# Licensing

## Activate a license

Follow these steps to activate a license. Note that:

* Cover Plugin Community Edition is free to use but does require product verification to activate your perpetual license.
* These steps cover online license activation only.
* Offline licensing for Cover CLI is available for Diffblue Cover Enterprise Edition only - see [#editions](#editions "mention") and [Offline license activation](/get-started/licensing/licensing-offline.md).

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Cover Plugin" %}
Once you install Cover Plugin for IntelliJ, you'll be prompted for your license key to activate the plugin. Alternatively, the license can be activated at any time from the IntelliJ toolbar `Diffblue > Activate License`.

Diffblue Cover requires a remote license check with the Diffblue licensing server each time it's used. For help troubleshooting license keys, network connections, and proxy server settings, see [Online license activation](/get-started/licensing/licensing-online.md).

<figure><img src="/files/0SKxPD4QVPrjJQiM4rX0" alt="" width="563"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

To check your current license details, go to the IntelliJ toolbar `Diffblue > View License Information`.
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Cover CLI" %}
Diffblue Cover requires a remote license check with the Diffblue licensing server each time it's used. For help troubleshooting license keys, network connections, and proxy server settings, as well as details of offline licensing (Enterprise Edition only), see [Licensing](/get-started/licensing.md).

* To activate your license, from a Windows PowerShell (Windows) or Terminal (macOS/Linux) enter the command `dcover activate <license-key>` - replace `<license-key>` with the license key provided in your welcome email or provided by your organization.
* Entering multiple different license keys will overwrite the existing key.
* You can check your license status by running the command `dcover license`
  {% endtab %}
  {% endtabs %}

## Online & Offline

**Online license activation**

Diffblue Cover requires a remote license check with the Diffblue licensing server each time it's used. To perform the license check Diffblue Cover needs an active internet connection to the following servers:

* <https://licensing.diffblue.com/>
* <https://api.licensespring.com/>

The license check uses this connection to identify individual devices. Further details regarding the exact data exchanged are available in the [Privacy Notice](/legal/diffblue-legal/privacy-notice.md).

For more details, including troubleshooting, see the main [Online license activation](/get-started/licensing/licensing-online.md) topic.

**Offline license activation**

Diffblue Cover Enterprise Edition users with the offline option can activate 100% offline. This means Diffblue Cover can be used in secure and air-gapped environments with no external network connection required.

For more details, including troubleshooting, see the main [Offline license activation](/get-started/licensing/licensing-offline.md) topic.

## Editions

Diffblue Cover is licensed according to the four [pricing plans](https://www.diffblue.com/pricing/) which determine what features and limits apply to your use of Diffblue Cover. Please see [Cover Editions](/updates-and-upgrades/cover-editions.md) for more details.

## Diffblue license manager

According to the terms of your subscription, you may be given access to the [Diffblue License Management Portal](/get-started/licensing/licensing-manager.md) allowing you to see license use, manage license keys, and license users. License manager access is granted according to the exact license type purchased - it may not be applicable to your license type.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://cover-docs.diffblue.com/get-started/licensing.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.