Registering a license

When you use Metalama for the first time, it will automatically activate the trial mode, which will work for 45 days. To use Metalama beyond this period, switch to Metalama Free or register a license key.

You can use all features of any preview of Metalama for up to 45 days after its release without registering a license.

Switching to Metalama Free

To switch to the Metalama Free license:

Install Metalama Command Line Tools as described in Installing the Metalama Command Line Tool.
Execute the following command:
```
metalama license free
```

Registering a license key

To register a license key for the current user:

Install Metalama Command Line Tools as described in Installing the Metalama Command Line Tool.

Execute the following command:

metalama license register <LICENSE KEY>

Registering a license key manually

To register a license manually for the current user:

Open the Metalama licensing JSON configuration file licensing.json. It is located in the %appdata%\\.metalama directory on Windows and in the ~/.metalama directory on Linux and Mac.
Set the license key as the license value. If the file doesn't exist, it should contain the following content. (123-ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVXYZ is a placeholder for the actual license key.)
```
{
  "license": "123-ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVXYZ"
}
```

Registering a license key using an environment variable or MSBuild

The license key can be stored as the value of the MetalamaLicense MSBuild property. This allows for the following:

Configuring the license as a value of the MetalamaLicense environment variable.
Configuring the license in the source code repository using Directory.Build.props file.
Configuring the license in the .csproj project file.