provide more details on failing license check

[willi84]

Issue description or question

sometime I get a failure of license checking when starting and have no clue why.
Sometimes it might be a missing file in the remote repo even if locally I defined it as MIT or sometimes like recently it seemed like an updating issue when e.g. the plugin was updated but not VS Code.

Maybe u can provide a more granularity info or sth like a list of checks u do:

• has local open source license
• has remote open source license
• has a remote repo at all (before initial commit it seems like also to fail)
• has missing internet connection
• has a wrong configuration
• ....

diagnostic report

not helpful as its not from that case but shows my versions

2025-07-29-diagnostic-report.txt

[smcenlly]

As described in our EULA, for OSS projects Wallaby checks that license state of your project via its public github repo. If you've never committed your project, then this check cannot be performed. Similarly, Wallaby needs access the internet to perform these checks both initially and periodically. The checks we perform are to prevent abuse and as such, we can't share more precisely what we do, but it's not expected to fail on an existing project when you are connected to the internet.

Next time Wallaby fails the license check, can you please provide us with the contents of this file from your home directory: ~/.wallaby/oss.log? It should help us work out why it failed for you and advise whether it's expected.

[willi84]

Thanks for the great tool and the helpful hints regarding OSS check failures with ~/.wallaby/oss.log. I will let you know the next time it fails.

💡 Feature Idea
It would be great to show a clear reason for an OSS check failure in the startup popup when Wallaby refuses to run. Right now, it’s not obvious why the check failed, especially for OSS users relying on network validation.

🧠 Context
I understand it’s difficult to verify OSS eligibility when the project hasn’t been pushed or there's no network access. But developers often work offline — during flights or, in my case, while commuting in a (German) train 🚆.

✅ Suggestion for Improvement

Introduce a grace period (e.g. 1–2 days) where the last successful OSS validation is cached, allowing Wallaby to run offline.

Alternatively, consider a special offline-friendly OSS license — similar in pricing to the non-profit license, requiring a locally present open-source license file, to reduce abuse while enabling entry-level usage.

This would provide a smoother experience for open source developers and might even serve as a bridge toward later license upgrades.

Thanks for considering it!

[smcenlly]

Thanks for the detailed feedback and feature request. I understand the frustration of not being able to use Wallaby during offline development sessions.

Unfortunately, we can't assess OSS eligibility without network access or when projects haven't been pushed to public repositories. While Wallaby does have a grace period at startup (currently 1 day, though this may change), a network connection is generally required for OSS license validation.

We don't have plans to introduce an offline-friendly OSS license option at this time. For reliable offline usage, our existing paid licenses would be the best solution. Feel free to email us to discuss whether there are any special pricing options that may be available for your situation.

[willi84]

thanks for your reply.

oh, there is already a grace period at startup. I had always the feeling its not working but I need to investigate that in the future :-)

thanks for your great product.