The intent of this Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”) is to clarify what we at Stack Exchange, Inc. (“Stack Exchange”, “we” or “us”) consider to be acceptable use of any website or service provided on Stack Exchange’s set of related Internet sites and other applications for contributed and curated content (the “Network”). As of 6/18/25, this policy also applies to all use of stackoverflow.ai and its related sites and services (“Services”). For the purpose of applying this policy to the Services, “Network” means “Services” as defined in the Stackoverflow.ai Terms of Use.

If you are found to be in violation of any of the below sections, your access to the Network may be restricted or terminated without notice, and your content may be removed at our discretion. When it is possible to do so, Stack Exchange will make a good-faith effort to provide you with advance notice of actions we take under this AUP, and we will do our best to work with you and ensure a fair outcome in all cases. You may appeal any action we take under this AUP via our contact form.

The Network may not be used for illegal purposes. You are responsible for complying with all laws and regulations that are applicable to you, whether or not such illegal purposes are explicitly raised in this AUP or our Code of Conduct. This restriction encompasses any defamation and libel laws that apply to you.

You may not post content for the purpose of affiliated marketing (e.g., to promote a product, service, or similar in a way that is unsolicited or lacks disclosure of affiliation), or use deceptive means to generate revenue or traffic. Posting irrelevant content, non-meaningful content, or other types of content that may reasonably be interpreted as spam per individual site policies, is also prohibited.

You may not use the service in any way that deceives users into disclosing sensitive information they would otherwise not disclose, such as passwords, API keys, or personally identifiable information.

Disclosing personally identifiable information of a person or group of people, that hasn’t been manifestly made public, without their explicit consent is not allowed, whether or not that information is accurate. This includes such information as financial information, government-issued identification, passwords, phone numbers, physical addresses, and other personal information that may pose a safety or security risk, including usernames and e-mail addresses.

You may not post URLs that were created for the purpose of promoting a scam, attack, or fraud.

You may not falsely represent yourself as a real person or entity you are not.

You may not attempt to exploit, overload, or otherwise disrupt the operations of the Network.

You may not post content that infringes on another’s intellectual property right, including trademark, copyright, patent, trade secret, or other intellectual property right. While the use of copyrighted material does not constitute copyright infringement in all cases, users should be careful when using copyrighted content without the permission of those who created it and adhere to any license requirements (e.g., attribution, notice, etc.). Stack Exchange complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), and you may view our process for reporting DMCA complaints.

You may not register accounts en masse, either by hand or through the use of automated tools, without prior written approval of Stack Exchange, Inc. Please contact [email protected] to request approval.

You may not post content, or links to content, that is sexually explicit in nature, unless it falls within a reasonable interpretation of a Network site’s scope and purpose. However, you may never post content portraying the sexual exploitation or abuse of minors. For the sake of clarity, sexually explicit content is “material that is explicitly sexual, pornographic, prurient, or lascivious in nature,” as defined in our Code of Conduct.

You may not manipulate or otherwise simulate the appearance or function of the Network by using framing, mirroring, or similar other methods, such as by creating deep links to the Network or directly framing our site on another domain. This restriction does not apply for accessibility-related usages such as screen readers. Please contact [email protected] with any inquiries.