This FAQ is the central public reference for the most common SwarmCraft questions.
Use it when you want a plain-language explanation of who SwarmCraft is for, what kinds of operations are in scope, how workflows fit within them, how the unlock works, what setup looks like, and where the formal legal terms live.
Fit and qualification
What is SwarmCraft?
SwarmCraft helps operators own the smallest coherent operation they need instead of buying another broad platform. That operation can include its workflows, records, rules, controls, decisions, and essential integrations. Our promise is to leave the business empowered to continue evolving that software as its operation changes.
Who is SwarmCraft for?
SwarmCraft is for pragmatic operator-builders: the founder, manager, consultant, or internal champion who understands the operation they want to own and can help shape its workflows, records, rules, and boundaries.
What problem is SwarmCraft designed to solve?
It is designed to help businesses stop paying for broad software they barely use when the operation they need is buried inside it. The usual pattern is recurring SaaS spend, awkward manual patchwork, and workflows shaped around a product that no longer fits the real job.
Where should I start if I am still figuring out fit?
Start by deciding how much discovery the operation needs. Use Fast Start when a focused guided intake can establish the owner, pain, workflow, and existing system-of-record boundary. Use Deep Discovery when important knowledge is spread across people or sources, or when bounded record ownership and migration need evidence-led review.
Read What SwarmCraft is and then Choose Fast Start or Deep Discovery.
How is SwarmCraft different from another SaaS platform?
SwarmCraft is not another broad platform you rent every month. It helps you define and unlock a focused replacement path for the operation you actually need, then carry that work forward yourself.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. You do need enough comfort with software and process detail to review the operation and its workflows, make decisions, and keep the work grounded in reality.
How much work do I need to do myself?
You need to help define the current operation, explain which workflows and records still matter, review the proposed replacement path, and then work through the follow-up implementation loop in VS Code. SwarmCraft gives you the board, packet files, and AI-assisted delivery flow, but you still drive the work, review the changes, and decide what is good enough to keep.
Operation boundaries and safety
What is the difference between an operation and a workflow?
An operation is the complete bounded part of the business the replacement must run. It can include one or more workflows, records, rules, controls, decisions, and essential integrations.
A workflow is one process within that operation: for example, how a request moves from intake through review and approval. Fast Start can define one bounded workflow around an existing system of record. Deep Discovery can establish a wider operation when several workflows, records, owners, or migration decisions need to be understood together.
Can an operation own its records?
Fast Start deliberately keeps the existing system of record while replacing or developing the focused workflow around it. Deep Discovery can investigate the smallest coherent operation, including ownership or migration of bounded records, when evidence, continuity, regulation, security, and operational responsibility support that choice.
What kinds of operations are a good fit for SwarmCraft?
The best fits are the smallest coherent operations with responsible owners, real pain, visible software waste, and understandable boundaries. They include the workflows, records, rules, controls, and integrations needed to run the real job without reproducing the incumbent's unused feature catalogue.
What kinds of operations are not a good fit?
Poor fits include unbounded core-system replacements without migration and operating assurance, highly regulated or high-liability systems without responsible controls, and situations where the owner cannot participate in discovery and review.
How does SwarmCraft reduce the risk of replacing the wrong thing?
It makes the discovery depth explicit. Fast Start requires a kept record boundary. Deep Discovery uses selected evidence, owner interviews, nine reviewed documents, exact upload preview, and explicit consent before private server generation. Neither route treats feature parity as the goal or makes broad replacement claims without evidence.
What if my workflow still depends on an existing SaaS tool or system of record?
That is normal. Fast Start is designed for exactly that kept dependency. Deep Discovery can document why an external system still earns its place or what would be required to migrate a bounded record set responsibly.
Unlock flow and pricing
How do I choose Fast Start or Deep Discovery?
Fast Start uses a focused guided browser conversation when the bounded workflow and existing record boundary are already clear. Deep Discovery uses local sources, focused owner interviews, and nine reviewed documents when that conversation would hide important detail. Deep Discovery is currently in a limited account-enabled rollout.
If you want the broader commercial flow, see Pricing.
What do I get when I unlock a project?
Both routes create one project, its initial board, starter task set, and a clearer path to build the operation you defined. Fast Start supplies a confirmed handoff; Deep Discovery supplies an admitted immutable Discovery Package.
Why is the unlock a one-off payment instead of a subscription?
The commercial model is built around helping customers escape recurring software rent, not adding another monthly platform bill. The offer is intentionally shaped as a one-off unlock so the economics match the ownership story.
Why is the price so low?
The unlock price is meant to be a low-friction way to test an owned replacement path against the much larger cost of ongoing SaaS waste. It is a small commercial step designed to prove whether the replacement is worth carrying forward.
What happens after I unlock the project?
After unlock, the work moves from discovery into an actionable project you can review, refine, and build forward. The project is meant to give you momentum, not leave you with a vague summary and no next step.
The usual next steps are to connect the project to the right repository, open the board, work the first ticket, and start the delivery loop inside VS Code.
If you want the detailed flow, continue with Connect SwarmCraft to your project and Build the project.
Ownership and capability
Do I own the operation and artifacts that come out of SwarmCraft?
Yes. You own and control the replacement source code in your own Git repository, choose the technology stack, deployment path, and AI tools, and can continue developing without SwarmCraft. SwarmCraft retains its platform, brand, and underlying intellectual property, while third-party dependencies remain subject to their own licences. Read the Software License and Terms of Service for the formal terms.
Can I keep improving the operation myself after the initial unlock?
Yes. A core part of the SwarmCraft promise is that you should become more capable and be able to keep shaping the owned software as the operation changes instead of becoming more dependent.
Who runs and deploys the finished app?
Your team runs and deploys the finished app through the infrastructure and release path you already trust. SwarmCraft helps define and build the owned replacement, but it does not become a hosted operations layer that takes over deployment responsibility.
If you want the delivery-side explanation, read Deploy your app.
Why does SwarmCraft use AI and still emphasize human judgement?
AI helps accelerate planning and delivery, but people still need to define the operation and its workflows, review outputs, and make accountable decisions. SwarmCraft is built around human-reviewed orchestration, not AI magic.
Why not use low-code or no-code?
Low-code and no-code undermine the ownership and capability SwarmCraft is designed to create. Many platforms limit what can be built, tie the application to their runtime and constraints, and do not provide full ownership and control of the source code. SwarmCraft puts the source code in your own repository, uses a stack and deployment path you choose, and leaves you able to inspect, test, extend, and operate the software independently as the operation evolves.
Setup and operating model
What do I need before I can start using SwarmCraft seriously?
You need a real target operation and an owner who can review it. Fast Start can begin in the browser. Deep Discovery additionally needs VS Code, the SwarmCraft extension, one trusted local Git repository, an enabled account, and a supported local Codex or Copilot session.
You do not need a fully formed technical specification. Deep Discovery can begin interview-first when documents do not exist.
Do I need to install anything?
Fast Start discovery begins in the web app. Deep Discovery and the delivery loop use the SwarmCraft VS Code extension. Install VS Code and the extension, sign in, complete MFA, and choose the route-specific repository setup.
Use these guides when you are ready:
Do I have to use VS Code?
For Deep Discovery and the current delivery loop, yes. Fast Start intake runs in the browser, while Deep Discovery uses the extension as its local review and package cockpit.
Do I have to move to new infrastructure or a new hosting platform?
No. SwarmCraft is strongest when the replacement app is delivered through the infrastructure your team already knows how to operate. The goal is to own the operation you need, not force a second platform migration at the same time.
How do I submit a support ticket?
SwarmCraft has a dedicated signed-in support workspace inside the product. Open Support in the authenticated workbench, choose New ticket, add a subject, choose the closest topic, and describe the problem in enough detail for follow-up.
After you submit the ticket, you can keep using the same support area to review status updates, read the thread, and reply when the support team needs more information.
If you want the full support workflow, read Use the support workspace.
Legal and policy questions
What terms govern billing, cancellations, and refunds?
The plain-language answer is that SwarmCraft’s billing, cancellation timing, payment handling, and refund position live in the Terms of Service. The FAQ is only a summary entry point, so use the legal page for the authoritative wording.
Related pages
- Learn the product story in About.
- Review the commercial flow in Pricing.
- Read the formal terms in Terms of Service.
- Review ownership and platform-use terms in the Software License.
- Review privacy details in the Privacy Policy.
- Review analytics and consent controls in Cookie Settings.