Terms of Service

These terms govern your use of ClusterFunk at clusterfunk.co, operated by Donald Butts. By using the site or subscribing, you agree to them. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

What ClusterFunk is

ClusterFunk is a research intelligence service. It analyses preprints published to arXiv and bioRxiv, groups them into topics and sub-topics, and publishes measurements of research volume, velocity, maturity and public attention, together with written analysis.

It is an information product. It is not investment advice, financial advice, legal advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell anything. Nothing here is a professional opinion on which you should rely without your own diligence. Technology forecasting is uncertain, and figures presented as projections are model output, not fact.

Accuracy and limitations

The service is provided as is. We aim for accuracy and label uncertainty where the underlying data cannot support a firm number, but we do not warrant that any figure, projection, classification or analysis is correct, complete or current. Source preprints are not peer reviewed. Clustering, naming and maturity estimates are produced by automated methods and can be wrong. We may revise, restate or withdraw published figures as methods improve, and past editions are not restated automatically.

Accounts

Accounts are created and authenticated through Clerk. You are responsible for activity under your account and for keeping your credentials secure. Accounts are for one person. Do not share credentials or access with others.

Subscriptions, billing and cancellation

• Paid plans are billed through Stripe in advance, at the price and billing period shown at checkout.
• Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled.
• You can cancel at any time from the billing portal, reachable from your account menu on the site. Cancellation stops future renewals; access continues to the end of the period you have already paid for.
• We do not provide automatic refunds for partial periods. If something has gone wrong, contact us and we will deal with it reasonably.
• Prices may change. Changes apply from your next renewal, never retroactively, and we will tell you before they take effect.

Free email list

You can join the free email list without an account. We use it to send occasional summaries of new editions; we do not commit to a fixed schedule, and there may be months with no email at all. Every email includes a one-click unsubscribe, and you can unsubscribe at any time without affecting any paid subscription. We do not sell or share the list.

Acceptable use

• Do not scrape, bulk-download or systematically extract paid content.
• Do not resell, redistribute or republish paid content, in whole or in substantial part.
• Do not share your account or circumvent access controls.
• Do not attempt to disrupt the service or access systems or data you have not been granted access to.

Quoting a figure or a short passage with attribution and a link is fine and encouraged. Reproducing an edition, or enough of one to substitute for a subscription, is not.

Public API and MCP endpoint

ClusterFunk exposes a free, rate-limited endpoint at /api/mcp covering current-month, free-tier data. It is offered as-is, may be rate limited, changed or withdrawn at any time, and carries no availability commitment. Do not use it to reconstruct paid content.

Intellectual property

The underlying papers belong to their authors and are distributed under the terms set by arXiv, bioRxiv and the respective authors. ClusterFunk claims no ownership of them. The analysis, measurements, groupings, written commentary, charts and site design are ours.

Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, ClusterFunk and Donald Butts are not liable for indirect, incidental or consequential losses, or for any decision made in reliance on the service. Total liability for any claim is limited to the amount you paid in the twelve months before the claim. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

Termination

You may stop using the service at any time. We may suspend or terminate access for breach of these terms, and will refund any unused prepaid period if we do so for a reason other than a serious breach.

Changes

We may update these terms. The effective date above will change, and material changes will be communicated to subscribers by email. Continuing to use the service after a change means you accept it.

Governing law and contact

ClusterFunk is operated by Donald Butts as an individual based in Connecticut, United States. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Connecticut, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, and any dispute arising from them will be brought in the state or federal courts located in Connecticut. Questions go to the address on our contact page.