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In app purchase events

Processing Webhooks

Configure Apple or Google server-side notifications so that subscriptions created using process purchase command API are kept up-to-date using information received via the webhooks. Generate a notifications URL using these links - Apple and Google and configure it in their respective stores.

The following table lists the notification types from App Store and describes how Chargebee responds to each of them.

Note:
  • V1 Notification types available on the App Store sandbox are listed here.
  • Chargebee supports both App Store notifications v1 and v2.

App Store Server Notifications V2


Notification type
Subtype
Chargebee’s response

TEST

Notification without any Subtype

Indicates that the App Store server sends when you request it by calling the Request a Test Notification endpoint. Call that endpoint to test if your server is receiving notifications. You receive this notification only at your request.

Chargebee tests if a notification is received or not. No webhook gets triggered.

SUBSCRIBED

INITIAL_BUY

Indicates that the user purchased the subscription for the first time or that the user received access to the subscription through Family Sharing for the first time.

Chargebee does not take action as the initial purchase is recorded using Process Purchase Command API. However you can view these events in the “Sync events” page, if the subscription is present in the app store but wasn’t created in Chargebee due to network failures. These events can be filtered by selecting “Pending” status in the Sync events page and then can be synced to Chargebee by invoking Process Purchase Command API for the associated receipt.

RESUBSCRIBE

Indicates that the user resubscribed or received access through Family Sharing to the same subscription or to another subscription within the same subscription group.

Chargebee webhooks triggered:  

subscription_reactivated, subscription_reactivated_with_backdating, payment_succeeded, and invoice_updated.

RENEWAL_EXTENDED

Notification without any Subtype

Indicates that the App Store extended the subscription renewal date that the developer requested. Learn more about Extend a Subscription Renewal Date.

Chargebee can extend the current term end date based on the requested date. 

Chargebee webhooks triggered:  

subscription_changed

REFUND_DECLINED

Notification without any Subtype

Indicates that the App Store declined a refund request initiated by the app developer.

The event will be recorded in the Sync events table if the refund request is declined. Chargebee will not take any action or trigger any webhook.

REFUND

Notification without any Subtype

Indicates that App Store successfully completed refund(Revocation Date and Revocation Reason will hold the date and reason for refund).

Chargebee webhooks triggered: 

subscription_changed, credit_note_created, credit_note_updated, subscription_cancelled, and payment_refunded.

GRACE_PERIOD_EXPIRED

Notification without any Subtype

Indicates that the billing grace period has ended without renewing the subscription, so you can turn off access to service or content. The App Store continues to retry billing for 60 days, or until the user resolves their billing issue or cancels their subscription, whichever comes first.

Chargebee webhooks triggered: 

subscription_changed, subscription_cancellation_scheduled, subscription_cancellation_reminder, and subscription_cancelled

EXPIRED

BILLING_RETRY

Indicates that the subscription expired because the subscription failed to renew before the billing retry period ended.

Chargebee webhooks triggered: 

subscription_changed and subscription_cancelled

VOLUNTARY

Indicates that the subscription expired after the user disabled subscription auto-renewal.

Chargebee webhooks triggered: 

subscription_changed and subscription_cancelled

PRICE_INCREASE

Indicates that the subscription expired because the user didn’t consent to a price increase.

Chargebee webhooks triggered: 

subscription_changed and subscription_cancelled

PRODUCT_NOT_FOR_SALE

Indicates that the subscription expired because the product wasn't available for purchase at the time the subscription attempted to renew.

Chargebee webhooks triggered: 

subscription_changed and subscription_cancelled

Notification without any Subtype

Indicates that the subscription expired for some other reason.

Chargebee webhooks triggered: 

subscription_changed and subscription_cancelled

DID_RENEW

Notification without any Subtype

Indicates that the active subscription has successfully auto-renewed for a new transaction period. Provide the customer with access to the subscription’s content or service.

Chargebee webhooks triggered: 

subscription_renewed, subscription_changed, invoice_generated, payment_succeeded, and invoice_updated

BILLING_RECOVERY

Indicates that the expired subscription which previously failed to renew now successfully renewed.

Chargebee webhooks triggered if the subscription is active:

subscription_renewed, subscription_changed, invoice_generated, payment_succeeded, and invoice_updated

Chargebee webhooks triggered if the subscription is canceled:

subscription_reactivated, subscription_reactivated_with_backdating, payment_succeeded, and invoice_updated

 

DID_FAIL_TO_RENEW

GRACE_PERIOD

Indicates that the subscription failed to renew due to a billing issue; continue to provide access to the subscription during the grace period.

Chargebee webhooks triggered:

subscription_changed, subscription_cancellation_scheduled, subscription_cancellation_reminder

Notification without any Subtype

Indicates that the grace period for subscription renewal is over and the service is stopped.

Chargebee webhooks triggered:

subscription_changed and subscription_cancelled

DID_CHANGE_RENEWAL_STATUS

AUTO_RENEW_ENABLED

Indicates that the user enabled subscription auto-renewal.

Chargebee webhooks triggered:

subscription_reactivated, subscription_reactivated_with_backdating, payment_succeeded, and invoice_updated

AUTO_RENEW_DISABLED

Indicates that the user disabled subscription auto-renewal, or the App Store disabled subscription auto-renewal after the user requested a refund.

Chargebee webhooks triggered:

subscription_changed, subscription_cancellation_scheduled, subscription_cancellation_reminder, and subscription_cancelled

DID_CHANGE_RENEWAL_PREF

UPGRADE

Indicates that the user upgraded their subscription. Upgrades take effect immediately.

Chargebee webhooks triggered

subscription_changed, invoice_generated, payment_succeeded, and invoice_updated

DOWNGRADE

Indicates that the user downgraded their subscription. Downgrades take effect at the next renewal.

In Chargebee cancellation will be scheduled at the end of the term. 

Chargebee webhooks triggered:

subscription_changed

Notification without any Subtype

Indicates that the user canceled the downgrade which is scheduled.

Chargebee webhooks triggered:

subscription_changed

PRICE_INCREASE

PENDING

Chargebee does not support this notification. Therefore, this notification is not recorded in Chargebee.

ACCEPTED

Chargebee does not support this notification. Therefore, this notification is not recorded in Chargebee.

OFFER_REDEEMED

INITIAL_BUY

Chargebee does not support this notification. Therefore, this notification is not recorded in Chargebee.

RESUBSCRIBE

Chargebee does not support this notification. Therefore, this notification is not recorded in Chargebee.

UPGRADE

Chargebee does not support this notification. Therefore, this notification is not recorded in Chargebee.

DOWNGRADE

Chargebee does not support this notification. Therefore, this notification is not recorded in Chargebee.

Notification without any Subtype

Chargebee does not support this notification. Therefore, this notification is not recorded in Chargebee.

REVOKE

Notification without any Subtype

Chargebee does not support this notification. Therefore, this notification is not recorded in Chargebee.

CONSUMPTION_REQUEST

Notification without any Subtype

Chargebee does not support this notification. Therefore, this notification is not recorded in Chargebee.

App Store Server Notifications V1

Notification type
Chargebee’s response
DID_CHANGE_RENEWAL_STATUS,
INTERACTIVE_RENEWAL
This notification triggers when a subscription is active or the customer is upgraded to another SKU (stock-keeping unit).
Chargebee checks relevant details in the receipt to detect an upgrade event. Once an upgrade event is detected, you can update the subscription with the new product details, and allow the update to take effect immediately.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
For subscription cancellation, whether immediately or at the end of the term.
subscription_changed, subscription_cancellation_scheduled, subscription_cancellation_reminder, and subscription_cancelled.


For subscription upgrade with proration.
subscription_changed, invoice_generated, payment_succeeded, and invoice_updated.

For subscription reactivation.
subscription_reactivated, subscription_reactivated_with_backdating, payment_succeeded, and invoice_updated.

For regular subscription renewal.
subscription_renewed, subscription_changed, invoice_generated, payment_succeeded, and invoice_updated.
DID_CHANGE_RENEWAL_PREF This notification triggers when a subscription is active or the customer is downgraded to another SKU(stock-keeping unit). It indicates that the customer made a change in their subscription plan that takes effect at the next renewal. The currently active plan is not affected.
Chargebee schedule downgrades to take effect at the end of the period. At the end of the billing period, confirm the downgrade at Apple’s end before downgrading it in the Chargebee.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
For subscription upgrade with proration.
subscription_changed, invoice_generated, payment_succeeded, and invoice_updated.
DID_CHANGE_RENEWAL_STATUS This notification triggers when a subscription is expired or the customer resubscribes to the same SKU(stock-keeping unit).
Chargebee re-activates subscription immediately.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
For subscription cancellation.
subscription_changed, subscription_cancellation_scheduled, subscription_cancellation_reminder, and subscription_cancelled.

For subscription upgrade with proration.
subscription_changed, invoice_generated, payment_succeeded, and invoice_updated.
INTERACTIVE_RENEWAL,
DID_CHANGE_RENEWAL_STATUS
This notification triggers when a subscription is expired or the customer resubscribed to another SKU (upgrade or downgrade).
Chargebee immediately re-activates the subscription with the new product(plan or item).

Chargebee webhooks triggered
For subscription upgrade with proration.
subscription_changed, invoice_generated, payment_succeeded, and invoice_updated.

For subscription cancellation, whether immediately or at the end of the term.
subscription_changed, subscription_cancellation_scheduled, subscription_cancellation_reminder, and subscription_cancelled.
DID_CHANGE_RENEWAL_STATUS This notification triggers when the customer canceled the subscription from the App Store Subscriptions settings page. Their subscription will not auto-renew and will expire on the expires_date.
Chargebee sets subscription to cancel at expires_date.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
For subscription cancellation, whether immediately or at the end of the term.
subscription_changed, subscription_cancellation_scheduled, subscription_cancellation_reminder, and subscription_cancelled.
DID_CHANGE_RENEWAL_STATUS This notification triggers when the customer previously canceled the subscription but now resubscribed to the same product before the subscription expired. The subscription will auto-renew on the expires_date.
Chargebee removes scheduled cancellation of subscription and allows it to auto-renew. If the dates have changed for the term start and end, change the same in the Chargebee subscription.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
For subscription reactivation.
subscription_reactivated, subscription_reactivated_with_backdating, payment_succeeded, and invoice_updated.
CANCEL,
DID_CHANGE_RENEWAL_STATUS
This notification triggers when AppleCare refunded a subscription.
CANCEL indicates that Apple Support cancelled the auto-renewable subscription and the customer received a refund as of the timestamp in cancellation_date_ms.
Chargebee cancels the subscription on cancellation_date_ms. Record an offline refund and create a refundable credit note for the full amount. Record cancellation comment on the refund transaction saying canceled by Apple Support.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
For subscription cancellation, whether immediately or at the end of the term.
subscription_changed, subscription_cancellation_scheduled, subscription_cancellation_reminder, and subscription_cancelled.
DID_FAIL_TO_RENEW This notification triggers when the subscription failed to renew because of a billing issue. It Indicates a subscription that failed to renew due to a billing issue. Check is_in_billing_retry_period to know the current retry status of the subscription. Check grace_period_expires_date to know the new service expiration date if the subscription is in a billing grace period.
Chargebee takes the following actions.
- When we receive this notification before a renewal invoice is created, schedule a cancellation at the end of the current term, if there is no grace period defined in the receipt.
- When the notification is received, after the renewal invoice is generated, the subscription remains active while the invoice status becomes not_paid.
- If grace_period_expires_date exists, schedule a subscription cancellation on that date.
- If there is no recovery until the scheduled cancellation date, then the subscription will get cancelled as scheduled, and the not_paid invoice will get written off.
- If grace_period_expires_date does not exist, cancel the subscription and write off the invoice immediately.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
For subscription cancellation, whether immediately or at the end of the term.
subscription_changed, subscription_cancellation_scheduled, subscription_cancellation_reminder, and subscription_cancelled.
DID_RECOVER This notification triggers when expired subscription recovered by App Store through a billing retry. It indicates a successful automatic renewal of an expired subscription that failed to renew in the past. Check expires_date to determine the next renewal date and time.
Chargebee resumes the paused subscription with any changes in subscription term dates as per receipt data. Remove scheduled cancellation. If we are syncing dunning information, update it accordingly.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
For regular subscription renewal.
subscription_renewed, subscription_changed, invoice_generated, payment_succeeded, and invoice_updated.
DID_CHANGE_RENEWAL_STATUS This notification triggers when the subscription has churned after failed billing retry attempts. It indicates a change in the subscription renewal status. In the JSON response, check auto_renew_status_change_date_ms to know the date and time of the last status update. Check auto_renew_status to know the current renewal status.
Chargebee cancels the subscription at the end of the current term.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
For subscription cancellation, whether immediately or at the end of the term.
subscription_changed, subscription_cancellation_scheduled, subscription_cancellation_reminder, and subscription_cancelled.
REFUND This notification triggers when AppleCare successfully refunded the transaction for a consumable, non-consumable, or non-renewing subscription. Here, the cancellation_date_ms contains the timestamp of the refunded transaction. The original_transaction_id and product_id identify the original transaction and product. The cancellation_reason contains the reason.
Chargebee cancels the subscription on a specified date and records an offline refund for the full amount as canceled by Apple Support.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
subscription_changed, credit_note_created, credit_note_updated, subscription_cancelled, and payment_refunded.
PRICE_INCREASE_CONSENT This notification triggers when the subscription price is increased, and the customer must agree to the increase before the subscription auto-renews. It indicates that App Store has started asking the customer to consent to your app’s subscription price increase. In the unified_receipt.Pending_renewal_info object, the price_consent_status value is 0, indicating that App Store is asking for the customer’s consent, and hasn’t received it. The subscription won’t auto-renew unless the user agrees to the new price. When the customer agrees to the price increase, the system sets price_consent_status to 1. Check the receipt using verifyReceipt to view the updated price-consent status.
Chargebee updates the subscription overriding subscription price. When consent is not received and renewal date is reached, pause the subscription. If possible, add a comment on the subscription saying “Paused because price increase consent not received from the customer”.
DID_RENEW This notification triggers when a customer’s subscription is successfully auto-renewed for a new transaction period.
Chargebee renews the subscription if not already auto-renewed.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
For regular subscription renewal.
subscription_renewed, subscription_changed, invoice_generated, payment_succeeded, and invoice_updated.
REVOKE This notification triggers when a purchaser disabled Family Sharing for a product, the purchaser (or family member) left the family group, or the purchaser asked for and received a refund. Your app will also receive a paymentQueue(_:didRevokeEntitlementsForProductIdentifiers:) call. For more information about Family Sharing, see Supporting Family Sharing in Your App.
CONSUMPTION_REQUEST The customer initiated a refund request for a consumable in-app purchase.
Chargebee does not support this notification.
INITIAL_BUY

Indicates that the user purchased the subscription for the first time or that the user received access to the subscription through Family Sharing for the first time.

Chargebee does not take action as the initial purchase is recorded using Process Purchase Command API. However you can view these events in the “Sync events” page, if the subscription is present in the app store but wasn’t created in Chargebee due to network failures. These events can be filtered by selecting “Pending” status in the Sync events page and then can be synced to Chargebee by invoking Process Purchase Command API for the associated receipt.

Webhook events triggered for creating an Apple subscription

When an in-app subscription is created in Chargebee, the following webhook events get generated in sequence.

  • Creates a plan created or Item (plan_created or item_created)
  • Creates a customer (customer_created)
  • Creates a subscription (subscription_created)
  • Updates a subscription (subscription_changed)
  • Generates an invoice (invoice_generated)
  • Successful payments (payment_succeeded)
  • Updates an invoice (invoice_updated)
Note

Webhooks are asynchronous by nature; therefore not recommended for time-critical applications. Webhooks may reach your application in a different order and become redundant. For time-critical applications, Chargebee recommends using the List events API to poll Chargebee for events.

Troubleshooting apple's webhook processing errors

Since Apple notifications do not provide any price information, processing a webhook fails in the following scenarios:

Issue
Solution
A new purchase (INITIAL_BUY) server notification is received. Always use the process purchase command API to record a new purchase. Chargebee requires the amount paid and the currency to create a subscription.
A notification is received for an SKU (plan) change but the plan-item price is unavailable in Chargebee. Create the plan-item price in Chargebee via API or admin console, then retry processing the webhook.

Chargebee acts upon certain notifications from Google. On receiving any of the notifications listed in the table below, Chargebee checks whether the subscription is present. If present, it carries out certain actions as described in the table. The webhooks triggered due to these actions are also listed here for convenience.

Google notification
Chargebee’s response
SUBSCRIPTION_RECOVERED When the subscription is in the paused state, Chargebee resumes the subscription or schedules it for resumption.

Chargebee webhooks triggered

For in-term resumption.
subscription_resumed

For out-of-term resumption.
subscription_resumed and invoice_generated

For scheduled resumption.
subscription_resumption_scheduled
SUBSCRIPTION_RENEWED Chargebee updates the subscription with the next renewal date. After receiving this notification if the subscription is in the canceled state, Chargebee reactivates the subscription.

Chargebee webhooks triggered

For subscription reactivation.
subscription_reactivated, subscription_reactivated_with_backdating, payment_succeeded, and invoice_updated.

For regular subscription renewal.

subscription_renewed, subscription_changed, invoice_generated, payment_succeeded, and invoice_updated.
SUBSCRIPTION_RESTARTED Chargebee reactivates the canceled subscription.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
subscription_reactivated, subscription_reactivated_with_backdating, payment_succeeded, and invoice_updated.
SUBSCRIPTION_IN_GRACE_PERIOD Chargebee extends the current subscription term.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
subscription_changed
SUBSCRIPTION_ON_HOLD Chargebee pauses the subscription and keeps it on hold.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
subscription_paused
SUBSCRIPTION_PAUSED If the subscription is not already paused, Chargebee pauses the subscription.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
subscription_paused
SUBSCRIPTION_PAUSE_SCHEDULE_CHANGED If the subscription is not already paused, Chargebee schedules the subscription pause on the pause_date.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
subscription_pause_scheduled
SUBSCRIPTION_REVOKED Chargebee cancels the subscription immediately.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
invoice_updated and subscription_cancelled
SUBSCRIPTION_CANCELED Chargebee cancels the subscription or schedules it for cancellation.

Chargebee webhooks triggered

For subscription cancellation, whether immediately or at the end of the term.
subscription_changed, subscription_cancellation_scheduled, subscription_cancellation_reminder, and subscription_cancelled.
SUBSCRIPTION_EXPIRED Chargebee cancels the subscription immediately.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
subscription_cancelled
SUBSCRIPTION_PURCHASED Indicates that the user purchased the subscription for the first time. Chargebee does not take action as the initial purchase is recorded using Process Purchase Command API.
However, you can view these events in the “Sync events” page, if the subscription is present in the play store but wasn’t created in Chargebee due to network failures. These events can be filtered by selecting “Pending” status in the Sync events page and then can be synced to Chargebee by invoking Process Purchase Command API for the associated receipt.
SUBSCRIPTION_PRICE_CHANGE_CONFIRMED Chargebee does not support this notification.
SUBSCRIPTION_DEFERRED Chargebee does not support this notification.