1. Agreement to these terms

By accessing ESPVerse, creating an account, publishing firmware, using API keys, downloading files, or flashing a device, you agree to these Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use ESPVerse.

2. What ESPVerse provides

ESPVerse provides tools for discovering ESP32 firmware projects, viewing board compatibility, publishing firmware versions, generating web flasher manifests, sharing private firmware with permitted users, and flashing compatible devices through supported browsers.

ESPVerse is a distribution and tooling platform. Unless a project is explicitly marked as official ESPVerse software, firmware is provided by independent developers or third parties.

3. Accounts and eligibility

You may browse and flash public firmware without an account. Some features, such as saving projects, rating projects, publishing firmware, private access, API uploads, or managing manufacturer and board pages, require an account.

You must provide accurate account information, keep your password and API keys secure, and promptly notify us of unauthorized access. You are responsible for activity under your account, including uploads made through CI/CD or API keys.

Accounts may begin as explorer accounts. Developer access requires an upgrade request and may require acceptance of additional developer policies. Developer accounts may be reviewed, limited, or suspended to protect users, devices, the platform, or legal rights. Manufacturer maintainer status, ownership transfers, and verified pages may require approval.

You must be legally able to accept these terms. If you use ESPVerse on behalf of an organization, you represent that you are authorized to bind that organization.

4. Developer and publisher responsibilities

If you publish firmware, you are responsible for its legality, safety, licensing, security, accuracy, board compatibility, version metadata, images, documentation, and any third-party code, libraries, trademarks, or assets included in or linked from your project.

You must provide clear instructions for special boot, download, reset, power, or flashing procedures when a board requires them. Do not mark firmware as flashable for a board unless you have tested it or have a reasonable technical basis for the claim.

You must not upload firmware that contains private credentials, signing keys, personal data, undisclosed telemetry, hidden network access, or behavior that users would not reasonably expect from the project description.

Publishing features require developer access and acceptance of the Developer Distribution Agreement during account upgrade or from the developer account area.

5. Firmware risk and device safety

Flashing firmware can erase data, change device behavior, disable a device, void a warranty, affect radio operation, expose networks, or make hardware unusable. You are responsible for choosing compatible firmware, following board instructions, backing up data, and understanding the risk before flashing.

ESPVerse does not guarantee that firmware is safe, secure, compatible, bug-free, lawful in your region, or fit for a particular purpose.

6. Private firmware and access control

Private firmware may be shared only with selected users or access tokens. You are responsible for choosing recipients carefully. ESPVerse may enforce access controls, but no online access-control system should be treated as a substitute for encrypting secrets or removing sensitive data from firmware.

7. Firmware compliance, radio use, and export rules

You are responsible for complying with laws and regulations that apply to firmware, encryption, wireless radio operation, spectrum use, consumer devices, safety, and exports in the places where you develop, publish, download, flash, or use firmware.

Do not use ESPVerse to distribute firmware intended to defeat lawful device restrictions, bypass access controls, interfere with communications, transmit unlawfully, or operate hardware outside permitted limits.

8. Prohibited conduct

You may not upload, distribute, link to, or promote malware, destructive firmware, credential theft, botnets, unauthorized surveillance, illegal radio behavior, code that attacks networks or services, stolen intellectual property, misleading compatibility claims, spam, harassment, or content that violates law or third-party rights.

You may not bypass access controls, scrape excessively, abuse API keys, interfere with the service, impersonate others, submit false takedown or verification requests, or use ESPVerse to harm people, devices, networks, or infrastructure.

9. API and CI/CD use

API keys are for automated publishing and account-owned workflows. Keep keys in secure secret stores, rotate them when needed, and revoke keys that are exposed. ESPVerse may rate-limit, revoke, or suspend API access for abuse, security risk, or excessive load.

10. Ratings, saved projects, and community content

Ratings, saved projects, profile content, project text, manufacturer details, board metadata, and other community content must be accurate, lawful, and respectful. We may remove or limit community content that is abusive, fraudulent, irrelevant, illegal, unsafe, or manipulative.

You may not manipulate ratings, create fake accounts to influence project reputation, or misrepresent your relationship with a project, manufacturer, or developer.

11. Intellectual property

You retain ownership of content and firmware you submit, subject to rights you grant ESPVerse to host, store, scan, display, distribute, cache, transform for delivery, and make it available through downloads, manifests, APIs, and browser flashing tools.

You represent that you have all rights needed to submit your content. ESPVerse names, logos, interface designs, and platform code are owned by their respective owners and may not be copied or misused except as allowed by law or written permission.

12. Takedowns, moderation, and safety review

We may remove, quarantine, unpublish, restrict, or label projects, firmware builds, reviews, accounts, manufacturer pages, or board entries if we believe they are unsafe, infringing, misleading, abandoned, illegal, vulnerable, or contrary to these terms.

Report unsafe firmware, security issues, copyright concerns, impersonation, or abuse to support@espverse.com. Include project links, build IDs, evidence, and your contact details.

13. Security reports

If you discover a vulnerability in ESPVerse, a published firmware build, an API, or an access-control flow, report it responsibly to support@espverse.com. Do not access data that is not yours, disrupt the service, publicly disclose an unpatched issue, or test against accounts, projects, devices, or infrastructure without permission.

14. External links and third-party projects

ESPVerse may link to external project pages, product pages, documentation, repositories, and firmware installers. We are not responsible for third-party sites, purchases, warranties, firmware, or documentation.

15. Payments and paid services

ESPVerse currently provides platform features without paid plans unless a separate paid service is introduced. If paid features, sponsorships, storage upgrades, verification fees, or marketplace features are added, the applicable pricing, billing, taxes, refunds, and cancellation terms will be shown before purchase.

16. Service availability and changes

ESPVerse may change, suspend, limit, or discontinue features at any time. We may perform maintenance, remove old builds, migrate storage, update manifests, change upload limits, or restrict traffic to protect reliability and security.

17. Disclaimers

ESPVerse is provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind, to the maximum extent permitted by law. We disclaim warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, accuracy, availability, security, and compatibility.

18. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, ESPVerse and its operators will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost data, device damage, firmware failures, security incidents caused by user firmware, or business interruption arising from use of the platform.

Some regions do not allow certain limitations, so parts of this section may not apply to you.

19. Indemnity

If you publish firmware or content, you agree to defend and indemnify ESPVerse from claims, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses arising from your uploads, projects, misuse of the service, violation of these terms, or infringement of third-party rights, to the extent permitted by law.

20. Termination

You may stop using ESPVerse at any time. We may suspend or terminate access if you violate these terms, create risk, infringe rights, fail verification, or use the service unlawfully. Some provisions, including intellectual property licenses, disclaimers, liability limits, and moderation rights, survive termination.

21. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of Kenya, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Courts located in Kenya will have jurisdiction over disputes that cannot be resolved informally, except where applicable consumer law requires a different forum.

Before filing a claim, you agree to contact support@espverse.com with a description of the issue and allow a reasonable opportunity to resolve it informally. Nothing in this section prevents either party from seeking urgent injunctive or equitable relief for security, intellectual property, unauthorized access, or platform abuse.

22. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as ESPVerse evolves. Material changes may be announced through the website, email, or account notices where appropriate. Continued use after changes means you accept the updated terms.

23. Contact

Questions about these terms, abuse, safety, takedown reports, or other enquiries can be sent to support@espverse.com.