# Stewardship

## Current facts

Peanut Split is maintained by **Squirrel Labs**. Squirrel Labs is currently the sole upstream
maintainer and pays every project cost, including maintainer work hours, infrastructure, domains,
third-party services, and operation of the official `peanutsplit.com` service.

This says who maintains and funds the project. It does not by itself claim that Squirrel Labs owns
every imported file or third-party asset; that scope is recorded separately in the
[rights register](docs/current/RIGHTS-REGISTER.md).

## Why source is being opened

The public release exists for user freedom, inspectability, and self-hosting, not to build a
volunteer contributor funnel. Bug reports and private security reports are welcome. Feature pull
requests should start as an issue; see [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md).

Code is licensed `AGPL-3.0-or-later` by Squirrel Labs Ltd. The repository has been public since
1 September 2026.
Peanut references on the official service are not a license condition. Downstream operators owe
Peanut and Squirrel Labs no promotion; ordinary license notices and separate trademark rules still
apply.

## Official-host Peanut references

Peanut references on the official service are held to a good-UX standard rather than a counted
budget (ruled 2026-08-25). A mention is allowed where it is non-intrusive and factual. It is not
allowed where it slows, blocks, or confuses somebody trying to split a bill.

What that rules out, concretely: no ribbons, interstitials, modals, onboarding steps, notifications,
nags, forced clicks, feature gates, badge walls, or license riders. “Pay with Peanut” is one
settlement option among equals — never preselected, and never making another method worse.

Forks may remove every official-host reference. Nothing here is a license condition, and the product
name “Peanut Split” is not a promotional placement. Trademark and non-affiliation rules are separate;
see [TRADEMARKS.md](TRADEMARKS.md).

## No governance theater

Squirrel Labs makes upstream roadmap, release, and merge decisions. There is no foundation, council,
election, community roadmap, bounty program, “good first issue” funnel, or contributor-growth KPI.
The FOSS license gives downstream freedoms; it does not manufacture shared upstream governance.