Terms
In effect 26 August 2026. This is version 1.
Using Crucible means agreeing to what is on this page. It is written to be read, not to be skipped — if a clause here is doing something you would object to, it should be possible to notice that on one pass.
What Crucible is
A desktop and browser application for reading, annotating and writing, with optional shared groups. It is made and operated by William Reckley.
What it costs
Nothing, for individuals — students, laity, anyone reading on their own. That is not a trial and there is no upgrade prompt waiting. Institutions that want managed groups will be charged; nothing is being charged today, and if that changes you will be told in advance and never billed by surprise.
There is no advertising, and there is nothing in Crucible to buy.
Your account
One person per account. Keep your password to yourself; you are responsible for what is done through your account. If you ask to be recognised as a teacher or a priest, tell the truth — those standings decide who can create a classroom or a parish and who can see other people's work.
You must be old enough to agree to this yourself, or have a parent or school doing it for you.
What you write stays yours
Your notes, documents, annotations and posts are yours. Nothing here transfers ownership of them.
What you do give is the narrow permission needed to run the thing: to store what you write, and to show it to the people you chose to show it to — the members of a group you joined, or whoever follows you if you post publicly. That permission covers nothing else. It is not used for advertising, it is not sold on, and it is not used to train an AI model. The only machine-learning model anywhere in Crucible is the OCR engine that reads a scanned PDF, and it runs on your own machine, on a file you chose, and sends nothing anywhere.
Uploading texts
Crucible ships only public-domain texts, and it is not a place to redistribute books you do not have the right to redistribute.
Importing a file for your own reading is between you and your own disk. Giving a file to a group is different — you are handing it to other people — so Crucible asks you to state the basis on which you may: your own work, public domain, or a licence that permits it. That statement is recorded with the file. Do not claim one you do not have.
If something has been shared here that infringes your copyright, write to crucible@reckley.org saying what it is and where, and it will be taken down.
How to behave
Do not use Crucible to:
- harass, threaten or abuse anyone
- post anything unlawful, or anything that sexualises children
- impersonate another person, or claim a standing you do not hold
- break into other people's accounts or data, or try to
- attack the service or hammer it with automated traffic
- redistribute copyrighted work you have no right to
Disagreement is not abuse. This is a place for people who argue about theology; the line is conduct, not conclusions.
Groups
Whoever leads a group runs it: they admit and remove members, set work, and can take the group down. Joining one means the other members can see what you contribute to it. Leaving removes you from it, but does not retract what you already gave it.
Leaving
You can close your account whenever you like, from Account → Close this account. What is deleted and what remains is set out in the privacy policy; in short, your own writing goes and work you handed to other people stays with them, with your name off it.
An account may be suspended or closed for breaking the rules above, or where the law requires it. Where it is reasonable to do so first, you will be told why.
What is promised, and what is not
Crucible is provided as it is. It is offered in good faith and worked on seriously, but it comes with no warranty: not that it will be available, not that it will be free of defects, and not that it will suit any particular purpose.
Keep your own backups. Your library is a file on your own machine, which means it is yours to look after. Syncing is a convenience, not a backup service, and no promise is made that the server's copy will survive.
Features may change or be removed. Where a change would lose your work, you will be given notice and a way to export first.
Limits on liability
To the fullest extent the law allows, Crucible and its operator are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for lost data or lost profits, arising from using it. Nothing here limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited.
Changes to these terms
If these change, the date at the top changes. A change that materially affects your rights will be shown to you in the app rather than quietly published here.
Law
These terms are governed by the law of the place where the operator resides, and the courts there have jurisdiction. If any part of this page turns out to be unenforceable, the rest of it still stands.