License

Pro

VX → Settings → License connects this site to your Pro plan. You can also open it from the sidebar logo or the Activate? link in the sidebar footer.

This screen belongs to the Pro plugin. The Free plugin has no License screen and nothing to activate — see Free vs Pro.

Activating

• Activate opens your account on vxframework.com, asks which license the site should use, and brings you back. If you're signed in, there's nothing to copy.
• Enter a license key is the manual route. Keys look like VX-ACDEF-GHJKL-MNPQR-TUVWX and are listed under Licenses in your account and in your purchase email.

Live site or staging site

Both routes ask whether this is a Live site or a Staging site. Live sites use the sites your plan includes; staging sites use a separate, larger allowance.

VX suggests an answer from the address (.test, .local, an IP address or a staging. subdomain suggest staging), but check it. Mark as live site moves a staging site to a live seat, and can fail when every live seat is used. Moving a live site to staging is done from your account.

When things change

• When the support period ends, nothing stops working. Pro stays on, and every version released before that date stays yours; you just stop receiving newer ones. A lifetime license has no end date.
• Deactivate switches Pro off on this site and frees its seat. Your configuration and content stay, and come back when the site is activated again.
• Releasing the site from your account switches Pro off here at the next daily check.
• If the site can't reach the licensing service, Pro stays on. The screen may show that it hasn't verified recently; Refresh checks again.

See If Pro is switched off for what happens to Pro fields and modules.

Scripted activation

For automated deployments, activate from the command line:

wp vx-framework license status
wp vx-framework license activate VX-ACDEF-GHJKL-MNPQR-TUVWX --environment=development
wp vx-framework license mark-production
wp vx-framework license refresh
wp vx-framework license deactivate

Or set the key in wp-config.php, and the site activates itself the first time an administrator opens wp-admin:

define( 'VXFRAMEWORK_LICENSE_KEY', 'VX-ACDEF-GHJKL-MNPQR-TUVWX' );
define( 'VXFRAMEWORK_LICENSE_ENV', 'development' ); // optional; defaults to production

VXFRAMEWORK_LICENSE_ENV defaults to production on purpose, so a template for throwaway staging sites has to say development explicitly. The constant never replaces an existing activation. A site released from your account activates again while the constant is set, so remove it if the release should stick.

Updates

Pro updates arrive through WordPress's normal update screens. Each download is checked against a published checksum; a damaged or altered package is refused, and the installed version is left as it is.

Technical details for LLMs

• Commands: wp vx-framework license status [--format=table|json|yaml], activate <key> [--environment=production|development], mark-production, refresh, deactivate; non-zero exit with the reason on failure.
• State: option vxframework_license (not autoloaded); daily vx_license_heartbeat cron. A failed check-in never downgrades the site; Pro turns off only when released or revoked.
• PHP: \VxFramework\License::is_active(), ::state(), ::activate( $key, $env ), ::set_environment( 'production' ), ::refresh(), ::deactivate(), ::connect_url(). Gate features on \VxFramework\Features::can( 'field:…' ) / can( 'module:…' ), not on the license. Safe to call in Free (returns false / empty state).
• Seat moves are rate-limited (ten per hour); buying a quantity gives separate licenses, each with its own key.
• Auto-activation from VXFRAMEWORK_LICENSE_KEY retries at most hourly.