# What Is the License for the Marin Project?

> Discover the Marin project license. Learn about Apache License 2.0, its permissive usage rights, and patent protection for your projects.

- Repository: [The Marin Project/marin](https://github.com/marin-community/marin)
- Tags: getting-started
- Published: 2026-08-27

---

**The Marin project is released under the Apache License 2.0, a permissive open-source license that grants broad usage rights while providing explicit patent protection.**

The `marin-community/marin` repository uses the Apache License 2.0 to govern all code contributions and distributions. Understanding the marin project license terms is essential before integrating the library into commercial or personal applications, as it defines your rights and obligations regarding modification, redistribution, and attribution.

## Apache License 2.0 Permissions and Protections

The Apache 2.0 license attached to the Marin codebase provides three fundamental guarantees to downstream users. These provisions cover usage rights, patent protections, and redistribution requirements.

### Broad Usage Rights

You may copy, modify, distribute, and publicly perform the Marin code without seeking additional permission from the maintainers. This permissive nature allows integration into both open-source and proprietary software stacks without restriction.

### Patent Protection

Contributors to the Marin repository automatically grant a patent license for any patents necessarily infringed by their contributions. This clause protects users from patent litigation related to the specific code they are utilizing, reducing legal risk for downstream adopters.

### Redistribution Conditions

When distributing Marin or derivative works, you must retain the original license notice and include any `NOTICE` file present in the source distribution. These requirements ensure proper attribution while maintaining the permissive nature of the license.

## Locating the License Files in the Marin Repository

The definitive license text resides in the repository’s top-level `LICENSE` file, which contains the complete Apache License 2.0 legal text. You can view this file directly at the repository root or access it through the GitHub web interface.

The [`README.md`](https://github.com/marin-community/marin/blob/main/README.md) file displays a license badge confirming the Apache 2.0 status, visible at lines 6-9 of the README source. This provides immediate visual confirmation of the project’s open-source classification.

Additional metadata references appear in [`pyproject.toml`](https://github.com/marin-community/marin/blob/main/pyproject.toml), while governance documentation in [`AGENTS.md`](https://github.com/marin-community/marin/blob/main/AGENTS.md) and [`CONTRIBUTING.md`](https://github.com/marin-community/marin/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) outlines licensing expectations for contributors and automated agents interacting with the codebase.

## Verifying the Marin License Programmatically

Developers can confirm the marin project license terms directly within their development environment or through automated scripts. These techniques are useful for compliance auditing when vendoring dependencies into larger software distributions.

To inspect the license locally using the command line:

```bash
cat LICENSE

```

For Python-based workflows, retrieve the license text using the standard library:

```python
import pathlib

repo_root = pathlib.Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2]
license_text = (repo_root / "LICENSE").read_text()
print(license_text[:200])

```

To query the license metadata via the GitHub API:

```python
import requests

url = "https://api.github.com/repos/marin-community/marin/license"
resp = requests.get(url, headers={"Accept": "application/vnd.github.v3+json"})
data = resp.json()
print(data["license"]["spdx_id"])  # Outputs: Apache-2.0

```

## Summary

- The Marin project uses the **Apache License 2.0**, a permissive open-source license suitable for commercial and non-commercial use.
- The full license text is located in the `LICENSE` file at the repository root, with badges confirming the status in [`README.md`](https://github.com/marin-community/marin/blob/main/README.md) lines 6-9.
- Apache 2.0 provides patent protection and broad usage rights, requiring only that you preserve copyright notices and `NOTICE` files during redistribution.
- You can verify the license programmatically using local file inspection or the GitHub API endpoint for repository licensing.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Is the Marin project open source?

Yes, Marin is fully open source. According to the `LICENSE` file and the badge visible at lines 6-9 of [`README.md`](https://github.com/marin-community/marin/blob/main/README.md), the project is distributed under the Apache License 2.0, which meets the Open Source Definition standards.

### Can I use Marin in commercial projects?

Yes, the Apache 2.0 license explicitly permits commercial use, modification, and distribution. The marin project license imposes no restrictions on usage in proprietary software, provided you include the required attribution and license notices.

### Where exactly is the license file located in the repository?

The definitive license file is `LICENSE` located at the top level of the `marin-community/marin` repository. Additional references to the license appear in [`pyproject.toml`](https://github.com/marin-community/marin/blob/main/pyproject.toml), while contribution guidelines in [`CONTRIBUTING.md`](https://github.com/marin-community/marin/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) and [`AGENTS.md`](https://github.com/marin-community/marin/blob/main/AGENTS.md) detail licensing expectations for code submissions.

### How can I check the Marin license using the GitHub API?

Send a GET request to `https://api.github.com/repos/marin-community/marin/license` with the header `Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json`. The response returns a JSON object where `data["license"]["spdx_id"]` equals `"Apache-2.0"`, confirming the SPDX identifier for the license.