Self-hosted license renewal: expiration warnings and post-expiry grace period
Last updated: August 24, 2026
Overview
Self-hosted LangSmith/LangGraph deployments validate their license key against LangChain's licensing service at startup and periodically afterward. When a license is close to expiring, the deployment shows a warning banner. This article covers why that warning can persist after a renewal and what happens if a license is allowed to expire.
Why the expiration warning can keep firing after renewal
When a contract is renewed, LangChain issues a brand-new license key with its own key ID and expiration date. The renewal does not extend the old key in place. The expiration-warning banner only reflects the expiration date of whichever key is currently deployed in your environment.
If the new key hasn't been deployed yet, or there's ambiguity about which key (for example, an online vs. offline license) is actually active, the warning keeps referencing the old key's expiration date, even though a valid replacement already exists.
The warning window itself is fixed at 7 days before expiry and isn't configurable today. There's no way to extend the lead time if your organization's change-control or procurement process needs more notice.
Resolution
If you get an expiration warning after you believe your license was renewed, confirm which key is actually deployed and compare its key ID and expiration date against the one the warning references. If your contract was renewed, a new key was issued separately from the old one, deploy that key rather than requesting another new one.
If you're unsure which key is current or which one is expiring, support can check LangChain's licensing records to confirm the valid replacement key and its expiration date.
What happens if a license actually expires
There's a 24-hour grace period after a license expires. Once that grace period elapses, both the UI and agent deployments send an exit and shut down. Renew and deploy the new key before expiration to avoid this.