Q100751: Activating Griptape via an account or via the licensing system

Sian

Updated: November 05, 2026 11:36

Created: November 03, 2026 17:11

SUMMARY

When launching the Griptape Nodes desktop application, users have two distinct authentication pathways:

1. Log in with Griptape Cloud (tied to an individual email address/user account)
2. Activate with a License (tied to an organization)

This article explains the differences between these two authentication methods and when to use each approach.

FURTHER INFORMATION
 

LOG IN WITH GRIPTAPE CLOUD 

When you initially sign up as a single user on Griptape, you create a Griptape Cloud account and are assigned a default organization. You can then purchase credits on this organization, create a new organization or upgrade the organization to Professional or Enterprise tiers.

When signing into this account you use an individual email address. 

 

How to log in:

1. Launch the Griptape Nodes desktop application.
2. Select Login with Griptape Cloud
   
3. Select Log in or Sign-Up
4. Enter your email address and follow the authentication prompts.
   

If you have not signed up for an account yet, please click on the Sign up link

In this model:

• Authentication is handled directly by Griptape's public cloud servers.
• Application API requests and updates flow directly between your machine and cloud.griptape.ai.
• No intermediate proxy, private server, or specialized local network configuration is required.
• Users can access and manage their own cloud settings and run workflows using personal credit balances.

ACTIVATE WITH A LICENSE 

In Enterprise setups, organizations deploy a dedicated licensing workflow. Rather than requiring individual employees to register and manage personal cloud accounts, the organization provides license tokens tied to specific policies.

If you have not received a key please contact your organization admin who can provide this for you. If you have been provided a license key by your organization please follow these steps to activate this. 


How to use a Griptape license:

1. Launch the Griptape Nodes desktop application.
2. On the login screen, click Activate with a License
   
   
    
3. Paste the License Key provided by your organization admin.
4. In the Griptape Server Endpoint field:
   • Keep https://cloud.griptape.ai if your organization uses cloud-managed licensing directly.
   • Or replace it with your internal Admin Server URL (e.g., http://admin.internal.example.com:8080) if using an on-premises enterprise server.
5. Click 'Activate License'.

In this model:

• Organization administrators distribute license keys directly to users.
• Activated keys are stored locally. If deactivated or logged out, users can re-activate with a single click from the Saved licenses section without re-entering the key or endpoint.
• You have the option to point to an on premises server, rather than cloud.griptape.ai.
• With Admin Server 0.4.0 or later, administrators can route asset uploads and downloads, library installs, and model downloads through the Admin Server via tunnel.allowed_hosts, preventing individual client machines from requiring open public internet access (To route asset downloads and previews through your internal proxy, navigate to App Settings > License, enable Route HTTPS traffic through this server, and restart the engine.) 

Common issues:
If you encounter any issues after entering the license key, please check with your organization admin for the following common issues:
 

Activation fails immediately
If this happens please do the following:

1. Verify that the key is entered completely without trailing spaces. 
2. Check the network connectivity to your Admin Server by opening http://<admin-server-address>/health in a browser (a healthy server returns {"status":"ok"}). If this fails then please ask your sysadmin to check your network.
    

Downloads or previews fail: 
This can happen if Route HTTPS traffic is disabled through this server. Please ensure this is enabled via these steps: 

1. Navigate to 'App Settings':
   
    

2. Ensure that Route HTTPS traffic through this server is ticked:

   

From here ensure the engine has been restarted, and your operator has whitelisted the destination host in tunnel.allowed_hosts.

403 "path not permitted"
The Admin Server has restrictive route forwarding rules enabled. Contact your system operator to authorize the requested API path.
 

COMPARISON OVERVIEW

FURTHER READING 

More information on the Griptape account and licensing system can be found here:

Griptape Nodes Documentation: Admin Dashboard

Griptape Nodes Documentation: Using the Admin Server

Griptape Nodes Documentation: Cedar Policies & Permissions