diff --git a/.changeset/license-payload-type.md b/.changeset/license-payload-type.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7fa08cc72e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/license-payload-type.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@milaboratories/pl-client": minor
+---
+
+Add `LicensePayload` type and `decodeLicenseToken` helper, describing the decoded body of a Platforma license token next to the Maintenance API `license()` call that returns it. The type includes the optional `le` claim (the license's own expiration, independent of the short-lived token TTL `e`). Includes a test that fetches the license from a live backend and asserts the required payload fields are always present.
diff --git a/lib/node/pl-client/src/core/license.test.ts b/lib/node/pl-client/src/core/license.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5ce7cd135b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/node/pl-client/src/core/license.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+import { getTestClient } from "../test/test_config";
+import { decodeLicenseToken, type LicensePayload } from "./license";
+import { test, expect } from "vitest";
+
+/**
+ * Fetches the license token from a live backend, decodes it, and checks that the
+ * required {@link LicensePayload} fields are always populated.
+ *
+ * This doubles as an investigation surface: point it at any backend via
+ * `PL_ADDRESS` / `PL_TEST_USER` / `PL_TEST_PASSWORD` and read the logged payload
+ * (notably `e`, the expiration timestamp) to inspect that backend's license.
+ */
+test("license payload carries all required fields", async () => {
+  const client = await getTestClient();
+
+  const resp = await client.license();
+  expect(resp.isOk).toBe(true);
+
+  // `responseBody` is the raw licensing-server body: a JSON-encoded token string.
+  const token = JSON.parse(Buffer.from(resp.responseBody).toString("utf8")) as string;
+
+  // decodeLicenseToken() itself asserts required fields are present and well-typed;
+  // an incomplete license from the backend would throw here.
+  const payload: LicensePayload = decodeLicenseToken(token);
+
+  // Explicit expectations mirror the required fields of LicensePayload, kept here
+  // so the contract is visible and easy to extend for future investigations.
+  expect(typeof payload.v).toBe("number");
+  expect(typeof payload.e).toBe("number");
+  expect(typeof payload.u).toBe("string");
+  expect(payload.u.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+  expect(typeof payload.m).toBe("string");
+
+  // Token expiration must come after the token's valid-from moment.
+  expect(payload.e).toBeGreaterThan(payload.v);
+
+  console.log("license payload:", JSON.stringify(payload, null, 2));
+  console.log("token valid from:", new Date(payload.v * 1000).toISOString());
+  console.log("token expires at:", new Date(payload.e * 1000).toISOString());
+  if (payload.le !== undefined) {
+    console.log("license expires at:", new Date(payload.le * 1000).toISOString());
+  }
+  if (payload.w !== undefined) {
+    console.log("warn after:", new Date(payload.w * 1000).toISOString());
+  }
+});
diff --git a/lib/node/pl-client/src/core/license.ts b/lib/node/pl-client/src/core/license.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c27e5fcdaf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/node/pl-client/src/core/license.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+/**
+ * Monitoring mode for a single telemetry channel, as encoded in the license.
+ *
+ * See https://github.com/milaboratory/text/blob/main/features/monitoring/platforma-monitoring-prd.md
+ */
+export type LicenseMonitoringMode = "with_id" | "no_id" | "none";
+
+/**
+ * License payload — the decoded body of a Platforma license token.
+ *
+ * The token is issued by the licensing server (milm2) and returned to clients
+ * verbatim by the backend's Maintenance API — see {@link PlClient.license}. The
+ * token has the form `I.<base64Payload>.<watermark>.<signature>`; this type
+ * describes the JSON found in `<base64Payload>` once base64-decoded (via
+ * {@link decodeLicenseToken}).
+ *
+ * Issuer reference: https://github.com/milaboratory/milm2/blob/master/src/types/index.ts
+ * Backend counterpart: `core/pl/cmd/platforma/license.go` (`License` struct).
+ */
+export interface LicensePayload {
+  /** Unix timestamp (seconds) the license itself is valid from (issuance), not a token time. */
+  v: number;
+  /**
+   * Unix timestamp (seconds) this license token expires after — the token's
+   * TTL, not the license's own validity period. Tokens are short-lived and
+   * re-minted (e.g. a 24h TTL yields `e` = issued-at + 86400) even when the
+   * underlying license is valid far longer, so `e` is not the license
+   * expiration date.
+   */
+  e: number;
+  /**
+   * [optional] Unix timestamp (seconds) the license itself expires — the
+   * underlying license/contract end date, independent of the short-lived
+   * token TTL `e`. Derived from the contract expiration before any token-TTL
+   * clamping, so this is the field to use when reasoning about whether the
+   * license (not the current token) has expired. Absent on tokens from older
+   * licensing servers that predate the `le` claim.
+   */
+  le?: number;
+  /** UID of the customer. */
+  u: string;
+  /** Metric marker — attached to usage statistics. */
+  m: string;
+  /** [optional] Fallback license code, used once the license has expired. */
+  l?: string;
+  /** [optional] Unix timestamp (seconds); warn the user about expiration after this moment. */
+  w?: number;
+  /** [optional] Warning text; if `w` is set while `wt` is absent, a default warning should be shown. */
+  wt?: string;
+  /** [optional] Expiration text — shown to the user once the license has expired. */
+  et?: string;
+  c?: Record<string, unknown>;
+  t?: Record<string, unknown>;
+  hw?: string;
+  f?: Record<string, string>;
+  /**
+   * Monitoring configuration.
+   * https://github.com/milaboratory/text/blob/main/features/monitoring/platforma-monitoring-prd.md
+   */
+  s?: {
+    usage?: LicenseMonitoringMode;
+    performance?: LicenseMonitoringMode;
+    errors?: LicenseMonitoringMode;
+    safeErrors?: LicenseMonitoringMode;
+    errorTraces?: LicenseMonitoringMode;
+  };
+}
+
+/** Fixed first segment of a well-formed license token. */
+const LICENSE_TOKEN_PREFIX = "I";
+/** Fixed watermark segment of a well-formed license token. */
+const LICENSE_TOKEN_WATERMARK = "CPECUVF";
+
+/**
+ * Runtime guard: asserts that a value parsed from a license token carries every
+ * required field with the expected type. Throws a descriptive error otherwise.
+ *
+ * Only the always-present fields (`v`, `e`, `u`, `m`) are validated — everything
+ * else in {@link LicensePayload} is optional and issuer-dependent. Internal:
+ * callers get validation for free via {@link decodeLicenseToken}.
+ */
+function assertLicensePayload(value: unknown): asserts value is LicensePayload {
+  if (typeof value !== "object" || value === null) {
+    throw new Error(`invalid license payload: expected an object, got ${typeof value}`);
+  }
+  const p = value as Record<string, unknown>;
+  const requireType = (field: string, type: "number" | "string") => {
+    if (typeof p[field] !== type) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `invalid license payload: field "${field}" must be a ${type}, got ${typeof p[field]}`,
+      );
+    }
+  };
+  requireType("v", "number");
+  requireType("e", "number");
+  requireType("u", "string");
+  requireType("m", "string");
+}
+
+/**
+ * Decode a raw license token into a validated {@link LicensePayload}.
+ *
+ * Mirrors the desktop app's token parser and the backend's `NewLicenseFromPayload`:
+ * it splits the `I.<base64Payload>.<watermark>.<signature>` envelope, checks the
+ * fixed prefix/watermark, base64-decodes the payload segment and validates that
+ * all required fields are present. This does NOT verify the cryptographic
+ * signature — as token is used by MiLM manager to access its API, this signature
+ * is for MiLM itself, who issued the token.
+ */
+export function decodeLicenseToken(token: string): LicensePayload {
+  const segments = token.split(".");
+  const [prefix, base64Payload, watermark, signature] = segments;
+  if (
+    segments.length !== 4 ||
+    prefix !== LICENSE_TOKEN_PREFIX ||
+    watermark !== LICENSE_TOKEN_WATERMARK ||
+    typeof base64Payload !== "string" ||
+    base64Payload.length === 0 ||
+    typeof signature !== "string" ||
+    signature.length === 0
+  ) {
+    throw new Error("invalid license token: unexpected envelope format");
+  }
+
+  const payloadStr = Buffer.from(base64Payload, "base64").toString("utf8");
+
+  let parsed: unknown;
+  try {
+    parsed = JSON.parse(payloadStr);
+  } catch (cause) {
+    throw new Error("invalid license token: payload is not valid JSON", { cause });
+  }
+
+  assertLicensePayload(parsed);
+  return parsed;
+}
diff --git a/lib/node/pl-client/src/index.ts b/lib/node/pl-client/src/index.ts
index 619813ca31..9856875b8b 100644
--- a/lib/node/pl-client/src/index.ts
+++ b/lib/node/pl-client/src/index.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ export * from "./core/types";
 export * as Pl from "./helpers/pl";
 export * from "./core/config";
 export * from "./core/client";
+export * from "./core/license";
 export * from "./core/driver";
 export * from "./core/transaction";
 export * from "./core/errors";