diff --git a/cameleer3-server-app/src/test/java/com/cameleer3/server/core/license/LicenseGateTest.java b/cameleer3-server-app/src/test/java/com/cameleer3/server/core/license/LicenseGateTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..00404d24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cameleer3-server-app/src/test/java/com/cameleer3/server/core/license/LicenseGateTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+package com.cameleer3.server.core.license;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import java.time.Instant;
+import java.time.temporal.ChronoUnit;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
+class LicenseGateTest {
+
+    @Test
+    void noLicense_allFeaturesEnabled() {
+        LicenseGate gate = new LicenseGate();
+        // No license loaded -> open mode
+
+        assertThat(gate.isEnabled(Feature.debugger)).isTrue();
+        assertThat(gate.isEnabled(Feature.replay)).isTrue();
+        assertThat(gate.isEnabled(Feature.lineage)).isTrue();
+        assertThat(gate.getTier()).isEqualTo("open");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void withLicense_onlyLicensedFeaturesEnabled() {
+        LicenseGate gate = new LicenseGate();
+        LicenseInfo license = new LicenseInfo("MID",
+                Set.of(Feature.topology, Feature.lineage, Feature.correlation),
+                Map.of("max_agents", 10, "retention_days", 30),
+                Instant.now(), Instant.now().plus(365, ChronoUnit.DAYS));
+        gate.load(license);
+
+        assertThat(gate.isEnabled(Feature.topology)).isTrue();
+        assertThat(gate.isEnabled(Feature.lineage)).isTrue();
+        assertThat(gate.isEnabled(Feature.debugger)).isFalse();
+        assertThat(gate.isEnabled(Feature.replay)).isFalse();
+        assertThat(gate.getTier()).isEqualTo("MID");
+        assertThat(gate.getLimit("max_agents", 0)).isEqualTo(10);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/cameleer3-server-core/src/main/java/com/cameleer3/server/core/license/LicenseGate.java b/cameleer3-server-core/src/main/java/com/cameleer3/server/core/license/LicenseGate.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..da298960
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cameleer3-server-core/src/main/java/com/cameleer3/server/core/license/LicenseGate.java
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+package com.cameleer3.server.core.license;
+
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
+
+public class LicenseGate {
+
+    private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(LicenseGate.class);
+
+    private final AtomicReference<LicenseInfo> current = new AtomicReference<>(LicenseInfo.open());
+
+    public void load(LicenseInfo license) {
+        current.set(license);
+        log.info("License loaded: tier={}, features={}, expires={}",
+                license.tier(), license.features(), license.expiresAt());
+    }
+
+    public boolean isEnabled(Feature feature) {
+        return current.get().hasFeature(feature);
+    }
+
+    public String getTier() {
+        return current.get().tier();
+    }
+
+    public int getLimit(String key, int defaultValue) {
+        return current.get().getLimit(key, defaultValue);
+    }
+
+    public LicenseInfo getCurrent() {
+        return current.get();
+    }
+}