Activate Your License
What you need to get started
Section titled “What you need to get started”Two things: a modelBridge license key and a fal.ai API key.
Your license key comes from your LemonSqueezy purchase receipt — check the email you used at checkout. Your fal.ai API key comes from fal.ai/dashboard/keys. The plugin walks you through both during first launch.
First launch — step by step
Section titled “First launch — step by step”When you open modelBridge for the first time, the plugin guides you through setup in four steps.
Step 1 — Welcome. A brief introduction to what modelBridge does and how it works with fal.ai.
Step 2 — License activation. Paste the license key from your LemonSqueezy receipt email. The plugin validates it instantly and confirms activation. If you don’t have the key yet, click “Activate later” to skip — you can always enter it in Settings. Generation will be disabled until you activate, but you can browse models, explore the interface, and configure settings in the meantime.
Step 3 — fal.ai API key. Paste your API key from fal.ai/dashboard/keys. This connects you to every model on fal.ai. See the API Key Setup guide for detailed instructions on creating your fal.ai account and generating a key.
Step 4 — Choose your starter models. Pick a few favorites to get started quickly. You can always add more later from the Model Search.
That’s it — you’re ready to generate.
Activating on a second computer
Section titled “Activating on a second computer”Your license works on two computers, for your own use — for example, a desktop and a laptop. Enter the same license key on the second machine during setup or in Settings.
One computer generates at a time. The one you start working on takes over automatically — there is nothing to release and nothing to switch. If the other computer tries to generate while yours is active, it sees a short notice naming your computer, and its next press takes the license back. A generation that is already running always finishes and downloads.
Moving to a third computer
Section titled “Moving to a third computer”If both activations are in use and you need to move to a new machine, go to Settings → Devices on the machine you no longer need, expand This device, and click the release icon. You’ll be asked to paste your license key to confirm — it’s in your LemonSqueezy receipt email. That frees up the activation slot, and you can then enter your key on the new machine.
If that machine is gone — sold, lost or broken — free it up from your LemonSqueezy account instead, then paste your key once on the machine you kept.
Activating later
Section titled “Activating later”If you skip activation during setup, the plugin is fully browsable without a license. You can explore models, adjust settings, view the interface, and familiarize yourself with every feature.
To activate later, go to Settings → Subscription and enter your license key. Once activated, all generation features — including background jobs, Dual Mode, prompt optimization, and report exports — become available immediately.
What requires an active subscription
Section titled “What requires an active subscription”The following features require an active subscription:
- Generating new content (all model categories)
- Starting background generation jobs
- Using Dual Mode
- Optimizing prompts with AI
- Exporting cost reports
- Adding external costs
Everything else — browsing models, viewing generation history, accessing cost tracking data, adjusting settings — works in read-only mode without an active subscription. See What happens when your subscription changes for full details.