gengine licensing tiers, feature comparison, activation flow, offline grace period, and the first-run wizard.
Licensing
gengine uses a JWT-based licensing system. Your license key unlocks the appropriate tier and is validated on startup. All tiers include access to the full 97-operation surface — restrictions apply to call rate limits and team seat counts, not to which operations are available.
Tier Comparison
| Feature | Free | Pro | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $29 / month | Contact sales |
| All 97 operations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rate limit | 60 req / min | 600 req / min | Unlimited |
| Seats | 1 | 5 | Unlimited |
| Task queue (async ops) | Sync only | Full async | Full async |
| Priority queue access | No | No | Yes |
| Custom MCP tools | No | No | Yes |
| SSO / team management | No | No | Yes |
| Audit logs | No | No | Yes |
| Support | Community | Dedicated | |
| Offline grace period | 7 days | 7 days | 30 days |
Free Tier Details
The Free tier gives full access to all 97 operations. The only functional restriction is that operations run synchronously — the chat blocks until each operation completes. The async task queue (Tasks tab) is not available.
The 10 most frequently used operations work without any license key at all:
| Operation | Tool |
|---|---|
get_level_actors | unreal_world |
spawn_actor | unreal_world |
search | unreal_assets |
get_info | unreal_assets |
list | unreal_blueprints |
inspect | unreal_blueprints |
list_characters | unreal_character |
get_character_info | unreal_character |
get_material_info | unreal_input_materials |
unreal_status | unreal_status |
All other operations require at minimum a Free tier license key.
Pro Tier Features
Pro unlocks the full async task queue, raises the rate limit to 600 req/min, and supports up to 5 seats on a team. Key additions over Free:
- Async task queue — long-running multi-step operations run in the background while you continue working in the editor. Progress visible in the Tasks tab.
- 5 team seats — share one Pro license across up to 5 developer machines using the same Unreal project.
- 600 req/min rate limit — suitable for sustained automated workflows and multi-subagent coordination.
Enterprise Tier Features
Enterprise is designed for studios with multiple teams and compliance requirements:
- Custom MCP tools — register proprietary tools that appear alongside the built-in 97 operations in tool discovery. Other team members' AI clients pick them up automatically.
- SSO — integrate with your studio's identity provider (SAML, OIDC).
- Audit logs — every tool call logged with user identity, parameters, and result. Exportable for compliance review.
- Priority queue — Enterprise tool calls bypass the standard queue and execute immediately, even under load.
- Dedicated support — direct engineering contact with SLA response times.
Activation
First-run wizard
On first launch after installing gengine, the editor displays the gengine activation wizard. You can:
- Enter a license key — paste your key from the gengine portal (console.gengine.dev) and click Activate.
- Continue without a key — uses the Free tier with the 10 no-key operations available.
- Start a trial — Pro trial available for 14 days from the wizard without a credit card.
Manual activation
If you skipped the wizard, activate from the Command Center:
Command Center > Diagnostics tab > License row > Activate
Or via Project Settings:
Edit > Project Settings > Plugins > gengine > License Key
Paste your key and click Apply. The editor validates the key against the gengine license server and activates within a few seconds.
License key format
gengine license keys follow the format:
GENG-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX
Keys are tied to your gengine account, not to a specific machine. You can use the same key on multiple machines up to your seat limit.
Offline Mode
gengine validates your license on startup when an internet connection is available. If the license server is unreachable (offline development, air-gapped environments), gengine uses a cached JWT with a grace period:
| Tier | Offline grace period |
|---|---|
| Free | 7 days |
| Pro | 7 days |
| Enterprise | 30 days |
After the grace period expires without a successful license check, gengine falls back to the no-key Free tier (10 operations only) until connectivity is restored.
The cached JWT is stored in:
%APPDATA%\Unreal Engine\gengine\license_cache.jwt (Windows)
~/.config/UnrealEngine/gengine/license_cache.jwt (Linux/Mac)
Note: The license cache is per-machine. On a new machine, gengine requires at least one successful online validation before offline mode activates.
Seat Management
Manage seats at console.gengine.dev > Team. From there you can:
- View active seats and which machines have checked in recently
- Revoke a seat from a machine (frees it for another user)
- Invite team members by email (Pro and Enterprise)
- Download invoices and change billing information
A seat is consumed when a machine successfully activates the license. A seat is released automatically after 30 days of inactivity, or immediately when revoked from the portal.
Checking Your License Status
The Diagnostics tab in the Command Center shows your current license state:
License Pro ✓ (5 seats, 3 active, expires 2026-03-01)
You can also call unreal_status to get license information programmatically:
{
"tool": "unreal_status"
}
Response includes license_tier, seats_used, seats_total, expires_at, and offline_grace_remaining_days.