FAQ

Answers to the questions we hear most often. If yours isn't here, check Troubleshooting or email support@arkteams.io.

Purchase and licensing

What exactly do I get when I buy an ARK product?

Three things:

A private GitHub repository with a fingerprinted copy of the product's full source code, invited to the GitHub account you provide.
A license key (format: ARK-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) that validates your deployment's production domain.
Three months of updates, delivered as pull requests to your repo. After three months, you keep the code you have; future updates require a subscription.

You also get access to the buyer dashboard at arkteams.io/dashboard, the full documentation, and email support.

Do I really own the code?

Yes. The license is perpetual, non-exclusive, and non-transferable — you can use, modify, and deploy the code for your own business indefinitely. You cannot resell, redistribute, sublicense, or open-source it.

You own the code. ARK retains the IP rights to the underlying software.

Can I use one ARK product for multiple companies or clients?

One license key binds to one production domain. For each additional deployment, you buy another license. Agencies commonly buy the full suite and deploy per-client from their own fingerprinted copy — each client deployment gets its own license key.

If you're building something with an unusual topology (white-label, multi-tenant with per-tenant domains, etc.), email support@arkteams.io and we'll figure out the right license structure with you.

Is there a free trial?

Not at the moment. We refund within 14 days of purchase, no questions asked — treat the refund window as your trial.

Do you offer discounts?

Full Suite bundle — $2,900 for all products (a discount vs. buying individually, and you're locked in for future products as they launch).
Annual subscription — $2,499/year, which saves ~$489 vs. the monthly plan.
Education / nonprofit — email support@arkteams.io with details and we'll typically extend a discount.
Volume (5+ licenses) — email us to arrange.

Can I pay in installments?

Yes. We use Affirm via Stripe's checkout. You'll see installment options at checkout (subject to Affirm's approval) up to 36 months. We receive full payment up front; Affirm handles the rest.

What currencies do you accept?

Stripe checkout supports all major currencies — the charge is presented in USD but your card provider converts to your local currency at their rate.

Installation

How technical do I need to be to install an ARK product?

If you've ever deployed a website to Vercel or Netlify, or set up a Supabase project, you'll be fine. The installation guide walks you through each step:

Create Supabase and Vercel accounts (free tiers are sufficient to start)
Clone the repo, push to your GitHub
Create a Vercel project from the repo, paste three environment variables
Run the schema SQL in Supabase
Sign up as the first user (becomes the admin)

Total time for a first-time deployment: about 15–20 minutes.

Can I install ARK products without writing code?

You can deploy them without writing code — the installation is click-and-paste. To customize them, you'll either need to learn a little or use an AI tool (Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT) to make changes for you. See Customizing with AI.

What hosting and services are required?

Vercel — hosts the website. Free tier is enough for small teams.
Supabase — holds the database and handles user logins. Free tier is enough for small teams.
GitHub — where your fingerprinted repo lives.
A domain (optional) — you can use the .vercel.app subdomain Vercel gives you, but a custom domain is cleaner for production.

Can I host ARK products on my own servers?

Technically yes — they're Node/React apps with a Postgres database. Practically, most buyers use Vercel + Supabase because the setup takes 20 minutes and the free tiers cover small teams.

If you need a self-hosted Postgres or a VPS deployment, email support@arkteams.io — we can point you at the handful of buyers who've done it and the gotchas they hit.

Can I run multiple ARK products in the same Supabase project?

Yes, and we recommend it. Each product's tables are namespaced (track_*, comms_*, pulse_*, ink_*) so they coexist cleanly. Shared platform tables (profiles, team_members) are shared across all products, which is the point — a user signs in once and sees all their products in one place.

See Multi-Product Setup.

My fingerprinted repo has weird CSS values like `0.347` for an opacity — is that a bug?

No, that's intentional. Every fingerprinted copy has ~8 invisible markers that let us identify the source buyer if a copy leaks. They're visually imperceptible and don't affect functionality. Don't "clean them up" — it violates the Terms of Service.

See Platform Reference → Security → Fingerprinting.

Customization

Can I change the product's name and branding?

Yes. See Example Modifications → Change the color scheme and the general customization docs. The product name, logo, colors, and even the copy are yours to change.

Can I add features the product doesn't have today?

Yes. You own the code. Add what you need.

In practice, most buyers use an AI tool (Claude Code or similar) to write the change. See Customizing with AI for the full workflow.

Will my customizations break when updates arrive?

Updates arrive as pull requests to your repo, which you choose whether to merge. If the update touches files you've modified, you'll see a merge conflict — resolve it (or skip the update). Most customizations coexist cleanly with updates because ARK products are modular.

The more you've modified a file, the more careful you need to be when that file's updated. See Best Practices for habits that make updates easier to merge.

Do I need to use Claude Code specifically?

No. Claude Code is our recommended tool (every ARK repo ships with a CLAUDE.md tuned for it), but Cursor, Windsurf, ChatGPT, and GitHub Copilot all work. See Using ChatGPT & Others.

Can I open-source my customized version?

No. The license doesn't permit redistribution. You can share your code with team members at your organization, but you can't publish it on GitHub publicly, post it to npm, or give it to another company.

Subscriptions and updates

Do I need a subscription to use an ARK product?

No. You can buy, install, and use an ARK product with no subscription. The subscription buys you ongoing updates and priority support after the 3-month window from purchase expires.

What happens after my 3-month update window?

Your product keeps working. You own the code.
You stop receiving update pull requests.
Your license key continues to validate.
Your buyer dashboard continues to work.

If you want updates again, subscribe monthly or annually. You start receiving new updates from the next update cycle onwards — we don't backfill missed updates, but the next update that ships will include everything up to that point.

Can I cancel the subscription and keep using the product?

Yes. Cancelling only stops future update deliveries and downgrades your support priority. The code and license key continue to work.

How do I cancel?

Go to Dashboard → Subscription → Manage Subscription — this opens Stripe's Customer Portal where you can cancel, change plans, or update payment details.

What's included in the subscription?

Ongoing update pull requests for every product you own
Priority email support (response within one business day)
Access to in-development features via the roadmap page
Future training videos and advanced docs (as we add them)

The subscription covers updates and support for all products you own. There isn't a per-product subscription.

Billing

Can I get an invoice with my VAT ID / tax number?

Yes. At Stripe checkout, click Add billing address → Include tax ID and enter yours. Your receipt and any future invoices will include it. If you've already purchased, email support@arkteams.io with your license key and tax ID and we'll regenerate the invoice.

Can I pay by bank transfer / invoice instead of card?

For purchases $2,000+ (typically the full suite or multi-license orders), yes. Email support@arkteams.io before purchase and we'll issue a Stripe-hosted invoice payable by ACH or wire.

How do I get a refund?

Within 14 days of purchase: reply to your purchase confirmation email or contact support@arkteams.io with your order number. We'll refund, revoke the license key, and remove GitHub access. After 14 days, refunds are case-by-case — email us.

Do you offer extended warranty / enterprise support?

Yes. For teams needing SLA-backed response times, onboarding help, or custom support arrangements, email sales@arkteams.io.

Technical

What tech stack do ARK products use?

Most use React + Vite + TypeScript on the frontend, Supabase (Postgres + Auth + Storage + Edge Functions) for the backend, and are deployed to Vercel. A few products use Next.js where SEO matters.

Where is my data stored?

In your Supabase project, under your control. ARK (the company) never has access to your data. We see billing information (via Stripe), your email address, and your GitHub username — nothing else.

Does ARK collect telemetry from deployed products?

Only the license validation ping, which sends the license key, product slug, and current domain once per product load. No user data, no usage data, no content.

Can I migrate data between ARK products?

The data lives in your Supabase project, so you can run SQL to copy or transform between tables as you need. For a specific migration (e.g., importing contacts from a different CRM into Track), use an AI tool to write a one-off import script — most of these are straightforward.

How do I get updates when a new product launches?

Subscribe to the arkteams.io newsletter at the footer of any page, or follow @arkteams wherever we post. Active subscribers also get launch emails directly.

Miscellaneous

Can I hire your team to build something custom for me?

Not at the moment. We're focused on shipping the platform products. If you need a one-off build, most of our buyers work with freelancers who are already familiar with the ARK codebase — email support@arkteams.io and we'll send the current list.

I found a security vulnerability. How do I report it?

Email security@arkteams.io — not a public GitHub issue. We aim to acknowledge within one business day and patch affected deployments via priority update pull requests.

Can I contribute back to the source?

Not directly — the source isn't open. If you've built a customization you think should be in the base product, email support@arkteams.io with a description. If we incorporate it, we'll credit you; if not, your custom version is still yours to use.

Who's behind ARK?

See the About page. Short version: a small team focused on self-hosted, AI-customizable business tools.

FAQ