Reader Agreement

Last updated: 2026-05-14 · These terms are reviewed by Astra periodically and effective on the Last updated date above.

This Reader Agreement is the contract you accept when you apply to become an Astra Reader (also called a "Creator" or "Cultural Guide" in some legacy copy). It supplements the Terms of Service, Reader Marketplace Agreement, Community Guidelines, Live Streaming Rules, Astrology & Divination Disclaimer, and Safety & Age Policy.

If you are also an Astra subscriber, your subscriber-side rights remain governed by the Subscription Terms.

1. Your status: independent contractor

You are an independent practitioner / independent contractor. You are not an Astra employee, agent, partner, joint venturer, or franchisee. You have no authority to bind Astra to any third party.

You set your hours, your reading style, your prices (within platform tiers), your refusal-of-service standards (within the Community Guidelines and the law).
Astra provides the booking system, payment rails, identity verification, dispute mediation, content moderation, discovery, and AI tooling.
No exclusivity. You may practise elsewhere, including on competing platforms, except as expressly limited by a separate written agreement.

You are responsible for your own taxes, insurance, licenses, and business registrations. We strongly recommend professional- liability ("E&O") insurance in your jurisdiction.

2. Eligibility and vetting

To become a Reader you must:

Be 18 or older (no exceptions; 16-17 can co-host with parental consent under Live rules but cannot list as a paid Reader).
Complete Stripe Identity government-ID + selfie verification.
Pass a sample reading audit — a 15-minute recorded session reviewed by our trust team for the rules in § 5.
Submit a tax form: IRS Form W-9 (US residents) or IRS Form W-8BEN / W-8BEN-E (non-US).
Have no active community-guidelines suspension and no zero-tolerance history (Community Guidelines § 2).
Confirm tradition / certification details accurately. Self-taught is allowed; faked credentials are not.
Where required by your jurisdiction (e.g. certain US states, provinces of Canada): hold any locally required occupational licence (psychic / clairvoyant licensing, where applicable). Astra does not advise on which jurisdictions require licensure.

We may re-verify annually, on category change, on receipt of adverse reports, or for sampled audits.

3. What Astra provides

Reader profile page, scheduling, calendaring
Voice-AI assist tools (transcription, prompt scaffolds) — opt-in
Trust & safety: ID verification, dispute mediation, fraud detection, crisis routing
Payments: card processing, Stripe Connect payout, FX conversion, tax-form collection
Discovery: /readers listing, search, AI-assisted recommendations
Anonymised analytics on your performance

4. Revenue split, fees, and payouts

Platform fee: 30% of the session payment (or applicable product). 70% to you.
Payments are held in escrow until the session completes successfully plus a 24-hour seeker dispute window.
Payouts: monthly, on the 1st of each month, via Stripe Connect, subject to a $50 minimum balance. Balances below $50 roll forward.
Chargebacks by a seeker pause the relevant payout until resolved. Chargebacks the seeker wins reduce your balance.
Refunds follow the Refund Policy (24-hour reader no-show refund, quality-complaint dispute review, etc.).
Tax: you are solely responsible. Astra files IRS Form 1099-K for US-resident Readers above the IRS threshold.
We may pause payouts for an account under investigation for fraud, abuse, or violation of this Agreement.

5. Your obligations to seekers

5.1 Honesty

Accurately disclose your training, lineage, certifications.
Do not impersonate another Reader or claim affiliations you do not have.

5.2 Reflection, not prediction

Never guarantee outcomes ("you will get the job", "they will come back", "you have a tumour"). Astra is reflection, not prediction.
Never give medical, psychiatric, legal, financial, tax, or immigration advice. Refer to licensed professionals.
Refer out when topics exceed your scope.

5.3 Crisis protocols

If a seeker presents indicators of crisis (suicidal ideation, self-harm intent, abuse disclosure, acute psychotic symptoms, substance-use emergency, child-safety concern, intimate-partner violence), you must:

Pause the session and acknowledge what you heard with care.
Activate the Crisis Support in-room card; surface the regional hotline numbers.
Do not continue divination content while a crisis indicator is live. Do not "predict" the outcome of a crisis.
If the seeker indicates immediate danger to self or others, end the divination thread and stay with the seeker in safety posture until they accept a hotline or end the session.
File a safety report within 12 hours so Astra can follow up.

The full crisis-routing script is in the Reader Handbook at /help/readers/crisis. Failure to follow crisis protocols is grounds for immediate suspension.

5.4 Boundaries

No off-platform soliciting. Do not direct seekers to alternative payment channels (Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, bank transfer, crypto). Doing so is an instant-termination violation.
No romantic or sexual contact with seekers.
No real-world meetups arranged via DM.
No dependence-engineering tactics ("you need to rebook urgently or…").
No exploitation of grief, addiction, or crisis for upsell.
No content that targets identity under astrology framing.

5.5 Confidentiality

Treat reading content as confidential. Do not share specifics with anyone, including in your social channels or your own marketing, without explicit written consent of the seeker. Anonymised reflections in your own content are fine with documented consent.

5.6 Disclosures

Disclose compensated promotions (sponsored shop items, cross-promo with other Readers).
Disclose AI assistance if any part of your session output is AI-drafted.

6. Content rights

You retain ownership of your session and authored content. You grant Astra a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable licence to:

Display your profile and content in /readers, search, and recommendations.
Use anonymised excerpts for marketing only if you opt in in Settings → Marketing rights.
Use de-identified session data to improve internal AI tools only if you opt in in Settings → AI training (separate from marketing rights).

The licence ends when you delete the content or terminate this Agreement, except for backups and previously distributed materials (which expire within 90 days where technically feasible).

7. Right to suspend or terminate

Astra may suspend your Reader status, your monetisation, or your account where:

You materially breach this Agreement or any other Astra policy.
A pattern of low ratings + verified complaints emerges.
You fail to follow crisis protocols.
You attempt off-platform soliciting.
You fail re-verification.
You are subject to a credible safety report.
You go inactive for six (6) months with notice.
Required by law, regulator, or court.

Immediate termination without notice for zero-tolerance violations (Community Guidelines § 2).

You may terminate this Agreement with 30 days' written notice to hello@astraplatform.ai. Astra will honour already-booked sessions during the notice window.

8. Confidential information, data protection

You will receive personal data of seekers in the ordinary course of sessions. You agree to:

Process it only for delivering the session.
Not export, sell, or share it with third parties.
Implement reasonable security on your devices.
Promptly notify Astra at hello@astraplatform.ai if you experience a personal-data breach.

You are a data sub-processor acting on Astra's documented instructions; in some jurisdictions you may be a joint controller. Astra will sign a DPA addendum on request.

9. Liability and indemnification

Astra is not liable for the content or outcome of your readings.

You agree to indemnify and hold Astra harmless from claims arising out of (a) your readings, (b) your breach of this Agreement, (c) your tax obligations, (d) your professional licensing or lack thereof, or (e) your interactions with seekers off the Platform.

Your aggregate liability to Astra under this Agreement is not limited with respect to: gross negligence, wilful misconduct, fraud, IP infringement, breach of confidentiality, or breach of Section 5.3 (crisis protocols).

10. Governing law and disputes

Governed by the State of Delaware, USA. Disputes between you and Astra follow the same arbitration and consumer-court reservation rules as the Terms of Service § 12. Disputes between you and a seeker are mediated by Astra under the Refund Policy.

11. Changes

Astra may update this Agreement. Material changes (revenue split, payout schedule, crisis protocols, IP licence) will be notified at least 30 days before the effective date and require your renewed acceptance in Settings → Reader Agreement.