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In app subscriptions

Using In-app Subscriptions, you can track subscriptions you sell and service via in-app purchase channels such as Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store. Call this API to notify Chargebee of new subscription purchases. Chargebee responds by creating corresponding subscriptions. You can make the API call directly from the client-side application or from your server. In the case of the Apple App Store integration, you can also configure Chargebee to receive server notifications from Apple to keep subscriptions up-to-date.

Note
Only one app can be connected to any given Chargebee site via Chargebee user interface.
To connect multiple apps reach out to mobile@chargebee.com.

In-app subscriptions are read-only

The subscriptions created via the Process Purchase Command API are managed by Apple or Google in response to actions taken by your subscribers via their respective accounts. Chargebee only keeps track of these subscriptions: creating and modifying them in response to events happening against the original subscriptions. Consequently, these subscriptions cannot be modified by you via the Chargebee admin console or the Subscriptions API.

Processing Apple Webhooks

Configure Apple server-side notifications so that subscriptions created using process purchase command API are kept up-to-date using information received via the webhooks.

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

Note:
Notification type
Description
INITIAL_BUY This notification triggers when the customer completes an initial subscription purchase.
Chargebee does not use this notification because the amount paid and currency are required to create a subscription. Always use the process purchase command API to record a new purchase.

Chargebee webhooks triggered
customer_created (If a customer is created), invoice_generated, subscription_created, subscription_changed,
payment_succeeded, invoice_updated, and subscription_created_with_backdating.
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.

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.

Sample in app subscription [ JSON ]

{ "subscription_id": "1000000807994664", "customer_id": "customer-123", "plan_id": "app_store_plan_id-USD" }

In app subscription attributes

subscription_id
optional, string, max chars=100
The id of the subscription for which the receipt was sent.
customer_id
optional, string, max chars=100
The id of the customer object to which the subscription belongs.
plan_id
optional, string, max chars=100
The id of the plan-item price of the subscription.

Process Purchase Command

Verifies an in-app purchase made by your customer and creates a subscription in Chargebee.

Tip

The recommended approach is to call this endpoint from the client-side app directly. However, if you are using this API to replace an existing direct integration with Apple or Google, then you may choose to call this API from the server-side.

This section provides details of the Process Purchase Command operation when performed for the Apple App Store. This API processes only the latest in-app transaction on the receipt. Sync historical subscriptions into Chargebee using bulk import of In-App Purchase receipts.

Important
  • Integrate Chargebee with your Apple App Store account using your shared secret from Apple.
  • It is strongly recommended to use this endpoint to notify Chargebee of new purchases only.
  • For updates to existing subscriptions, we recommend that you configure Apple App Store to send server notifications to Chargebee.

Chargebee validates the receipt with Apple App Store and does the following once validation succeeds:

  1. Look for item_family.id that matches the value Apple-App-Store, and create such a product family if not found.
  2. Look for item.id that matches product[id] and if not found, create such a plan-item under the item family described in the previous step.
  3. Look for item_price.id that matches the concatenation of product[id] and product[currency_code], and if not found, create such an item price under the item described in the previous step.
  4. Create/update a subscription:
    • If the receipt is for a new purchase, a new subscription is created for the plan-item price described in the previous step. The subscription has the following details:
    • Instead, if the receipt belongs to an existing subscription in Chargebee, it is updated to reflect the current state of the subscription at Apple.
  5. The payment is recorded against the subscription invoice. The associated transaction is updated with the following details:

This section provides details of the Process Purchase Command operation when performed for the Google Play Store. This API processes only the latest in-app transaction using the purchase token.

Important
  • Integrate Chargebee with your Google Play Store account using the service account credentials JSON.
  • It is strongly recommended to use this endpoint to notify Chargebee of new purchases only.
  • For updates to existing subscriptions, we recommend that you configure Chargebee to receive Google’s server notifications through pub/sub topic. Learn more.

Chargebee validates the purchase token with Google Play Store and does the following once validation succeeds:

  1. Look for item_family.id that matches the value Google-Play-Store, and create such a product family if not found.
  2. Look for item.id that matches product[id] and if not found, create such a plan-item under the item family described in the previous step.
  3. Look for item_price.id that matches the concatenation of product[id] and priceCurrencyCode, and if not found, create such an item price under the item described in the previous step.
  4. Create/update a subscription:
    • If this token is for a new purchase, a new subscription is created for the plan-item price described in the previous step. The subscription has the following details:
      • id set to unique identifier generated by Chargebee and mapped to token of the SubscriptionPurchase object from Google response.
      • start_date set to SubscriptionPurchase.startTimeMillis.
      • current_term_end set to SubscriptionPurchase.expiryTimeMillis.
    • Instead, if the token belongs to an existing subscription in Chargebee, it is updated to reflect the current state of the subscription at Google.
  5. The payment is recorded against the subscription invoice. The associated transaction is updated with the following details:

Path Parameter

{in_app_subscription_app_id}: The handle created by Chargebee for your Apple App Store or Google Play Store app. It can be obtained from the Chargebee web app.

The following are instructions to obtain the value of the path parameter for the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

  • Apple App Store: To obtain the value for {in_app_subscription_app_id}, click View Keys within the Sync Overview page of the web app and use the value of generated App ID for this parameter. See detailed steps here.
  • Google Play Store: To obtain the value for {in_app_subscription_app_id}, click Set up notifications within the Sync Overview page of the web app and use the value of generated App ID for this parameter. See detailed steps here.

Sample Request 
# Create an In app subscription for Apple App Store
curl  https://{site}.chargebee.com/api/v2/in_app_subscriptions/cb-pjp7hcmrcbfmtjhle3smlwicu4/process_purchase_command \
     -X POST  \
     -u {site_api_key}:\
     -d receipt="Apple Based64 Encoded Receipt" \
     -d product[id]="app_store_plan_id" \
     -d product[price]=3399 \
     -d product[price_in_decimal]="33.99" \
     -d product[currency_code]="USD" \
     -d customer[id]="customer-123"
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Sample Response [ JSON ]

URL Format POST

https://{site}.chargebee.com/api/v2/in_app_subscriptions/{in_app_subscription_app_id}/process_purchase_command

Input Parameters

receipt
required, string, max chars=65k
Google Play Store: The purchase token taken from the Android device after successful creation of the in-app purchase.
required, string, max chars=65k

Apple App Store: The Base64 encoded App Store in-app purchase receipt taken from the Apple device after successful creation of the in-app purchase.
+
product
Parameters for product
pass parameters as product[<param name>]
product[id]
required, string, max chars=96
Google Play Store: The unique identifier of the product purchased. The value of this parameter is the productId/subscriptionId or sku received from the Google Play Store.
required, string, max chars=96

Apple App Store: The unique identifier (created in App Store Connect) of the product purchased.
product[name]
optional, string, max chars=46
Google Play Store: The name (created in Play Store Console) of the product purchased. If not passed then the product[id] will be considered as the value of product[name].
optional, string, max chars=46

Apple App Store: The name (created in App Store Connect) of the product purchased.
product[currency_code]
required, string, max chars=3
Google Play Store: This parameter is not applicable to the Google Play Store. If the value is passed, it will return a validation error.

Apple App Store: The currency code (ISO 4217 format) for the product.
product[price]
required, in cents, min=0
Google Play Store: This parameter is not applicable to the Google Play Store. If the value is passed, it will return a validation error.

Apple App Store: The price paid by the customer for this product. The unit depends on the type of currency. Provide either this or product[price_in_decimal].
product[price_in_decimal]
optional, string, max chars=33
Google Play Store: This parameter is not applicable to the Google Play Store. If the value is passed, it will return a validation error.

Apple App Store: The price paid by the customer for the product. The value is in decimal and in major units of the currency. Provide either this or product[price].
+
customer
Parameters for customer
pass parameters as customer[<param name>]
customer[id]
optional, string, max chars=50
Google Play Store: The unique id in Chargebee for the customer who made this purchase via Google Play Store. If not provided, subscription_id (random unique id) will be the customer[id]. If the customer record is not found in Chargebee, it is created.
optional, string, max chars=50

Apple App Store: The unique id in Chargebee for the customer who made this purchase. If not provided, the value is considered to be original_transaction_id (the transaction identifier at Apple, of the original purchase). If the customer record is not found in Chargebee, it is created.

Returns

in_app_subscription
always returned
Resource object representing in_app_subscription.