docs/faq.md. This page is copied from the product's own docs, so it matches the release you install.
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