Questions, answered.
The long versions. For the short versions, scroll the home page.
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01 What happens to my sites if Lumen disappears?
They keep working. Your content lives in your git repo as plain Markdown and JSON. Lumen's server only handles Relay invites and license checks. If we shut down tomorrow, your Astro site still builds with no changes.
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02 What platforms does Lumen support?
macOS 12 and later, universal binary for Apple Silicon and Intel. Windows and Linux are coming soon. Leave your email on the download page and we'll let you know when they're ready.
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03 Does Lumen need an account or send my data anywhere?
Solo use needs a license check. No telemetry, no analytics. The only other network calls are the ones you make: pulling, pushing, deploying, or sending a Relay invite.
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04 Does Lumen work with my existing Astro project?
Yes. Open the folder and Lumen reads what's already there: collections, schemas, fields. If you have hand-written Zod schemas in src/content.config.ts, those win. If you have a legacy src/pages site, the migration tool will convert it into proper content collections in a click.
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05 What is Relay?
Relay is the Pro layer that lets a non-technical editor (a copywriter, a marketing lead, a client) edit your site through a hosted version of Lumen. No GitHub account, no Node, no git. You invite them by email; their edits commit back to your repo. Pro and Studio include unlimited invites.
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06 Does MDX work?
Yes. Prose flows as Markdown; MDX component blocks are preserved on save. The live preview renders heavy inline JSX cleanly.
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07 Which hosts can I deploy to?
Netlify ships in the box with one-click deploys and a streaming log viewer. Vercel and Cloudflare are on the near-term roadmap. If you'd rather push to your own infrastructure, the built-in git workflow gets it there.
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08 How does the AI integration work?
Lumen runs an MCP server that exposes structured git and schema tools to any MCP-compatible client: Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Codex CLI, and more. One click connects them. You bring your own model and pay your model provider; we don't charge per word or bundle keys. MCP tools are a Pro feature.
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09 What counts as a "site"?
Any local Astro project folder you've added to Lumen's library. Free covers 1 site. Pro covers 10. Studio is unlimited.
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10 What happens if my subscription lapses?
Your installed version keeps working. You won't be able to send new Relay invites or install app updates until you renew.
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11 Do you offer refunds?
Yes. 30 days, no questions. Email us and we'll process the refund.
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12 Why annual only? No monthly?
Lumen is an app, not a SaaS. Monthly billing concedes the framing we're built against: that you're renting software that stops working when you stop paying.
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13 Is Lumen open source?
No. Lumen is a proprietary native app, source-available for inspection. Because it's local-first, your repo is still the source of truth.