Terms of service

Grounded is a gateway between AI clients and the systems a company connects to it: MCP services and, optionally, its people's own Gmail and Google Calendar accounts. It relays tool calls, holds large results, computes figures over them in code when an AI asks, and issues signed receipts of what was called and computed. We may change or add features. We will give company admins reasonable notice before removing a feature they rely on.

• Signing up creates a company with you as its admin. Admins invite people, assign roles and decide which connections each person or group may use.
• You must give a working email address and keep your sign-in credentials secret. You are responsible for what happens under your account and your AI client install tokens until you revoke them.
• Companies are kept apart by access controls in the database and the gateway. You must not try to reach another company's data or bypass any control.
• Grounded is for businesses. You must be at least 16 and able to enter a contract.

• You may only connect systems and accounts you are entitled to use, and only in ways their own terms allow. When you add an API key, a URL or a Google account, you confirm you have that right.
• Grounded calls connected systems as you, with your keys or your Google grant, and only in response to requests your AI client makes. What your AI asks is your responsibility; company admins can restrict tools, require approvals and switch connections off.
• Gmail and Google Calendar connections are read-only. Grounded requests the gmail.readonly or calendar.readonly scope and has no tool that can send, delete or change mail, or create, change, delete or respond to events. Use of Google user data is governed by section 3 of the privacy policy and by the Google API Services User Data Policy.
• You can remove a key or a Google account at any time. Removing a Google account also asks Google to revoke Grounded's access.

You must not:

• use the Service to break the law, to infringe anyone's rights, or to access data you are not authorised to access;
• probe, scan or test the vulnerability of the Service without our written permission, or interfere with its operation;
• use the Service to build a competing product by copying its receipts format, cards or behaviour wholesale, or resell it without an agreement with us;
• connect a system that is designed to attack or manipulate the Service or the AI clients that use it.

• A Grounded card shows figures computed by code from the rows Grounded received, and a receipt proves what Grounded saw (by hash) and what it computed. Neither proves that the data in your system was correct or complete. A duplicated record upstream produces a precise, receipted, wrong number.
• Grounded runs the derivation the AI chooses. It does not decide what a business term means; admins can pin a definition with an admin-defined metric.
• Grounded does not check the prose an AI writes around a card in clients that do not route through our model proxy. Where the proxy is used, it matches figures, not meaning.
• The Service is provided as is. To the fullest extent the law allows, we disclaim warranties of any kind, including fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement, and we do not promise uninterrupted or error-free operation.

You own the data in the systems you connect and the results Grounded fetches from them. You give us the limited right to process it as the privacy policy describes, which is only what is needed to provide the Service to you. Activity logs and receipts are created for your company and belong to it; because receipts are hash-chained evidence, individual entries are not edited or deleted.

The Service is currently provided without charge while it is being evaluated. If we introduce fees, we will tell company admins in advance and you may stop using the Service before they take effect.

• You may stop using the Service at any time. A company admin can delete connections, remove people and delete the company. To delete your own account, email matt@techvalidus.com.
• We may suspend or end access if these terms are broken, if the law requires it, or if continued operation would harm the Service or its users. We will say why unless the law prevents it.
• On termination, keys and Google tokens are deleted and Google grants revoked as the privacy policy describes.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Validus Business Solutions is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, data or goodwill, arising from the Service, and our total liability for any claim relating to the Service is limited to the greater of the fees you paid us in the twelve months before the claim or one hundred US dollars. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

If you use the Service in breach of these terms, or connect systems or accounts you had no right to connect, you will defend and indemnify us against claims and costs that result.

These terms are governed by the laws of the United States and of the state in which Validus Business Solutions is organised, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Before starting any formal proceeding, both sides agree to try to resolve the matter by writing to the other and allowing thirty days for a response.

We may update these terms. For material changes we will update the date at the top and email company admins before the change takes effect. Continued use after that date means you accept the updated terms.

Validus Business Solutions, provider of Grounded: matt@techvalidus.com.