Disclaimer

Read this first. Axon is personal, local-first, open-source software for self-tracking and data organization. It is not a health-care service and nothing in the software is medical advice. If you are making decisions about your health, medication, or any substance you put in your body, talk to a qualified, licensed health professional — not to Axon.

0. What Axon is

I built Axon for myself — a personal notebook for logging my own cognitive self-experiments and a collection of psychometric instruments, references, and insights I found useful on my own journey. I share the source, as-is, as free and open-source software under the MIT License, in case it is useful to others. Axon is not a product, not a service, and not medical advice. It is a tool you run for yourself, on your own device, at your own risk. The sections below spell out the limits of that in plain language.

1. Axon is not a medical device and not a diagnostic tool

Axon is a personal tool for cognitive self-tracking and self-experiment data organization. It is not:

• a medical device within the meaning of the Food and Drugs Act (Canada) or any regulation administered by Health Canada, or of the equivalent law where you live;
• a diagnostic, screening, or assessment tool for any disease, disorder, or condition (including ADHD, anxiety, depression, or any cognitive impairment);
• a clinical decision-support tool;
• a substitute for examination, diagnosis, advice, or treatment by a licensed physician, psychologist, pharmacist, or other regulated health professional.

The psychometric instruments used during onboarding are adapted from research literature for self-reflection and longitudinal self-tracking only. Scores, percentiles, “network” or “agency” estimates, effect sizes, and any other output are statistical descriptions of the data you yourself enter — they are not clinical findings and must not be read as a diagnosis or as ruling any condition in or out.

2. No medical, psychological, pharmacological, or professional advice

Nothing produced by Axon — including compound information, side-effect summaries, catalog matches, analyses, or reports — constitutes medical, psychiatric, psychological, pharmacological, nutritional, legal, or other professional advice, or a recommendation to start, stop, change, or combine any substance, medication, supplement, dose, or behaviour. Information about compounds is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and may be incomplete, out of date, or not applicable to you.

Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions about a medical condition, medication, or any substance, and before beginning, changing, or discontinuing any intervention. Never disregard professional medical advice, or delay seeking it, because of something you read or generated on Axon.

3. Assumption of risk — substances and self-experimentation

Axon lets you log nootropics, supplements, prescription and non-prescription substances, and behavioural context, and helps you analyse your own entries. Deciding what to take, in what dose, and in what combination is entirely your own decision and your own responsibility.

You acknowledge and accept that:

• Substances — including legal, “natural”, over-the-counter, and prescription ones — carry risks, including side effects, allergic reactions, interactions with other substances or medical conditions, dependency, and serious harm.
• Some substances are regulated or prohibited in some jurisdictions; you are solely responsible for complying with all laws that apply to you, including obtaining any prescription required for a substance.
• Axon does not verify, prescribe, supply, endorse, or recommend any specific substance, dose, brand, source, or protocol, and the presence of a compound in the platform’s reference library is not an endorsement or a statement that it is safe, legal, or effective for you. A library listing is a neutral, mechanism-first description, nothing more.
• You assume all risk arising from any decision you make using the platform.

4. Genetics and DNA files

Axon includes an optional feature that reads a raw DNA export (for example from 23andMe, AncestryDNA, Living DNA, or a VCF file) on your device, in your browser, matches a small, fixed set of well-studied variants, and shows short, plain-language notes about them. Your genome is special-category personal data, and you handle it entirely yourself. You acknowledge and accept that:

• The file is read locally through your browser and is never uploaded, transmitted, or stored by Axon; only the handful of curated variants are matched and the rest is discarded as the file is read. There is no genetic data for the Axon Project to hold, because none of it ever reaches anyone but you.
• Every genetic note is an association only — a small statistical tendency reported in research literature, one of many factors, and not a diagnosis, a predisposition finding, a carrier or health-risk result, or medical or genetic advice. It cannot tell you what any substance will do for you, or that you do or do not have any condition.
• Genetic associations are frequently weak, population-dependent, incompletely understood, and revised over time. Axon does not provide clinical-grade interpretation and is not a substitute for a qualified clinician or a certified genetic-counselling or genetic-testing service.
• You are solely responsible for the DNA file you choose to load, for your right to use it, and for any decision you make after reading these notes. If you want your genetics interpreted for any health purpose, consult a licensed professional.

5. The “Analyze with AI” bundle

Axon can generate a file containing your (identifier-masked) statistics together with an analysis prompt, for you to hand to an AI model of your choosing. Axon does not send this anywhere — your data goes only where you copy, download, paste, or upload it, and is then subject to that model’s terms, not Axon’s. Any analysis a model produces from it can be inaccurate, incomplete, biased, or fabricated (“hallucinated”). Do not rely on it. Verify anything important with a qualified professional and primary sources.

6. In an emergency

Axon is not for emergencies and cannot provide help in a crisis. If you think you are experiencing a medical or mental-health emergency, or are having thoughts of harming yourself, call 911 (or your local emergency number) immediately, or in Canada call or text 9-8-8 (Suicide Crisis Helpline). Do not use Axon to seek help in an emergency.

7. No guarantee of results

The Axon Project and contributors make no representation or warranty that using Axon will improve your cognition, focus, mental autonomy, or wellbeing, or that any measurement, estimate, or suggestion is accurate, reliable, or fit for any purpose. Results, where any exist, vary by individual.

8. Software provided “as is” (MIT License)

Axon is free and open-source software released under the MIT License. The software is provided “AS IS”, without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. In no event shall the authors or copyright holders be liable for any claim, damages, or other liability arising from the software or its use. You run it yourself, on your own device, at your own risk.

The Axon Project shares source code and static app files. It does not operate an account-based service, hold user accounts, collect app data, monitor your use, or review your entries. If you modify Axon, publish a fork, add sync, add accounts, collect other people’s data, or run it as a hosted service, you are responsible for that deployment and for your own legal, privacy, security, and professional review.

9. Acceptance

By accessing or using Axon you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to this Disclaimer and the Privacy statement, that you are at least 18 years old, and that you are using the software for your own lawful self-experimentation.