Version 1.0 — June 10, 2026

These terms are a contract between you and Upside Down Research ("we," "us") covering your use of Tupshar, including the website, API, CLI tools, and your account. By creating an account or using the service, you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, don't use Tupshar.

We wrote these terms to be readable. The plain-language summaries are part of the agreement, not decoration.

1. Tupshar Is a Research Preview

Tupshar is experimental software. It is not production-ready. By using it, you understand and accept that:

Things will break. We offer no uptime guarantee and no SLA.
APIs will change. Endpoints, schemas, and behavior may change without notice. We'll try to announce breaking changes, but we don't promise to.
Support is limited. We're a small team. We answer email when we can, usually within a business day, sometimes not.
Data durability is limited. The database currently runs on a single replica with no high-availability failover, and data is not encrypted at rest in this version. A serious infrastructure failure could lose your data. Keep your own copies of anything you can't afford to lose.
You're helping us learn. The point of a research preview is to find out what's useful. Your usage patterns and feedback shape the product.

2. Your Account

You sign in to Tupshar through Clerk, our authentication provider, using OAuth. To use Tupshar you must:

Be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority where you live, whichever is greater.
Provide accurate account information.
Keep your credentials and API keys secret. Anything done with your API key is your responsibility. If a key leaks, revoke it immediately and email paul@upside-down-research.com.

One account per person. Don't create accounts to evade rate limits, quotas, or a termination.

3. Acceptable Use

Use Tupshar for storing, organizing, and querying knowledge. Don't use it to harm people or systems. Specifically, you must not:

Send spam or use Tupshar to generate, store, or distribute spam.
Probe, scan, or attack the service, other tenants, or our infrastructure; attempt to access another tenant's data; or bypass authentication, rate limits, or quotas.
Upload malware, or use Tupshar as infrastructure for malware distribution, phishing, or command-and-control.
Harass, threaten, or stalk anyone, or store content for the purpose of doing so.
Resell access to the service or share API keys outside your organization without our written permission.
Place excessive load on the service beyond your quota, or automate signups.

4. Prohibited Uses — Illegal Activity

You must not use Tupshar for any purpose that is illegal under the laws of the State of Washington or the United States. This includes, without limitation, conduct prohibited by:

The Washington Criminal Code, Title 9A of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW), including the Washington Cybercrime Act (chapter 9A.90 RCW) — computer trespass, electronic data theft, electronic data tampering, and spoofing.
Washington's Commercial Electronic Mail Act (chapter 19.190 RCW) and the federal CAN-SPAM Act (15 U.S.C. § 7701 et seq.).
The federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. § 1030).
Federal and Washington law prohibiting child sexual abuse material (18 U.S.C. §§ 2251–2252A; chapter 9.68A RCW). We report CSAM to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and to law enforcement.
U.S. export control and sanctions law (including the Export Administration Regulations and OFAC sanctions programs). Don't use Tupshar from, or on behalf of anyone in, a U.S.-embargoed jurisdiction.
Any other applicable federal, state, or local law, including laws on fraud, identity theft (RCW 9.35), money laundering, intellectual property infringement, and unlawful surveillance.

If something would be a crime in Washington State or under U.S. federal law, it is prohibited here. If we believe you are using Tupshar illegally, we may suspend or terminate your account immediately and may report you to law enforcement.

5. Your Data and Your Content

You own your data. Documents, metadata, and queries you store in Tupshar remain yours. We claim no ownership of your content.

You grant us a limited license to host, store, index, and transmit your content — but only as needed to run the service for you. This license ends when you delete your content or your account. We currently do not keep backup copies (see our Privacy Policy for details).

You are responsible for your content. Don't upload content you don't have the right to store, and don't upload other people's personal data without a legal basis to do so.

6. Our Intellectual Property

We own Tupshar: the software, the API, the website, the documentation, the name, and the logo. These terms don't transfer any of that to you. You get a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the service while these terms are in effect.

Don't copy, modify, reverse engineer, or create derivative works of the service except where the law gives you that right regardless of what a contract says.

Feedback: If you send us feedback or suggestions, we may use them without restriction or payment. That's part of what a research preview is for.

7. Fees

The research preview is currently free, subject to quotas (for example: requests per minute, file count, and storage limits shown in the quotas documentation). We may introduce paid plans later. We won't start charging you without telling you first and getting your agreement.

8. Changes to the Service

Because this is a research preview, we may modify, limit, suspend, or discontinue any part of Tupshar — or all of it — at any time. If we choose to shut the service down voluntarily, we will make reasonable efforts to give you at least 30 days' notice and a way to export your data. This promise cannot cover involuntary loss: as Section 1 says, the preview database has no redundancy and no backups, so an infrastructure failure could end the preview — and your data — without notice.

9. Termination

You can stop using Tupshar and delete your account at any time.

We may suspend or terminate your account if you violate these terms, if the law requires it, or if your use threatens the service or other users. For non-urgent violations we'll try to warn you first; for illegal activity, abuse, or security threats we will not.

On termination, your right to use the service ends and your data is deleted on the schedule in the Privacy Policy. Sections of these terms that by their nature should survive (data ownership, disclaimers, liability limits, indemnification, governing law) do survive.

10. Disclaimers — No Warranties

TUPSHAR IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITH ALL FAULTS. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, UPSIDE DOWN RESEARCH DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTY ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR SECURE, OR THAT YOUR DATA WILL NOT BE LOST.

In plain terms: this is experimental software, we make no promises about it, and you use it at your own risk.

11. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW:

UPSIDE DOWN RESEARCH WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF TUPSHAR — EVEN IF WE'VE BEEN TOLD SUCH DAMAGES ARE POSSIBLE.
OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICE IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF (a) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US FOR THE SERVICE IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM, OR (b) US $100.

Some jurisdictions don't allow certain liability limits; in those places, these limits apply to the fullest extent the law allows. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot legally be limited.

12. Indemnification

If a third party brings a claim against Upside Down Research because you used Tupshar for an illegal purpose or in violation of Section 3 (Acceptable Use) or Section 4 (Prohibited Uses), or because of content you stored in violation of Section 5, you agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from that claim, including reasonable attorneys' fees. We'll notify you promptly of any such claim and let you control the defense, provided you don't settle in a way that imposes obligations on us without our consent.

This obligation covers claims caused by your wrongful use. It does not cover claims caused by our own negligence or our breach of these terms.

13. Governing Law and Disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Washington, United States, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute that we can't resolve informally will be brought in the state or federal courts located in King County, Washington, and both parties consent to jurisdiction and venue there.

Before filing anything, email us at paul@upside-down-research.com. Most problems with a research preview can be fixed faster by a conversation than a lawsuit.

14. Changes to These Terms

We may update these terms as the service evolves. When we do, we'll update the version date at the top and post the new terms here. For material changes we will make reasonable efforts to notify you (for example, by email or an in-app notice) before they take effect. Continued use after changes take effect means you accept them. If you don't accept changed terms, stop using the service and delete your account.

15. Miscellany

Entire agreement. These terms plus the Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between us about Tupshar.
Severability. If a court finds part of these terms unenforceable, the rest still applies.
No waiver. Our not enforcing a provision isn't a waiver of it.
Assignment. You may not assign these terms; we may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
Contact. Upside Down Research — paul@upside-down-research.com.