Rc Subscription States

RevenueCat/ai-toolkit/revenuecat-play-billing/skills/rc-subscription-states

by RevenueCatccfc038185ec457b2ac9077f3bbf1ba947a44dbbApache-2.0; see LICENSEListed Oct 9, 2026Updated Oct 9, 2026

Use this skill when gating access based on RevenueCat subscription state on Android. Covers reading CustomerInfo, checking entitlement.isActive as the single source of truth for access, and drilling into willRenew, periodType, and expirationDate when deeper logic is needed.

Instructions onlySoftware Development
AI-generated overview

Guides Android developers on gating feature access with RevenueCat CustomerInfo and entitlement.isActive.

What it does
Explains how to read CustomerInfo and EntitlementInfo on Android to decide whether a user has access, treating entitlement.isActive as the single source of truth. It maps Google Play subscription states to RevenueCat's boolean, lists which fields to read for renewal, expiration, billing issues and period type, and provides Kotlin snippets for access checks, forced refreshes, state-aware UI, user identification and CustomerInfo listeners. It also includes a test matrix and sanity checks for verifying access gating.
When to use it
Use it when implementing or reviewing subscription access gating in an Android app that uses the RevenueCat SDK. It fits cases where you need to decide access from entitlement state, explain why access is granted or denied, or react to purchase, restore and background refresh events.
Requirements
Requires an Android project using the RevenueCat Purchases SDK and a configured entitlement identifier; no scripts are included, only instructions and code examples.

Subscription States

Decide whether a user has access, and drive state aware UI, using CustomerInfo and EntitlementInfo on Android.

Phase 1: Discover

Confirm what you are actually checking before you write code.

  • Which entitlement identifier gates the feature? (for example pro_access)
  • Do you need a plain access boolean, or do you also need to explain why the user has or lacks access (billing issue, canceled but still paid, paused)?
  • Do you need the cached value (fast, possibly stale) or a freshly fetched value (server authoritative)?
  • Are you refreshing UI once on launch, or reacting to live changes (purchase, restore, background refresh)?

If you only need access on/off, you only need isActive. Everything else is optional context.

Phase 2: Plan

Google's seven states versus RevenueCat's boolean

Rolling your own tracker with the Google Play Developer API means mapping seven subscription states and deciding which grant access.

Google stateGrants access?
ACTIVEyes
IN_GRACE_PERIODyes
CANCELED (before expirationDate)yes
ON_HOLDno
PAUSEDno
EXPIREDno
PENDINGno

RevenueCat computes this on the backend from the Google SubscriptionPurchaseV2 resource and exposes the result as one field: EntitlementInfo.isActive. You read a boolean instead of implementing the state machine.

What to read, and when

NeedField
Does the user have access right now?entitlement.isActive
Will the subscription renew at period end?entitlement.willRenew
When does paid access end?entitlement.expirationDate
Is this a trial, intro, prepaid, or normal period?entitlement.periodType
Is there a payment problem?entitlement.billingIssueDetectedAt
Has the user canceled but still has time left?entitlement.unsubscribeDetectedAt
Which store issued the entitlement?entitlement.store

Decision rules

  • Gate features on isActive == true. Nothing else.
  • Use billingIssueDetectedAt != null to show a fix payment prompt.
  • Use unsubscribeDetectedAt != null with expirationDate to show a renewal reminder while access is still valid.
  • Use !willRenew (when no billing issue and no explicit cancel timestamp) to show a non renewing notice.

Phase 3: Execute

Read CustomerInfo and check access

kotlin
val customerInfo = Purchases.sharedInstance.awaitCustomerInfo()val hasAccess = customerInfo.entitlements["pro_access"]?.isActive == true

awaitCustomerInfo() returns the disk cache immediately, then refreshes from the network in the background. Entitlement checks stay fast, even offline.

Force a fresh fetch when you must

Use this after a server side grant (for example, a support agent issued a promo).

kotlin
val fresh = Purchases.sharedInstance.awaitCustomerInfo(    fetchPolicy = CacheFetchPolicy.FETCH_CURRENT)

Drive state aware UI

isActive gates access; the other fields explain context.

kotlin
fun updateUI(entitlement: EntitlementInfo?) {    if (entitlement == null || !entitlement.isActive) {        showSubscribeScreen(); return    }    showPremiumContent()    when {        entitlement.billingIssueDetectedAt != null -> showBillingIssueWarning()        entitlement.unsubscribeDetectedAt != null ->            entitlement.expirationDate?.let { showExpiryNotice(it) }        !entitlement.willRenew -> showNonRenewingNotice()    }}

Messaging guide by signal

Signal on an active entitlementMessage to show
billingIssueDetectedAt != nullPayment problem, update method
unsubscribeDetectedAt != nullAccess ends on expirationDate
willRenew == false (no other signal)Will not renew this period
periodType == TRIAL or INTROTrial or intro pricing in effect

Identify the user for multi device

kotlin
val result = Purchases.sharedInstance.awaitLogIn("your_user_id")val customerInfo = result.customerInfoval createdNewUser = result.created

awaitLogIn() merges anonymous purchases with the identified user. logOut() starts a fresh anonymous session.

Phase 4: Verify

Listen for CustomerInfo updates

Register a listener so UI reacts to purchases, restores, and background refreshes without manual polling.

kotlin
Purchases.sharedInstance.updatedCustomerInfoListener =    UpdatedCustomerInfoListener { info ->        val active = info.entitlements["pro_access"]?.isActive == true        updateAccessGate(active)    }

The listener does not fire when the SDK starts with a cache hit and nothing changed. Always call awaitCustomerInfo() on launch in addition to setting the listener.

Test matrix

Walk through each case and confirm the UI responds correctly.

CaseExpected isActiveExpected UI
Fresh purchasetruePremium content
Grace period (billing issue, still granted)truePremium + billing warning
Canceled, still before expirationDatetruePremium + expiry notice
On holdfalseSubscribe screen
PausedfalseSubscribe screen
ExpiredfalseSubscribe screen
Pending (no payment yet)falseSubscribe screen

Sanity checks

  • Access gate flips correctly when the listener fires after a purchase.
  • FETCH_CURRENT updates CustomerInfo after a backend grant (promo, refund, support action).
  • After logOut(), CustomerInfo reflects an anonymous user and isActive resets accordingly.
  • Offline launch still returns cached CustomerInfo and gates access without a network call.

References

Source and attribution

Source:RevenueCat/ai-toolkitinrevenuecat-play-billing/skills/rc-subscription-statesat commitccfc038

License: Apache-2.0; see LICENSE

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