Plans Without a Subscription

A free user does not need a Stripe subscription. They do need an explicit plan identity when a Playbook rule targets a plan. The SDK resolves plan_handle first, then plan.handle. If neither exists, it does not select the cheapest public plan or invent a default free plan; plan-targeted checks can deny with no_plan_identity.

Choose your no-subscription policy

Define a free plan in the Playbook and have your application supply its handle for users who should receive it. Public visibility is a merchandising setting, not an instruction to assign that plan to every unidentified user. Keep the same policy on your backend’s authoritative context builder.

TypeScript

rt.update({ plan_handle: 'free' });

Use your actual Playbook handle. Do not translate a display name into a handle or send the retired plan: { id: ... } shape.

Hosted context and application context

Hosted client-context delivery can provide a plan derived from the current customer/account state. When a server plan is present, it can replace an earlier application-supplied plan. When the response omits a plan, that omission does not necessarily clear the SDK’s existing application plan.

Therefore, a missing subscription is not a universal reset-to-free operation. After cancellation, account change, or logout, refresh the authoritative state and explicitly apply or clear the relevant context. Cancellation timing also matters: cancellation at period end may intentionally retain paid access until the paid period ends. Do not infer that all canceled Stripe states have the same access policy.

An application-supplied plan can provide an immediate UI update while billing synchronizes. It is not payment proof. The backend must derive access from trusted billing/application records, and a later hosted plan can supersede the optimistic value.

Test a new free user, a paid user, cancellation at period end, an expired paid period, and a response that contains no plan. Check the held SDK context as well as the final entitlement result. See identity lifecycle and Billing & Stripe.