---
title: Apply Your License Key
description: Activate your Enterprise license key to unlock enterprise features on your self-hosted instance.
---

import { Accordion, Accordions } from 'fumadocs-ui/components/accordion';
import { Callout } from 'fumadocs-ui/components/callout';
import { Tab, Tabs } from 'fumadocs-ui/components/tabs';

A license key activates the Enterprise features available to your self-hosted instance, such as CSC signing, SSO, embed white-labelling, and 21 CFR Part 11 compliance.

<Callout type="info">
  The license key applies to your **whole instance**, not an individual user account. There's one
  key per deployment.
</Callout>

## Prerequisites

- An active Enterprise license key — contact [sales](https://documen.so/enterprise) to set up an
  Enterprise subscription, then copy your key from [license.documenso.com](https://license.documenso.com).
  See [Enterprise Edition](/docs/policies/enterprise-edition) for details.
- A running self-hosted Documenso instance that you're able to restart

## Step 1: Set the environment variable

Set `NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENSO_LICENSE_KEY` to your license key.

<Tabs items={['Docker Compose', 'docker run', '.env']}>
<Tab value="Docker Compose">

Add the variable to your `.env` file (or directly under `environment:` in `compose.yml`):

```bash
NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENSO_LICENSE_KEY=your-license-key-here
```

Then apply it:

```bash
docker compose up -d
```

</Tab>
<Tab value="docker run">

```bash
docker run -d \
  --name documenso \
  -e NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENSO_LICENSE_KEY=your-license-key-here \
  documenso/documenso:latest
```

</Tab>
<Tab value=".env">

If you're running Documenso directly (not in a container), add the variable to your `.env` file:

```bash
NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENSO_LICENSE_KEY=your-license-key-here
```

</Tab>
</Tabs>

## Step 2: Restart the instance

The license key is only read once, at process startup. Setting the variable in a running container or shell has no effect until the process restarts.

```bash
# Docker Compose
docker compose restart documenso

# Docker
docker restart documenso
```

On startup, Documenso validates the key against the Documenso license server and caches the result locally for future startups, so a brief license-server outage won't lock you out.

## What the license enables

A valid license doesn't turn every enterprise feature on everywhere — activation depends on the feature:

- **CSC signing** activates instance-wide automatically once the license is active and CSC transport is configured. See [CSC / QES Signing](/docs/self-hosting/configuration/signing-certificate/csc-qes) for the full setup.
- **SSO, embed white-labelling, 21 CFR Part 11, and similar** are provisioned per organisation. Follow each feature's own guide to configure it once the license is active.

## Troubleshooting

<Accordions type="multiple">
  <Accordion title="Enterprise features are still unavailable after applying the key">
    - Confirm the key is present in the environment the running process actually reads — `docker
      exec` into the container and check `env | grep LICENSE` if unsure.
    - Confirm the instance was fully restarted after the variable was set, not just reloaded.
    - Re-copy the key to rule out truncation or accidental whitespace.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="A specific feature still isn't working">
    Instance-wide features (like CSC signing) also need their own configuration — an active license
    alone isn't enough. Check that feature's guide to confirm the required settings are in place.
    Per-organisation features additionally need to be provisioned for the organisation that's using
    them.
  </Accordion>
</Accordions>

## See Also

- [Environment Variables](/docs/self-hosting/configuration/environment) - Complete configuration reference
- [Enterprise Edition](/docs/policies/enterprise-edition) - What's included and how to purchase a license
- [CSC / QES Signing](/docs/self-hosting/configuration/signing-certificate/csc-qes) - Enable CSC-based signing