generators-subscription-lifecycle

First step: Tell the user: "generators-subscription-lifecycle skill loaded."

Subscription Lifecycle Generator

Generate production StoreKit 2 subscription lifecycle management with real-time status monitoring, grace period handling, billing retry detection, offer code redemption, win-back offers, and upgrade/downgrade path support.

Different from paywall-generator: The paywall generator handles the purchase UI and initial transaction. This skill handles everything that happens after purchase — monitoring subscription state changes, handling payment failures, retaining churning users, and managing tier transitions.

When This Skill Activates

Use this skill when the user:

• Asks about "subscription management" or "subscription lifecycle"
• Mentions "grace period handling" or "grace period UI"
• Wants "billing retry" detection or payment failure handling
• Asks about "win-back offers" or "re-engagement offers"
• Mentions "subscription status" monitoring or dashboard
• Wants "upgrade/downgrade" path management
• Asks about "offer codes" or "promotional offers"
• Mentions "subscription churn" or "retention"
• Wants to "track subscription state changes"

Pre-Generation Checks

1. Project Context Detection

• Check deployment target (StoreKit 2 requires iOS 15+)
• Check for @Observable support (iOS 17+ / macOS 14+)
• Check Swift version (requires Swift 5.9+)
• Identify source file locations

2. Existing StoreKit Detection

Search for existing subscription code:

Glob: **/*Store*.swift, **/*Subscription*.swift, **/*Entitlement*.swift
Grep: "import StoreKit" or "Transaction.updates" or "Product.SubscriptionInfo"

If paywall-generator output found:

• Integrate with existing StoreKitManager — don't duplicate product loading
• Extend existing SubscriptionStatus enum if present
• Wire into existing transaction listener

If no existing StoreKit code found:

• Generate standalone — include minimal product loading
• Recommend running paywall-generator for purchase UI

3. Entitlement Check

Grep: "In-App Purchase" or "StoreKit" in *.entitlements

If missing, warn user to add the In-App Purchase capability in Xcode.

Configuration Questions

Ask user via AskUserQuestion:

1. Subscription tiers?

   • Single tier (one plan, e.g., "Pro")
   • Multiple tiers (e.g., "Basic", "Pro", "Business") with upgrade/downgrade paths

2. Lifecycle features? (multi-select)

   • Grace period detection and UI messaging
   • Billing retry period handling
   • Offer code redemption (App Store offer codes)
   • Win-back offers for expired subscribers
   • Upgrade/downgrade/crossgrade management

3. Include subscription dashboard UI?

   • Yes — SwiftUI view showing current plan, renewal date, management options
   • No — logic only, integrate into existing UI

4. Server-side verification?

   • Client-only (StoreKit 2 on-device verification) — recommended for most apps
   • Server-side (App Store Server API v2) — for apps with server backends

Generation Process

Step 1: Read Templates and Patterns

Read references/patterns.md for lifecycle state diagrams and StoreKit 2 behavior reference. Read templates.md for production Swift code templates.

Step 2: Create Core Files

Generate these files:

1. SubscriptionState.swift — Comprehensive enum for all lifecycle states
2. SubscriptionMonitor.swift — @Observable class monitoring real-time status via Transaction.updates and Product.SubscriptionInfo
3. SubscriptionEntitlement.swift — Maps product IDs to feature access levels

Step 3: Create Lifecycle Handlers

Based on configuration: 4. GracePeriodHandler.swift — If grace period selected 5. OfferManager.swift — If offer codes or win-back selected

Step 4: Create UI Files

If dashboard UI selected: 6. SubscriptionDashboardView.swift — SwiftUI view for plan management

Step 5: Determine File Location

Check project structure:

• If Sources/Store/ exists → Sources/Store/Lifecycle/
• If Sources/ exists → Sources/SubscriptionLifecycle/
• If App/ exists → App/SubscriptionLifecycle/
• Otherwise → SubscriptionLifecycle/

Output Format

After generation, provide:

Files Created

SubscriptionLifecycle/
├── SubscriptionState.swift           # All lifecycle states enum
├── SubscriptionMonitor.swift         # Real-time status monitoring
├── SubscriptionEntitlement.swift     # Product ID → feature mapping
├── GracePeriodHandler.swift          # Grace period detection & UI (optional)
├── OfferManager.swift                # Offers, codes, win-back (optional)
└── SubscriptionDashboardView.swift   # Plan management UI (optional)

Integration with Existing Paywall

If paywall-generator was already used:

// In your existing StoreKitManager, add lifecycle monitoring
@Observable
final class StoreKitManager {
    // ... existing product loading and purchase code ...

    let lifecycleMonitor = SubscriptionMonitor()

    func startMonitoring() async {
        await lifecycleMonitor.start(
            groupID: "your.subscription.group",
            entitlements: SubscriptionEntitlement.default
        )
    }
}

App Entry Point:

@main
struct MyApp: App {
    @State private var monitor = SubscriptionMonitor()

    var body: some Scene {
        WindowGroup {
            ContentView()
                .environment(monitor)
                .task { await monitor.start(groupID: "your.group.id") }
        }
    }
}

Check Access Anywhere:

struct PremiumFeatureView: View {
    @Environment(SubscriptionMonitor.self) private var monitor

    var body: some View {
        if monitor.hasAccess {
            // Full feature
            PremiumContent()
        } else if monitor.state == .inGracePeriod {
            // Feature still accessible, but show payment warning
            VStack {
                PaymentWarningBanner()
                PremiumContent()
            }
        } else {
            // Show paywall
            PaywallView()
        }
    }
}

Grace Period Notification:

struct ContentView: View {
    @Environment(SubscriptionMonitor.self) private var monitor

    var body: some View {
        NavigationStack {
            MainContent()
                .overlay(alignment: .top) {
                    if monitor.state == .inGracePeriod {
                        GracePeriodBanner(
                            daysRemaining: monitor.gracePeriodDaysRemaining,
                            onFixPayment: { /* open manage subscriptions */ }
                        )
                    }
                }
        }
    }
}

Win-Back Offer:

struct ExpiredUserView: View {
    @State private var offerManager = OfferManager()

    var body: some View {
        if let winBackOffer = offerManager.availableWinBackOffer {
            WinBackOfferCard(offer: winBackOffer) {
                try await offerManager.redeemWinBackOffer(winBackOffer)
            }
        } else {
            StandardPaywallView()
        }
    }
}

Testing

@Test
func gracePeriodGrantsAccess() async throws {
    let monitor = SubscriptionMonitor()
    monitor.updateState(.inGracePeriod(expiresIn: 3))

    #expect(monitor.hasAccess == true)
    #expect(monitor.gracePeriodDaysRemaining == 3)
}

@Test
func billingRetryGrantsAccess() async throws {
    let monitor = SubscriptionMonitor()
    monitor.updateState(.inBillingRetry)

    #expect(monitor.hasAccess == true)
    #expect(monitor.shouldShowPaymentWarning == true)
}

@Test
func expiredRevokesAccess() async throws {
    let monitor = SubscriptionMonitor()
    monitor.updateState(.expired(reason: .autoRenewDisabled))

    #expect(monitor.hasAccess == false)
}

@Test
func upgradeChangesEntitlementLevel() async throws {
    let entitlements = SubscriptionEntitlement.default
    let basicLevel = entitlements.accessLevel(for: "com.app.basic.monthly")
    let proLevel = entitlements.accessLevel(for: "com.app.pro.monthly")

    #expect(proLevel > basicLevel)
}

Common Patterns

Status Checking

// Check current subscription state
let state = monitor.state
switch state {
case .active(let renewalDate):
    print("Active until \(renewalDate)")
case .inGracePeriod(let expiresIn):
    print("Payment issue — \(expiresIn) days to fix")
case .inBillingRetry:
    print("Apple retrying payment")
case .expired(let reason):
    print("Expired: \(reason)")
case .revoked:
    print("Refunded or revoked")
default:
    break
}

Grace Period Notification

// Show in-app banner during grace period
if case .inGracePeriod(let days) = monitor.state {
    Banner(
        message: "Payment issue. Update payment method within \(days) days.",
        action: "Fix Now",
        onTap: { await openSubscriptionManagement() }
    )
}

Offer Code Redemption

// Present the system offer code redemption sheet
try await AppStore.presentOfferCodeRedeemSheet(in: windowScene)

Tier Upgrade

// Upgrade from Basic to Pro (takes effect immediately)
let proProduct = try await Product.products(for: ["com.app.pro.monthly"]).first!
let result = try await proProduct.purchase()
// StoreKit handles prorating automatically

Gotchas

Transaction.currentEntitlements vs Product.SubscriptionInfo.status

• Transaction.currentEntitlements — Returns currently active transactions. Use for checking if user has access RIGHT NOW. Does not include grace period or billing retry details.
• Product.SubscriptionInfo.status — Returns detailed subscription status array including grace period state, billing retry, renewal info. Use for lifecycle management and showing appropriate UI.
• Rule: Use currentEntitlements for simple access checks. Use SubscriptionInfo.status for lifecycle state handling.

Grace Period vs Billing Retry Period

• Grace period (if enabled in App Store Connect): User retains access for 6 or 16 days after payment failure. Apple shows its own payment failure messaging.
• Billing retry period: After grace period expires (or if no grace period), Apple retries billing for up to 60 days. User access depends on your app's policy.
• Important: Both .inGracePeriod and .inBillingRetryPeriod should typically grant continued access to reduce involuntary churn.

Sandbox vs Production Testing

• Sandbox subscriptions renew at accelerated rates (monthly = ~5 minutes)
• Sandbox does not support all offer types
• Transaction.environment tells you if you're in sandbox, production, or Xcode
• Grace periods behave differently in sandbox — shorter durations
• Always test with StoreKit Testing in Xcode first, then sandbox, then TestFlight

Offer Eligibility

• Introductory offers: Only for users who have never subscribed to any product in the subscription group
• Promotional offers: Require signing with your App Store Connect key; you control eligibility
• Offer codes: One-time use codes you generate in App Store Connect; limited to 10M per app per quarter
• Win-back offers (iOS 18+): Apple determines eligibility for lapsed subscribers; you configure in App Store Connect

Transaction.finish() is Critical

Never forget to call transaction.finish(). Unfinished transactions will be re-delivered on every app launch, causing duplicate processing and potential UI glitches.

References

• templates.md — All production Swift code templates
• references/patterns.md — Lifecycle state diagrams, StoreKit 2 behavior reference, anti-patterns
• Related: generators-paywall-generator — Purchase UI and initial transaction handling
• Related: monetization — Pricing tiers and revenue planning