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Subscriptions

Sell access that renews on a schedule and expires on its own. One mint approval with a duration and a coin payment replaces the billing service.

A subscription is a token whose ownership ends at a timestamp. The mint approval sets the price, the payout address, and the period length. Each claim charges the subscriber and mints one period of ownership that starts now. When the period ends the balance is gone, so "is this user subscribed" is one balance query at the current time.

Renewal is a user-level approval the subscriber sets once. A bot, the issuer, or anyone can mint the next period through it; the chain charges the subscriber only within the terms they signed.

What Makes It Work

RequirementToken-standard primitive
Access ends on its ownownershipTimes on the balance. See Balances
One period per claim, starting nowpredeterminedBalances.incrementedBalances.durationFromTimestamp with allowOverrideTimestamp: true. See Predetermined Balances
Charge on every claimcoinTransfers on the mint approval, paid by the initiator. See Coin Transfers
Auto-renew without a card on fileThe subscriber's own incoming approval, so a renewal bot can only mint and charge within those terms
TiersOne faucet approval per token ID, each with its own price
Price cannot be changed under a subscribercanUpdateCollectionApprovals locked for the faucet approval. See Permissions

The Fields That Matter

json
{
  "approvalId": "subscription-tier-1",
  "fromListId": "Mint",
  "toListId": "All",
  "initiatedByListId": "All",
  "tokenIds": [{ "start": "1", "end": "1" }],
  "approvalCriteria": {
    "predeterminedBalances": {
      "incrementedBalances": {
        "startBalances": [{ "amount": "1", "tokenIds": [{ "start": "1", "end": "1" }], "ownershipTimes": [{ "start": "1", "end": "18446744073709551615" }] }],
        "durationFromTimestamp": "2592000000",
        "allowOverrideTimestamp": true
      },
      "orderCalculationMethod": { "useOverallNumTransfers": true }
    },
    "coinTransfers": [
      { "to": "bb1p0rrel3365scadq5k9pv0x0zp9j22js6dnw70d", "coins": [{ "amount": "10000000", "denom": "ibc/E1116484B327AEE59CDC3DA73D319834781A13DB2A7DFC1F38A30CD45ABF58B8" }] }
    ],
    "overridesFromOutgoingApprovals": true,
    "overridesToIncomingApprovals": false
  }
}
Subscriptions
Demo MembershipID 3
10 USDC / monthBase price
Managerbb1p0rrel3...w70d

The subscription on the browse grid: the faucet's price and interval show as the base price.

durationFromTimestamp: "2592000000" is 30 days in milliseconds. overridesToIncomingApprovals stays false on purpose: the subscriber's incoming approval is what says "you may charge me again".

bash
bb build subscription --interval monthly --price 10 --denom USDC \
  --recipient bb1p0rrel3365scadq5k9pv0x0zp9j22js6dnw70d \
  --uri ipfs://bafybeigdyrzt5sfp7udm7hu76uh7y26nf3efuylqabf3oclgtqy55fbzdi/collection.json

This emits a Subscriptions collection with the faucet approval above, autoApproveAllIncomingTransfers: true as the default for new holders, and the faucet locked so the price cannot move.

Variations

  • --tiers 3 creates token IDs 1 to 3 with one faucet each. Gate content by tier with Token-Gated Access.
  • --transferable adds a post-mint approval so a subscription can be gifted or resold. Omit it for a personal license.
  • --payouts splits every charge across several recipients in one denom, for a revenue share.
  • --interval 7d or annually changes the period. The chain accepts any millisecond duration.
  • Cancellation on the provider side: leave a manager override approval in place and revoke by forceful transfer, or keep noForcefulPostMintTransfers: true so nobody can.

Build It

text
Load the subscription skill. Build a subscription that costs 5 USDC per month paid to bb1p0rrel3365scadq5k9pv0x0zp9j22js6dnw70d, non-transferable, with the price locked forever. Validate, review, simulate, then give me the review link.

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