To function, MiXCR requires a valid license and must be able to periodically connect to the internet to validate it. Most license errors are caused by the environment where software is running, not by a faulty license key. This guide will help you diagnose and solve the most common issues.
If you need a new license, please visit the MiLaboratories licensing portal at https://licensing.milaboratories.com. Academic licenses are free.
The Most Common Error: License error: AuthorizationError: License expired
This error usually means MiXCR cannot validate your license, not that your license term has actually ended. Here are the most common reasons and their solutions.
Cause 1: Firewall is blocking the connection
Your institution's network may be blocking MiXCR from contacting our license server for validation.
Solution: Ask your IT or network administrator to add the following IP addresses to the firewall's "allowlist":
IPv4:
75.2.96.100,
99.83.215.63
IPv6:
2600:9000:a403:55e8:f9c1:f443:773b:4192
2600:9000:a51b:2483:639d:d5a9:270f:6439
Cause 2: MiXCR can't find the license in your environment (HPC/Docker)
This often happens on high-performance computing (HPC) clusters or in Docker containers. Activating the license on a "login node" doesn't guarantee it's available to the "compute node" where your job actually runs.
Solution for HPC/Clusters: The most reliable method is to use an environment variable. Add this line to your job submission script (e.g., your Slurm sbatch script):
export MI_LICENSE="<paste your entire license key here>"
Solution for Docker: You must pass the license to the container at runtime. Use the -e flag in your docker run command:|
docker run --rm -e MI_LICENSE="..." ghcr.io/milaboratory/mixcr/mixcr:latest...
Replace ... with your license key and the rest of your command.
Cause 3: Old license information is causing a conflict
If you recently updated your license, old files or settings might still be on your system.
Solution: Perform a quick cleanup. Run these commands in your terminal, then try activating your new license again using only one method:
rm -f ~/mi.license ~/.mi.license
unset MI_LICENSE
unset MI_LICENSE_FILE
Still Can't Find Your License?
f you have checked your spam folder and are certain the email address was correct, please contact our support team using the messenger on this page, and we will be happy to assist you.
To help us resolve your issue as quickly as possible, please include the following information in your request:
The full name and email address used for the license key.
The date of your registration.
Our team will locate your registration and resend your license key right away.