What Is a Floating License?
A floating license lets a group share a limited pool of seats. A person or device borrows a seat while the application is running, then returns it so someone else can use it. The seat limit controls simultaneous use, rather than the total number of installations.
How a seat moves through the system
Checkout requests a seat from the server. A successful response identifies a lease with a deadline. While the application keeps using that seat, heartbeat asks the server to renew the lease. Checkin returns it when work ends. A crashed client cannot send checkin, so expiry is essential: a seat must eventually become available without trusting that every process exits cleanly.
A lease is permission with a deadline
Do not turn the last successful response into permanent permission. In PermitCore, checkout and heartbeat depend on current license access and entitlement. A denied renewal provides no new session proof. Stop the licensed work when renewal is denied or the existing authorized lease expires. Network failure is not permission to invent a longer lease; define the user experience around the evidence the client actually holds.
When floating fits
A five-seat pool can serve a team that has more than five installed copies but rarely runs them all together. Shared workstations, engineering tools and virtual desktop pools are typical candidates. A device-bound license may be simpler when the purchase is intended for a fixed set of computers. Decide whether you are selling installations or simultaneous use before choosing the implementation.
Keep seats separate from billing limits
A concurrent seat pool, a license activation limit and the hosted activation usage pool are different counters. Buying a bigger plan does not automatically turn every product into an unlimited floating license. Configure the license model and permitted seats deliberately, then test the final seat, duplicate checkout, process crash, heartbeat denial, expiry and confirmed checkin.
Common questions
Is a floating license an offline license?
They solve different problems. Offline proof authorizes use until a signed deadline; a floating lease coordinates scarce concurrent seats. Do not assume offline validation grants a new floating seat.
Does closing the window always release the seat?
No. Send checkin during normal shutdown, but rely on the server lease deadline for crashes or disconnected clients.
Does a failed heartbeat extend the lease?
No. Only accepted renewal evidence can grant a later deadline. Preserve the current deadline and handle denial explicitly.