Byte API — Terms of Service

Last updated: 23 September 2026

      The Byte API is a small, prepaid, best-effort service run by one developer in the UK. Buy credit,
      use it from your own apps, and it stops when the balance runs out. Credit is non-refundable except
      where these terms say otherwise, and the service comes with no uptime guarantee. Be sensible and
      we'll get on fine.
    

1. The Service

The Byte API ("the API") lets you send requests to a locally hosted AI model from your own applications — for example a Discord bot or a chat app — using an OpenAI-compatible interface. You pay in advance for a balance of credit, and your requests draw that balance down. When it reaches zero, requests stop until you top up. These terms are a contract between you and ByteDev, the sole trader who runs it (see the Privacy Policy for who that is and how to make contact).

2. Your Key

Your API key is issued to you alone. You must keep it secret and treat it like a password.
You must not share, transfer, resell, or sub-licence your key or your credit to anyone else. One key is for one customer.
You are responsible for everything done with your key, including all usage and all requests sent through it, whether by you or by your users.
If you think your key has been exposed, tell us and we'll issue a replacement.

3. Credit & Payment

Credit is prepaid and non-refundable, except where section 5 (illegal use) or section 7 (termination) says otherwise.
Credit has no cash value beyond its use as API usage, and cannot be exchanged for money or transferred to another person.
Your credit does not expire while your key is active.
Pricing is shown on the website and may change. A price change applies to all credit, including credit you have already bought, from the date it takes effect. We will give at least 14 days’ notice of any price increase, and if you don’t accept it you can ask us to close your account and refund your unused credit (see section 7).

Digital delivery & your cancellation right. Credit is a digital service that is made available to your account as soon as your payment is processed. By buying, you expressly ask us to start supplying it immediately and you acknowledge that, once your credit has been added, you lose the usual 14-day right to cancel a distance purchase (as permitted under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 for digital content and services supplied with your consent before the cancellation period ends). This does not affect the refunds we give under sections 5 and 7.

4. Acceptable Use

You agree not to use the API to:

do anything illegal, or create, request, or distribute illegal content;
generate or facilitate material that is seriously harmful — for example content sexualising minors, credible threats or harassment, or malware;
attack, overload, probe, or disrupt the service, or try to get around your key's limits, scopes, or balance;
resell or repackage the raw API as your own competing API service.

You are responsible for what you and your end users send to and do with the API, and for making sure that use is lawful.

5. Illegal Use → Key Revoked, Credit Refunded

If we find your key has been used for illegal activity, we will revoke the key immediately and refund your remaining unused credit. We would rather return your money and part ways cleanly than get into a dispute — so this is not a penalty, it is us ending the arrangement and giving back what you haven't used.

6. Availability & No Warranty

The API runs on privately owned hardware as a small side-project. It is provided "as is" and on a best-effort basis, with no uptime guarantee or service-level agreement. It may be slow, unavailable, or interrupted at any time, including for maintenance or because the hardware is needed for other things. AI output can be wrong, offensive, or unsuitable — you must not rely on it for anything safety-critical, medical, legal, financial, or otherwise important, and you are responsible for checking and how you use it.

7. Suspension & Termination

You can stop using the API at any time. If you ask us to close your account, we will refund any unused credit (the illegal-use case in section 5 apart, where it is refunded automatically).
We may suspend or revoke your key if you breach these terms. For illegal use, section 5 applies (revoke + refund). For other breaches — such as sharing your key or abusing the service — we may revoke the key and will refund unused credit at our reasonable discretion.
We may also withdraw the service entirely with reasonable notice; if we do, we'll refund unused credit.

8. Your Data Obligations

How we handle data is set out in the Privacy Policy. In short: for the content your application sends through the API, you are the data controller and ByteDev is only a processor acting on your instructions. You are responsible for having a lawful basis to send that content and for telling your own users how their data is used. Do not send us anything you are not entitled to, or anything you would not want processed on a third party's hardware.

9. Liability

To the extent permitted by law, ByteDev's total liability to you for any claim relating to the API is limited to the amount of credit you have paid and not yet used. ByteDev is not liable for indirect or consequential losses, lost profits or data, or losses arising from downtime or from the content the model generates. Nothing in these terms limits any liability that cannot be limited by law.

10. Age

The API is a paid service, so you must be 18 or over (or a business) and able to enter a binding contract to use it.

11. Changes

We may update these terms. If we make a material change, we'll let active customers know by email. Continuing to use the API after a change means you accept the updated terms.

12. Governing Law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and any dispute is subject to the courts of England and Wales.

13. Contact

Questions about these terms, refunds, or your account: [email protected].