How do I add a software license and manage seats?

Requires Pro

Quick answer

A license always belongs to a software entry (software_id). You record the license type, seats, seats used, cost, currency, purchase date, and expiry date. The seat count is tracked as a counter (seats = total, seats_used = used) — the data model does not assign individual seats to specific people or assets.

Prerequisites

Required role Administrator or Manager

— only Administrator and Manager may add and edit licenses (the Technician role is not sufficient here, unlike for the software entry itself). Deletion is reserved for administrators. Via the API: token scope write.

In-app license management is its own license feature (licenses) and available from the Pro tier onward. It manages your software licenses as inventory — not the product license of Notory itself.

GUI note

The web interface currently shows licenses as a cost overview on the Software page (total cost and soon-to-expire licenses). Adding and editing individual license records is done via the API in this version.

Instructions

GUI (web interface)

In the web interface, license data comes together on the Software page: the “Total License Cost” and “Expiring Soon” stat cards, as well as the warning list of expiring licenses, are calculated from your license records.

Screenshot pending software-lizenz-01 Software page with the 'Total License Cost' and 'Expiring Soon' cards above the software list

License costs and expiry dates come together on the Software page.

Adding and changing individual license records (seats, cost, expiry date) currently happens via the API — see the adjacent tab. For how to evaluate costs and remaining terms, see License Costs & Expiry at a Glance.

API (curl)

Create a license: POST to /api/v1/software/licenses. The software_id (the ID of the associated software entry) is required.

Create a license

curl -X POST https://demo.notory.io/api/v1/software/licenses \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer inv_dein_token" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "software_id": "0f9c2a71-4d6b-4e18-9a3c-2b7e1f0d8c44",
    "license_type": "subscription",
    "license_key": "XXXX-YYYY-ZZZZ",
    "seats": 25,
    "seats_used": 18,
    "cost": 1499.00,
    "currency": "EUR",
    "purchase_date": "2026-01-01",
    "expiry_date": "2026-12-31",
    "vendor": "Adobe"
  }'

Response HTTP 201 Created:

Response (201 Created, shortened)

{
  "id": "7a1e5c90-2f83-4b6d-8c11-9d4a2e6b0f37",
  "tenant_id": "3d9b0c12-4e5a-4f88-b1c7-2a9e6d4f0011",
  "software_id": "0f9c2a71-4d6b-4e18-9a3c-2b7e1f0d8c44",
  "license_type": "subscription",
  "seats": 25,
  "seats_used": 18,
  "cost": 1499.0,
  "currency": "EUR",
  "purchase_date": "2026-01-01",
  "expiry_date": "2026-12-31",
  "vendor": "Adobe",
  "created_at": "2026-07-08T09:20:00Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-07-08T09:20:00Z"
}

Adjusting seats (e.g. one more assignment): a PUT to the license ID with the new seats_used value — it’s enough to send the changed field.

Update used seats

curl -X PUT https://demo.notory.io/api/v1/software/licenses/7a1e5c90-2f83-4b6d-8c11-9d4a2e6b0f37 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer inv_dein_token" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "seats_used": 19 }'

Valid license_type values: perpetual (Perpetual), subscription (Subscription, default), and trial (Trial). seats must be at least 1, seats_used at least 0; currency is a 3-letter code (default EUR).

Possible errors: 401 (token missing/invalid), 403 (no permission or the License module is not in your tier), 422 (validation — e.g. missing software_id or seats < 1).

What happens behind the scenes?

• Link to the software: The license is linked to a software entry via software_id. If the software is deleted, its licenses are deleted along with it (cascade).
• Seats as counters: seats and seats_used are plain numeric fields. Notory does not enforce an upper limit and does not tie seats to individual users or assets — keeping the used-seats count accurate is up to you.
• Cost & expiry feed the overview: cost/currency add up to the Total License Cost; an expiry_date within the next 30 days counts toward the “Expiring Soon” metric.
• Audit trail: Creator/editor are recorded as created_by/updated_by.
• Tenant isolation: Licenses are tenant-bound and invisible to other tenants.

Related topics

• Add software — add the software first, then the license
• License costs & expiry at a glance
• Software approval process
• API introduction — authentication, base URL, error codes