subscription-state-diagram

Subscription State Diagram

Phase 0: Intent

Use this skill when you need a single place to look up:

• What states a Google Play subscription can be in.
• Which RTDN (Real Time Developer Notification) moves a subscription from one state to the next.
• Whether a given state grants access to paid content.
• What token behavior to expect across renewals, pauses, holds, and resubscribes.

This is a reference skill. It does not write code for you. It hands you the map so you can point at a node, point at an edge, and then make a decision about access or acknowledgement.

Phase 1: Locate

Tell the skill which part of the state machine you care about. Pick the shortest path that matches your question.

You want to know...	Jump to
What every state means and whether it grants access	States at a Glance
Which RTDN fires on a specific transition	Transition Table
Whether to grant access right now	Access Decision Flowchart
What happens to the purchase token across events	Token Lifecycle
The numeric code for a notification type	RTDN Quick Reference
How long grace period, account hold, or token validity lasts	Time Windows

A typical lookup looks like this:

1. Name the current state (for example IN_GRACE_PERIOD).
2. Name the event you observed (for example RTDN type 5).
3. Find the row in the From IN_GRACE_PERIOD table.
4. Read the target state and the access rule.

Phase 2: Reference Diagram

States at a Glance

State	Access	Description
PENDING	No	Purchase initiated, payment not yet processed
ACTIVE	Yes	Subscription is paid and current
IN_GRACE_PERIOD	Yes	Payment failed, Google is retrying, user keeps access
ON_HOLD	No	Grace period expired, access revoked, awaiting payment fix
PAUSED	No	User requested pause, access revoked
CANCELED	Until expiry	Canceled but not expired, access until expiryTime
EXPIRED	No	Subscription has ended

Transition Table

Every edge in the diagram. Columns: origin state, destination state, trigger, RTDN name and numeric type.

From	To	Trigger	RTDN
PENDING	ACTIVE	Payment completes	SUBSCRIPTION_PURCHASED (4)
PENDING	EXPIRED	Payment fails or times out	SUBSCRIPTION_PENDING_PURCHASE_CANCELED (20)
ACTIVE	ACTIVE	Successful renewal	SUBSCRIPTION_RENEWED (2)
ACTIVE	IN_GRACE_PERIOD	Renewal fails, grace period enabled	SUBSCRIPTION_IN_GRACE_PERIOD (6)
ACTIVE	ON_HOLD	Renewal fails, no grace, account hold enabled	SUBSCRIPTION_ON_HOLD (5)
ACTIVE	CANCELED	User or developer cancels	SUBSCRIPTION_CANCELED (3)
ACTIVE	EXPIRED	Revoked or refunded	SUBSCRIPTION_REVOKED (12)
ACTIVE	PAUSED	Pause takes effect at end of period	SUBSCRIPTION_PAUSED (10)
IN_GRACE_PERIOD	ACTIVE	Payment recovered	SUBSCRIPTION_RECOVERED (1)
IN_GRACE_PERIOD	ON_HOLD	Grace expires without payment	SUBSCRIPTION_ON_HOLD (5)
IN_GRACE_PERIOD	EXPIRED	Grace expires, no account hold	SUBSCRIPTION_EXPIRED (13)
ON_HOLD	ACTIVE	User fixes payment	SUBSCRIPTION_RECOVERED (1)
ON_HOLD	EXPIRED	Account hold period expires	SUBSCRIPTION_EXPIRED (13)
PAUSED	ACTIVE	Pause ends, payment succeeds	SUBSCRIPTION_RECOVERED (1)
PAUSED	ON_HOLD	Pause ends, payment fails	SUBSCRIPTION_ON_HOLD (5)
CANCELED	ACTIVE	User restores before expiration	SUBSCRIPTION_RESTARTED (7)
CANCELED	EXPIRED	expiryTime reached	SUBSCRIPTION_EXPIRED (13)
EXPIRED	ACTIVE	User resubscribes, new purchase token	SUBSCRIPTION_PURCHASED (4)

RTDN Quick Reference by Number

#	Name	Common Usage
1	RECOVERED	Restore access after hold or pause
2	RENEWED	Extend access period
3	CANCELED	Note cancellation, keep access until expiry
4	PURCHASED	New subscription, grant access
5	ON_HOLD	Revoke access
6	IN_GRACE_PERIOD	Keep access, warn user
7	RESTARTED	Restore access, same token
8	PRICE_CHANGE_CONFIRMED	Deprecated
9	DEFERRED	Extend billing date
10	PAUSED	Revoke access at period end
11	PAUSE_SCHEDULE_CHANGED	Check pause status
12	REVOKED	Immediately revoke access
13	EXPIRED	Revoke access, clean up
17	ITEMS_CHANGED	Check updated line items
18	CANCELLATION_SCHEDULED	Note scheduled cancellation
19	PRICE_CHANGE_UPDATED	Check price change details
20	PENDING_PURCHASE_CANCELED	Clean up pending records
22	PRICE_STEP_UP_CONSENT_UPDATED	Check consent status

Time Windows

Window	Duration	What Happens
Acknowledgement	3 days	Unacknowledged purchases auto refund
Grace period	1 to 30 days, configurable	User keeps access while Google retries
Silent grace period	1 day minimum	Applies even when grace is set to 0 days
Account hold	Up to 30 days, configurable	User loses access, can recover by fixing payment
Token validity	60 days post expiration	API calls still succeed in this window
Pause duration	1 week to 3 months	Depends on billing period

Phase 3: Handling Guidance Per Transition

Each row tells you what to do when the RTDN lands. Pair this with the access rule in Phase 2.

Transition	Your handler should
PENDING to ACTIVE	Acknowledge within 3 days, provision entitlement, store the purchase token
PENDING to EXPIRED	Clean up the pending record, do not provision access
ACTIVE to ACTIVE (renewal)	Extend the entitlement to the new expiryTime, keep the same token
ACTIVE to IN_GRACE_PERIOD	Keep access on, surface a payment warning, trigger In App Messaging
ACTIVE to ON_HOLD	Revoke access, tell the user to fix payment in Play
ACTIVE to CANCELED	Keep access until expiryTime, show an expiry countdown, log the cancel reason
ACTIVE to EXPIRED (revoke)	Revoke access immediately, note the refund or revocation
ACTIVE to PAUSED	Access ends at period end, show resume date on next open
IN_GRACE_PERIOD to ACTIVE	Clear the warning banner, confirm expiryTime moved forward
IN_GRACE_PERIOD to ON_HOLD	Revoke access, swap the warning for a fix payment prompt
IN_GRACE_PERIOD to EXPIRED	Revoke access, offer resubscribe
ON_HOLD to ACTIVE	Restore the entitlement, keep the existing token
ON_HOLD to EXPIRED	Revoke, offer resubscribe, stop polling the token after 60 days
PAUSED to ACTIVE	Restore access, same token
PAUSED to ON_HOLD	Keep access revoked, switch message to fix payment
CANCELED to ACTIVE	Restore, same token, remove the expiry countdown
CANCELED to EXPIRED	Revoke, offer resubscribe
EXPIRED to ACTIVE	Treat as a new purchase, new token, link it to the prior user identity

Access Decision

Use the same rule across every handler.

fun shouldGrantAccess(
    state: String,
    expiryTimeMillis: Long
): Boolean = when (state) {
    "SUBSCRIPTION_STATE_ACTIVE",
    "SUBSCRIPTION_STATE_IN_GRACE_PERIOD" -> true
    "SUBSCRIPTION_STATE_CANCELED" ->
        System.currentTimeMillis() < expiryTimeMillis
    else -> false
}

Token Lifecycle

Event	Token Behavior
New purchase	New token
Renewal	Same token, new Order ID
Upgrade or downgrade	New token, old token linked via linkedPurchaseToken
Restore before expiry	Same token
Resubscribe after expiry	New token
Pause and resume	Same token
Grace period recovery	Same token
Account hold recovery	Same token

References

• Full chapter