---
title: License Errors and Activation Problems
summary: What each license banner actually means, from a grace period to a device mismatch, and what fixes it.
date: 2026-09-10
---

# License Errors and Activation Problems

What each license banner actually means, from a grace period to a device mismatch, and what fixes it.

Your instance shows a specific banner for a specific license state. Read which one you're actually seeing before doing anything: the fix is different for each.

## "License in grace period"

Your license needs renewing before the date shown, or it moves to expired. Renew from **Settings → License**.

## "Your license has expired"

Agent creation is disabled until you renew. Existing agents keep running; you just can't create new ones.

## "Your license has been revoked"

Contact support or re-activate with a valid key from **Settings → License**.

## "License deactivated due to a device change"

Licenses are bound to a device fingerprint. If your instance's underlying hardware or environment changed enough to shift that fingerprint, re-activate from **Settings → License**; this is a known, handled case, not a sign anything is wrong with your license itself.

## "This key is already activated on another device"

A license activates on one device at a time. Deactivate it on the other device first (from that device's **Settings → License**), then activate here.

## "Agent/org limit reached on your current plan"

You've hit your plan's agent or organization cap. Either free up capacity (archive an unused agent) or upgrade your plan.

## Manual activation isn't accepting your key

Double-check the email address matches exactly what was used at purchase; the license key and purchase email are verified together, not the key alone.

## The license server is unreachable

Check **Settings → License** for "License server: Reachable" or "Unreachable." If it's unreachable, this is a connectivity problem between your instance and the license server, not a problem with your license itself; your current entitlements keep working during a brief outage.

## Related

- [Team and Enterprise Settings](/en/docs/guides/admin-settings): plans, licensing, and how a Nexus license syncs
- [Configuration](/en/docs/getting-started/configuration): activating a license the first time