Using Nolvra plugins offline
How the fourteen-day offline window works, what closes it early, and why an unreachable server never locks you out mid-session.
Offline is supported; unverified is not
Activation needs a connection once. After that, a Nolvra plugin keeps a signed local record of that activation and keeps working offline for up to fourteen days before it needs to check in again. Reconnect at any point in that window and the clock resets.
What the plugin is actually checking
The gate is deliberately narrow. A product opens in exactly two situations: the server says yes right now, or there is a previously verified local record that is intact, still signed correctly, still inside its window, and has not seen the clock move.
Everything else is closed. "I cannot read the record", "I cannot reach the server", "I cannot parse the answer" — none of those produce authorisation on their own. They keep an existing valid record alive; they never create one.
Why an outage does not lock you out
A server that cannot be reached is not the same as a server that says no, and the plugin treats them differently. An unreachable server drops you into the offline window rather than locking the product, which means a network problem on our side cannot interrupt a session in progress.
A definite refusal — key revoked, device slot removed, membership lapsed — does close the product, and says which.
What closes the window early
Moving your system clock backwards. The local record carries its own timestamps, and the plugin checks for the clock going the wrong way — that is the mechanism that stops a fourteen-day window from being extended indefinitely.
Restoring a machine from a backup, migrating a user account or replacing a drive can also present as a different device and invalidate the record. Reactivating writes a fresh one.
Editing the record by hand invalidates its signature. It is signed with a device-derived key precisely so that tampering fails rather than works.
Preparing for a long stretch offline
Activate before you leave
Do it on a connection you trust, in the plugin you are actually going to use.
Open each plugin once
The window is per product. A plugin you installed but never opened has no record to fall back on.
Note the date
Fourteen days from the last successful check. That is generous for a session, tight for a tour.
Reconnect once at any point to reset it
A single successful check anywhere in the window starts a new fourteen days. It takes seconds and needs no interaction.
If the window has already run out
Connect and open the plugin. It re-checks, unlocks and resets. There is no penalty and nothing to reinstall.
Offline studios
If a room is permanently offline, activate on a machine that can reach the network and understand that the fourteen-day check-in is a hard requirement rather than a preference. A studio machine that never connects will lock every fortnight.
If that is your situation, write to support@nolvra.com and describe the setup rather than working around it — we would rather know.
Still stuck?
Nothing here matching? Write to a person.