Terms of Service

By accessing or using Draft Sentinel ("the Service"), operated by Draft Sentinel ("we," "us," or "our"), you ("you," "User," or "Subscriber") agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"), our Privacy Policy, and all applicable laws and regulations. These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you and Draft Sentinel.

If you do not agree to all of these Terms, you are prohibited from using the Service and must immediately cease all access.

By creating an account, uploading any content, accessing any feature, clicking "I agree," or otherwise using the Service in any manner, you represent and warrant that you have read, understood, and agree to be irrevocably bound by these Terms. Your continued use of the Service at any time constitutes ongoing, renewed acceptance of these Terms as they may be updated.

If you are using the Service on behalf of an organization, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind that organization to these Terms.

You must be at least eighteen (18) years of age to use the Service. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years old and have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement. If you are under 18, you may not use the Service under any circumstances.

For educational use cases where the Service is accessed by students under 18, the educational institution, teacher, parent, or legal guardian is solely responsible for obtaining appropriate consent, supervising use, and ensuring compliance with applicable child protection laws including COPPA and FERPA.

Draft Sentinel is an AI Manuscript Analysis Platform ("AMAP") that provides automated editorial analysis of manuscripts. The Service analyzes uploaded manuscripts across dimensions including but not limited to grammar, structure, pacing, dialogue, character consistency, timeline continuity, readability, style, argument structure, evidence quality, and rubric-based scoring.

The Service produces editorial reports, annotated documents, and structured findings using artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. All outputs are computer-generated suggestions, not human editorial judgments.

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT MATERIALLY AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS AND EXPECTATIONS.

The Service is powered entirely by artificial intelligence. AI systems are inherently imperfect and can and do produce errors, inaccuracies, omissions, false positives, false negatives, and incorrect assessments.

The Service is intended to support editorial workflows and is not intended for high-risk activities where AI errors could cause significant harm (e.g., final publishing contracts, academic grading used as official records, or safety-critical decisions).

You expressly acknowledge and irrevocably agree that:

(a) Advisory Only. All output from the Service — including but not limited to scores, ratings, findings, suggestions, editorial observations, rubric assessments, and priority recommendations — is advisory and suggestive in nature only. No output constitutes professional editorial advice, legal advice, publishing advice, academic grading, or any other form of professional recommendation.

(b) Your Sole Responsibility. You are solely and exclusively responsible for all editorial, creative, and publishing decisions regarding your manuscript. Whether you accept, reject, modify, or ignore any suggestion from the Service is entirely your decision. Draft Sentinel bears no responsibility whatsoever for any changes you make or fail to make to your manuscript based on the Service's output.

(c) Maintain Your Own Backup. You must always maintain a complete, unmodified backup copy of your original manuscript in a location separate from any AI tool, including this Service. Draft Sentinel is not responsible for any loss, corruption, or unintended alteration of your manuscript.

(d) Not a Substitute for Human Review. The Service does not replace professional human editorial review, proofreading, developmental editing, copy editing, or any other human editorial service. You should exercise your own independent judgment and, where appropriate, engage qualified human professionals before making significant decisions based on the Service's output.

(e) No Guarantee of Detection. AI analysis may fail to detect errors, inconsistencies, or issues present in your manuscript. The absence of a finding does not mean no issue exists. The Service may also flag issues that are not actually problems (false positives). You should independently verify all findings.

(f) Scores Are Relative. Scores, ratings, and metrics produced by the Service are relative indicators generated by calibrated AI analysis. They are not absolute, definitive, or authoritative measures of manuscript quality, publishability, commercial viability, or academic grade. Different runs of the same manuscript may produce slightly different scores.

(g) Educational Rubric Scoring. Where the Service provides rubric-based scoring aligned to educational standards (such as AP, Common Core, or university rubrics), such scores are AI-generated approximations. They are not certified, endorsed, or authorized by the College Board, any state education department, the AAC&U, any university, or any other educational body. Rubric scores should be used as study aids and discussion tools only, never as authoritative academic grades. Final scoring authority rests exclusively with the human instructor or institution.

(h) Third-Party AI Limitations. The Service relies on third-party AI model providers (such as Anthropic) for inference processing. We do not control these third-party models, their updates, their accuracy, or their availability. Changes to third-party models may affect the Service's output quality without notice.

(i) Third-Party AI Provider Compliance. You agree to comply with the acceptable use policies and terms of our third-party AI model providers (such as Anthropic). Any violation of those policies by your uploaded content or use of the Service may result in immediate suspension or termination of your account.

Your Manuscript — Your Property: You retain full and exclusive ownership of all intellectual property rights in any manuscript, document, or content you upload to the Service. Uploading content does not transfer, assign, license, or grant any ownership interest in your work to Draft Sentinel, except the limited processing license described below.

Limited Processing License: By uploading content to the Service, you grant Draft Sentinel a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to process your content solely for the purpose of providing the Service (generating your editorial analysis). This license terminates automatically when your manuscript is deleted from our systems per our retention policy.

Data Retention: Manuscripts and reports are processed solely for providing the Service and are automatically deleted from active systems in accordance with our Privacy Policy (typically within 30 days after report generation or upon account deletion/inactivity). We may retain anonymized, non-personal usage metrics (never your manuscript text) to monitor and improve the Service generally.

Our Service — Our Property: All intellectual property rights in the Service itself — including but not limited to software, source code, algorithms, analysis methodologies, calibration data, report templates, user interface designs, branding, logos, documentation, and all associated content — are and remain the exclusive property of Draft Sentinel. Nothing in these Terms grants you any right, title, or interest in the Service beyond the limited right to use it in accordance with these Terms.

Copyright Is Your Responsibility: Draft Sentinel is not responsible for, and expressly disclaims all liability related to, any copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property issues in your manuscript or its contents. The Service may include a copyright risk analysis feature, but this feature is purely informational. It is not legal advice and does not constitute a legal opinion. You are solely responsible for ensuring your manuscript does not infringe the intellectual property rights of any third party. If you have copyright concerns, consult a qualified intellectual property attorney.

No AI Training: Your manuscripts are not used to train, fine-tune, retrain, or improve AI models. Manuscript text is processed solely for generating your analysis report.

Feedback: Any feedback, comments, suggestions, ideas, or other input you provide about the Service or its outputs ("Feedback") becomes the sole and exclusive property of Draft Sentinel. You hereby irrevocably assign all right, title, and interest in such Feedback to us and waive any moral rights or claims for compensation.

DMCA Compliance: If you believe content on the Service infringes your copyright, you may submit a DMCA takedown notice to draftsentinel@gmail.com. We will respond to valid notices in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

You must create an account using a valid email address to use the Service. The Service uses passwordless authentication. You are responsible for maintaining the security of your email account. You are responsible for all activity under your account. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized access.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate any account at any time, for any reason or no reason, with or without notice, including but not limited to suspected violation of these Terms, suspected fraudulent activity, or inactivity.

You may have only one account. Creating multiple accounts to circumvent usage limits or for any other purpose is a violation of these Terms and grounds for immediate termination of all accounts.

Plans and Pricing: The Service offers multiple subscription tiers. Current plan details are on our pricing page and may change at any time.

Billing: Paid subscriptions are billed in advance on a monthly or annual basis. All fees are in US dollars. You authorize us (via our payment processor, Stripe) to charge your payment method at the beginning of each billing cycle.

Automatic Renewal: Subscriptions automatically renew at the end of each billing period unless canceled before the renewal date. By subscribing, you authorize recurring charges until you cancel.

Cancellation: You may cancel at any time through your account settings. Upon cancellation, your subscription remains active until the end of the current paid billing period. No prorated refunds are provided for unused time within a billing period. After the period ends, your account reverts to the free tier.

Lifetime Plans: Where offered, lifetime plans provide access for the operational lifetime of the Draft Sentinel service at the feature level and analysis cap specified at purchase. "Lifetime" means the lifetime of the Draft Sentinel product, not the lifetime of the purchaser. Lifetime plans are non-transferable and non-refundable. If the Service is permanently discontinued, lifetime plan holders are not entitled to any refund.

Refund Policy: All sales are generally final. Refunds may be considered on a case-by-case basis for documented service defects or billing errors if requested within fourteen (14) days of the charge by contacting draftsentinel@gmail.com. We reserve sole discretion over refund decisions.

Price Changes: We may change pricing at any time. Changes do not affect the current billing period. We will provide at least thirty (30) days' notice before price increases take effect for active subscribers. If you do not agree with a price change, your remedy is to cancel before the new price takes effect.

Failed Payments: If a payment fails, we may retry the charge, suspend your account, or downgrade you to the free tier. We are not obligated to provide notice before suspending access due to failed payment.

Taxes: All fees are exclusive of applicable taxes. You are responsible for all taxes, levies, duties, and similar charges imposed by any governmental authority related to your use of the Service.

Each subscription plan includes specific limits on the number of analyses per month and maximum word count per manuscript. These limits are enforced on the server side and cannot be circumvented.

Unused analyses do not roll over to subsequent months. There are no credits, carryovers, or compensation for unused analyses within any billing period.

We reserve the right to throttle, suspend, or terminate access to any account that we believe is engaging in excessive, automated, or abusive usage patterns, regardless of plan tier.

You agree not to use the Service to:

(a) Upload content that is illegal, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, obscene, or otherwise objectionable under applicable law;

(b) Upload content that infringes any third-party intellectual property rights;

(c) Upload malware, viruses, or any code designed to disrupt, damage, or limit the functionality of the Service;

(d) Attempt to reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, or extract the algorithms, models, source code, or methodologies used by the Service;

(e) Circumvent, disable, or interfere with any security features, authentication mechanisms, or usage limits;

(f) Use automated tools, bots, scrapers, or scripts to access the Service in any manner;

(g) Resell, sublicense, redistribute, or commercially exploit the Service or its outputs without our express written permission;

(h) Use the Service or its outputs to develop, train, fine-tune, or improve any competing product or service, or to extract, analyze, or reverse-engineer the Service's methodologies, analysis patterns, or report structures for any commercial purpose;

(i) Share account credentials or allow others to access your account;

(j) Impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or misrepresent your affiliation;

(k) Use the Service in any way that violates applicable local, state, national, or international law.

We reserve the right, but have no obligation, to monitor, review, or remove any content or usage that violates these Terms, without notice or liability.

Violation of this Acceptable Use Policy is grounds for immediate account termination without refund.

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, DRAFT SENTINEL EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO:

(A) IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT;

(B) WARRANTIES THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS;

(C) WARRANTIES REGARDING THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, COMPLETENESS, OR QUALITY OF ANY ANALYSIS, SCORE, FINDING, SUGGESTION, OR OTHER OUTPUT;

(D) WARRANTIES THAT THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR EXPECTATIONS;

(E) WARRANTIES THAT ANY ERRORS IN THE SERVICE WILL BE CORRECTED.

NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED FROM DRAFT SENTINEL OR THROUGH THE SERVICE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THESE TERMS.

YOU EXPRESSLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT AI-GENERATED ANALYSIS IS INHERENTLY IMPERFECT AND MAY CONTAIN MATERIAL ERRORS. YOU USE THE SERVICE AND RELY ON ITS OUTPUTS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL DRAFT SENTINEL, ITS OWNERS, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AFFILIATES, SUCCESSORS, OR ASSIGNS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY OF THE FOLLOWING, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER OR NOT DRAFT SENTINEL HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES:

(A) ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES OF ANY KIND;

(B) DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, GOODWILL, DATA, MANUSCRIPTS, CREATIVE WORKS, PUBLISHING OPPORTUNITIES, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES;

(C) DAMAGES RESULTING FROM YOUR RELIANCE ON ANY OUTPUT, ANALYSIS, SCORE, FINDING, OR SUGGESTION GENERATED BY THE SERVICE;

(D) DAMAGES RESULTING FROM ANY ERRORS, OMISSIONS, INACCURACIES, OR DEFICIENCIES IN THE SERVICE'S OUTPUT;

(E) DAMAGES RESULTING FROM UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR DATA OR MANUSCRIPTS;

(F) DAMAGES RESULTING FROM ANY INTERRUPTION, SUSPENSION, OR TERMINATION OF THE SERVICE;

(G) THE COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE SERVICES.

OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS, THE SERVICE, OR YOUR USE THEREOF SHALL NOT EXCEED THE LESSER OF: (I) THE TOTAL AMOUNT YOU ACTUALLY PAID TO DRAFT SENTINEL DURING THE SIX (6) MONTHS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (II) FIFTY UNITED STATES DOLLARS ($50.00).

THIS LIMITATION APPLIES REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE, AND EVEN IF DRAFT SENTINEL HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. IN SUCH JURISDICTIONS, OUR LIABILITY SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE MINIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Draft Sentinel, its owners, officers, directors, employees, agents, affiliates, successors, and assigns from and against any and all claims, demands, actions, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs, debt, and expenses (including but not limited to reasonable attorneys' fees, expert fees, and court costs) arising from or related to:

(a) Your use of or access to the Service;

(b) Your violation of any provision of these Terms;

(c) Your violation of any third-party right, including any intellectual property, privacy, or proprietary right;

(d) Any content you upload to the Service;

(e) Your reliance on any output generated by the Service;

(f) Any claim that your use of the Service caused damage to a third party;

(g) Any dispute between you and a third party related to content you uploaded to or received from the Service.

This indemnification obligation survives the termination of your account and these Terms.

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING YOUR RIGHT TO FILE A LAWSUIT IN COURT AND TO HAVE A JURY TRIAL.

13.1 Informal Resolution First. Before initiating any formal dispute resolution proceeding, you agree to first contact us at draftsentinel@gmail.com and attempt to resolve the dispute informally for at least sixty (60) days. Most concerns can be resolved this way.

13.2 Mandatory Binding Arbitration. If we cannot resolve a dispute informally, you and Draft Sentinel each agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms, the Service, your use of the Service, or any output of the Service (collectively, "Disputes") shall be resolved exclusively through final and binding individual arbitration, rather than in court, except that either party may bring individual claims in small claims court if the claims qualify.

13.3 Arbitration Rules and Procedures. Arbitration shall be administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. The arbitration shall be conducted by a single arbitrator in Harris County, Texas, or at a location mutually agreed upon by the parties. The arbitrator's decision shall be final and binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction.

13.4 Arbitration Costs and Fees. Each party shall bear its own costs and attorneys' fees in connection with the arbitration. The filing fees and arbitrator compensation shall be governed by the AAA's applicable fee schedule. If the arbitrator finds that either the substance of your claim or the relief sought is frivolous or brought for an improper purpose (as measured by the standards set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b)), then the payment of all arbitration fees shall be governed by the AAA Rules, and you agree to reimburse Draft Sentinel for all fees and costs (including attorneys' fees) that Draft Sentinel has incurred and that you are obligated to pay under the AAA Rules.

13.5 Class Action Waiver. YOU AND DRAFT SENTINEL AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, MULTI-PARTY, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE MORE THAN ONE PERSON'S CLAIMS AND MAY NOT OTHERWISE PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF A REPRESENTATIVE OR CLASS PROCEEDING. YOU EXPRESSLY WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT OR CLASS-WIDE ARBITRATION.

13.6 Jury Trial Waiver. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, YOU AND DRAFT SENTINEL EACH WAIVE THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY COURT PROCEEDING ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE.

13.7 Opt-Out. You have the right to opt out of this arbitration provision. To opt out, you must send written notice to draftsentinel@gmail.com within thirty (30) days of first accepting these Terms. Your notice must include your name, email address, and a clear statement that you wish to opt out of the arbitration and class action waiver provisions. If you opt out, all Disputes will be resolved exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Harris County, Texas, and you consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts.

13.8 Statute of Limitations. Regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to these Terms or the Service must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose, or be forever barred.

13.9 Survival. This arbitration provision shall survive termination of your account and these Terms.

You expressly assume all risk associated with your use of the Service. Without limiting the foregoing, you assume all risk related to:

(a) The accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any output from the Service;

(b) Any editorial, publishing, academic, or commercial decision you make based on the Service's output;

(c) Any damage to your manuscript, creative work, or reputation arising from your use of or reliance on the Service;

(d) Any loss of data, including manuscript data, due to technical failures, security breaches, or any other cause;

(e) Any interaction between the Service and third-party systems, models, or services.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you hereby release, discharge, and hold harmless Draft Sentinel from any and all claims, demands, damages, losses, and causes of action of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with your use of the Service or reliance on its outputs.

If you are a California resident, you hereby waive California Civil Code Section 1542, which provides: "A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party."

We may modify, update, suspend, or discontinue any part or all of the Service at any time, with or without notice, for any reason or no reason. We are not liable to you or any third party for any modification, suspension, or discontinuation.

We do not guarantee any specific uptime, availability, or performance level unless expressly stated in a separate Service Level Agreement. Scheduled and unscheduled downtime may occur.

Features available at the time of your subscription purchase are not guaranteed to remain available for the duration of your subscription. We may add, modify, or remove features at our discretion.

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, for any reason or no reason, with or without notice. Reasons for termination include but are not limited to violation of these Terms, suspected fraud, non-payment, or discontinuation of the Service.

Upon termination: (a) your right to use the Service ceases immediately; (b) we may delete your account data, reports, and any stored content; (c) you remain liable for any outstanding fees; (d) all provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination shall survive, including but not limited to Sections 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 20.

If your account remains inactive for an extended period, we may delete associated manuscripts, reports, and account data in accordance with our Privacy Policy and retention schedule.

Termination of your account does not entitle you to any refund of prepaid fees.

Draft Sentinel shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performance resulting from causes beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of God, natural disasters, pandemic, epidemic, war, terrorism, riots, government action, power failures, internet failures, third-party service provider failures (including AI model providers), cyberattacks, or any other event beyond our reasonable control.

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas, United States of America, without regard to its conflict of law principles. To the extent that litigation is permitted under these Terms, you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Harris County, Texas.

Entire Agreement: These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Draft Sentinel regarding the Service and supersede all prior agreements, understandings, negotiations, and discussions, whether written or oral.

Severability: If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, or if modification is not possible, shall be severed, and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

No Waiver: Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. Any waiver must be in writing and signed by Draft Sentinel.

Assignment: You may not assign or transfer these Terms or your rights under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may freely assign these Terms without restriction.

Headings: Section headings are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.

Electronic Communications: By using the Service, you consent to receiving electronic communications from us. You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications provided electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.

No Third-Party Beneficiaries: These Terms do not confer any rights or remedies upon any third party, except as expressly stated herein.

Export Compliance and Sanctions: You represent and warrant that you are not (a) located in or a national/resident of any country subject to U.S. economic sanctions or export restrictions, or (b) identified on any U.S. government prohibited-party list. You will not use the Service in any manner that violates applicable export control, sanctions, or trade laws.

We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. Material changes will be communicated by email or prominent notice on the Service at least fifteen (15) days before taking effect. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance. If you do not agree to modified Terms, your sole remedy is to stop using the Service and cancel your subscription.

For questions about these Terms, contact us at:

Draft Sentinel
Email: draftsentinel@gmail.com