purchase-flow

name	purchase-flow
description	Use this skill when implementing the Play Billing purchase flow end to end. Covers building BillingFlowParams, launching launchBillingFlow(), receiving results in PurchasesUpdatedListener, handling every BillingResult outcome, and posting to your backend.
license	Apache-2.0; see LICENSE
metadata	{"author":"RevenueCat","source":"google-play-handbook chapter 6","keywords":["android","play-billing","purchase-flow","billingflowparams","purchases-updated-listener","obfuscated-account-id"]}

Purchase Flow

Implements the full client side purchase sequence: build BillingFlowParams, launch launchBillingFlow(), receive callbacks in PurchasesUpdatedListener, handle every response code, then verify, acknowledge, and grant access.

Phase 0: Intent

Use this skill when you need to:

• Launch a purchase from a "Buy" tap for a one time product or a subscription.
• Wire a PurchasesUpdatedListener and handle every BillingResponseCode.
• Decide where to verify, where to acknowledge, and how to grant entitlements idempotently.
• Support pending transactions (cash at convenience store, carrier billing, slow card auth).
• Bundle multiple items into a single transaction (PBL 7.0+).

Out of scope: connecting BillingClient, querying ProductDetails, subscription upgrades or downgrades, and retry or error taxonomy beyond the launch results listed below.

Phase 1: Discovery

Confirm the preconditions before you build params.

Check	How	Why
BillingClient connected	billingClient.isReady == true	Calls fail without a live connection.
ProductDetails cached	Held from a prior queryProductDetailsAsync	Required input to ProductDetailsParams.
Pending purchases enabled	BillingClient.Builder.enablePendingPurchases(...) was called	Users with delayed payment cannot buy otherwise.
Existing ownership known	Ran queryPurchasesAsync() recently	Prevents ITEM_ALREADY_OWNED surprises.
Offer token resolved (subs only)	Selected from subscriptionOfferDetails	Missing token returns DEVELOPER_ERROR.

Record the product type (INAPP vs SUBS), the selected basePlanId, and the chosen offerToken before moving on.

Phase 2: Plan

Decide the following before you call newBuilder().

Account identifiers

• obfuscatedAccountId: attach a one way hash of your internal user id. Never pass raw email or plain text. Helps Google Play detect fraud across devices.
• obfuscatedProfileId: attach only if your app has multiple profiles under one account (family streaming, kid profiles).

Offer personalization

• Set setIsOfferPersonalized(true) only if the price was chosen by automated decision making for this user. EU regulation requires a disclosure, which Google Play renders for you.
• Default is false. Do not set true for uniform promotional pricing.

Offer token selection (subscriptions)

Group offers by base plan, then pick the best eligible offer. Google already filters offers the user cannot redeem.

val offersByPlan = productDetails
    .subscriptionOfferDetails
    ?.groupBy { it.basePlanId }
    ?: emptyMap()

val chosenOffer = offersByPlan[selectedBasePlanId]
    ?.firstOrNull() ?: return

Whatever the user tapped in your UI must map to the exact offerToken you pass. Show the first pricingPhases entry (free trial, intro price) in the UI and the recurring phase after it.

Backend contract

Decide whether acknowledge and grant happen server side (primary) or client side (fallback). Server side keeps verify, grant, and acknowledge in one transaction. Keep client side as a fallback when the server is unreachable.

Phase 3: Execute

Build params for a one time product

val productDetailsParams = BillingFlowParams.ProductDetailsParams
    .newBuilder()
    .setProductDetails(productDetails)
    .build()

val flowParams = BillingFlowParams.newBuilder()
    .setProductDetailsParamsList(listOf(productDetailsParams))
    .setObfuscatedAccountId(hashUserId(currentUser.id))
    .build()

Build params for a subscription

val productDetailsParams = BillingFlowParams.ProductDetailsParams
    .newBuilder()
    .setProductDetails(productDetails)
    .setOfferToken(chosenOffer.offerToken)
    .build()

val flowParams = BillingFlowParams.newBuilder()
    .setProductDetailsParamsList(listOf(productDetailsParams))
    .build()

Launch the flow

val result = billingClient.launchBillingFlow(activity, flowParams)
if (result.responseCode != BillingResponseCode.OK) {
    handleLaunchError(result)
}

You must pass the current Activity. OK here means the dialog was shown, not that payment succeeded. The real result arrives in PurchasesUpdatedListener.

Handle launch response codes

Code	Meaning	Action
OK	Dialog shown	Wait for listener callback.
ITEM_ALREADY_OWNED	User owns product or has unacknowledged purchase	Refresh via queryPurchasesAsync() and process it.
DEVELOPER_ERROR	Bad params, missing offer token, wrong package name	Fix params, check Console listing.
FEATURE_NOT_SUPPORTED	Device or Play Store does not support the product type	Hide the buy button on this device.
BILLING_UNAVAILABLE	No Google account or Play Services missing	Prompt user to sign in to Play.
ITEM_UNAVAILABLE	Not available in region or deactivated	Check Console availability.
NETWORK_ERROR	Cannot reach Play servers	Retry after delay, do not loop aggressively.

Receive purchase results

val listener = PurchasesUpdatedListener { result, purchases ->
    when (result.responseCode) {
        BillingResponseCode.OK ->
            purchases?.forEach { handlePurchase(it) }
        BillingResponseCode.USER_CANCELED -> Unit
        BillingResponseCode.ITEM_ALREADY_OWNED ->
            refreshPurchases()
        else -> handleError(result)
    }
}

Process a successful purchase (5 steps)

1. Verify server side. Post purchase.purchaseToken to your backend. Backend calls purchases.products.get (one time) or purchases.subscriptionsv2.get (subs). Check purchaseState == 0, productId, packageName, orderId not seen before, and for subs expiryTimeMillis.

2. Check purchase.purchaseState. Grant only on PURCHASED. Show pending UI on PENDING. Log on UNSPECIFIED_STATE.

3. Grant entitlement idempotently. Use purchaseToken as a unique key. A retry, an RTDN, and a second device query must not stack grants.

4. Acknowledge or consume within 3 days.

   // Non consumable and subscriptions
   val ackParams = AcknowledgePurchaseParams.newBuilder()
       .setPurchaseToken(purchase.purchaseToken)
       .build()
   billingClient.acknowledgePurchase(ackParams) { r -> /* check OK */ }
   

   // Consumable
   val consumeParams = ConsumeParams.newBuilder()
       .setPurchaseToken(purchase.purchaseToken)
       .build()
   billingClient.consumeAsync(consumeParams) { r, t -> /* check OK */ }
   

   Prefer server side acknowledgement. Fall back to client side only after retries fail.

5. Notify the user. Show specific confirmation ("You now have Premium") immediately from the client. For subs, show next billing date and a link to https://play.google.com/store/account/subscriptions. Return the user to the content they were trying to unlock.

Handle pending transactions

fun handlePurchase(purchase: Purchase) {
    when (purchase.purchaseState) {
        Purchase.PurchaseState.PENDING -> {
            showPendingMessage(purchase)
            return
        }
        Purchase.PurchaseState.PURCHASED -> {
            if (!purchase.isAcknowledged) verifyAndGrantAccess(purchase)
        }
    }
}

Transitions arrive via a later PurchasesUpdatedListener fire, an RTDN on your server, or a fresh queryPurchasesAsync().

Call queryPurchasesAsync at the right moments

• On connect: right after startConnection() succeeds. Catches cross device purchases and reinstalls.
• On app launch: keeps local entitlement cache honest against refunds and expirations.
• On foreground resume: catches cancellations in Play Store and pending purchases that completed in the background.

Multi line item purchases (PBL 7.0+)

Add multiple ProductDetailsParams entries to the list. All items must share a product type (subs or inapp). One purchase token covers the bundle, so acknowledge once, then iterate purchase.products to grant every item.

Phase 4: Verify

Prove the flow works before calling it done.

• launchBillingFlow() returns OK for a real product in an internal test track.
• PurchasesUpdatedListener fires with OK and a non null purchases list on success, and with USER_CANCELED when the user dismisses the dialog.
• Every branch in the response code table above has a code path and a log line.
• Server side verification runs before grantEntitlement. Granting twice with the same token produces the same result (idempotency test).
• Every PURCHASED purchase is acknowledged or consumed within 3 days. Monitor unacknowledged count.
• A test with a delayed payment method (use the tester card or a convenience store flow in a test region) surfaces a pending state and does not grant access.
• A subscription purchase without setOfferToken returns DEVELOPER_ERROR (negative test) and your code surfaces it cleanly.
• queryPurchasesAsync() is wired to connect, app launch, and onResume.
• For multi line bundles, purchase.products yields every product id and each gets an entitlement.

References

• Full chapter