Introduction

In ApiShare, a Subscription acts as a contract between a consumer application and an API Product. It defines usage terms and enables controlled access to APIs.
A subscription must be requested by the consumer application owner and then follow the subscriptions lifecycle configured for that API Product.

The subscriptions lifecycle of an API Product can be configured at two levels:

• API Product–level settings (specific to each API Product)

• Global default settings, defined in the Administration section

If an API Product does not specify its own approvability rules, the system automatically applies the default approval settings configured in the administration area.

Depending on these configurations, a subscription may:

• be automatically approved, if all approval steps are disabled or if the requester meets auto-approval criteria;

• require Business Approval, Technical Approval, or both, if these steps are enabled at the Product level or inherited from the default settings.

Once all required approval steps are completed, the subscription becomes active and the application can consume the API. Subscriptions may later be modified, suspended, reactivated, or revoked according to lifecycle management policies.

Managing subscriptions

Submitting a subscription

Prerequisites:

• The user must be a member of a Group that owns at least one Application.

• The target API Product must be published in an accessible environment.

Steps:

1. Navigate to the API Catalog and locate the desired API Product.

2. Click on SUBSCRIBE.

3. Select the Application that will consume the API Product.

4. Choose the deployment environment where the API Product will be used.

5. Enter the expected load and usage scenario for evaluation.

6. Specify the use case, selecting an existing one or creating a new one.

7. Click SUBSCRIBE to submit the request.

Post-Conditions:

• The lifecycle applied is determined as follows:

  • If the API Product has its own approval configuration, that configuration is used.

  • Otherwise, the default approvability rules from the administration settings are applied

• A subscription becomes Active when:

  • Both approval steps have been skipped due to auto-approval criteria, or

  • All required approval steps have been successfully completed.

• The request appears under Workspace > Subscriptions > Requested.

• If an approval step is not required (because it is disabled or skipped by auto-approval rules), it will not appear in the subscription history.

Tips:

• Users who own the API Product can find pending subscriptions under Workspace > Subscriptions > Received.

• If auto-approval rules are configured (either at Product level or inherited from default settings), certain subscriptions may skip approval steps and become active immediately.

Managing a subscription request

Prerequisites:

• Requires Administrator or equivalent permissions for the API Product.

Steps:

1. Navigate to Workspace > Subscriptions > Received.

2. Locate the Pending subscription. The specific pending state depends on the approval steps required:

   1. Pending > Business Approval

   2. Pending > Technical Approval

3. Perform the action required by the current approval step:

   1. APPROVE: moves the subscription to the next required phase

      1. If additional approval steps are enabled, the subscription progresses accordingly.

      2. If this was the final required step, the subscription becomes Active > Active.

   2. REJECT: the subscription moves to Pending > Rejected and cannot be activated.

4. Confirm the action.

Post-Conditions:

• Approved subscriptions become active after completing all required approval steps.

• Rejected subscriptions remain inactive.

Suspending a subscription

Prerequisites:

• Approved subscriptions become active after completing all required approval steps.

• Requires Administrator or equivalent permissions.

Steps:

1. Navigate to Workspace > Subscriptions > Received.

2. Locate the subscription under Active > Active.

3. Click SUSPEND.

4. Confirm the action.

Post-Conditions:

• The subscription moves to Suspended > Suspended state.

• API Product access for the consumer application is temporarily disabled.

Tips:

• If integrated with an API Gateway, the system synchronizes the suspension automatically.

Reactivating a subscription

Prerequisites:

• The subscription must be Suspended.

• Requires Administrator or equivalent permissions.

Steps:

1. Navigate to Workspace > Subscriptions > Received.

2. Locate the subscription under Suspended > Suspended.

3. Click ACTIVATE.

4. Confirm the action.

Post-Conditions:

• The subscription moves back to Active > Active.

Tips:

• If the consumer application is inactive, reactivation is not allowed.

Modifying a subscription

Prerequisites:

• The subscription must be Active.

• Requires Administrator, Contributor, or equivalent role permissions.

Steps:

1. Navigate to Workspace > Subscriptions > Requested (for consumer-side updates) or Received (for provider-side updates).

2. Locate the subscription under Active > Active.

3. Click EDIT and modify the necessary details (e.g., expected load, use case).

4. Click SAVE.

Post-Conditions:

• The subscription moves to Active > Pending for Approval.

• Changes require validation from the API Product administrators.

Revoking a subscription

Prerequisites:

• The subscription must be Active.

• The API Product must be Retired.

Steps:

• When an API Product is retired, all associated subscriptions are automatically revoked.

Post-Conditions:

• The subscription moves to Revoked > Retired.

Deleting a subscription

Prerequisites:

• The subscription must be in Inactive, Rejected, or Revoked state.

• Requires Administrator or equivalent permissions.

Steps:

1. Navigate to Workspace > Subscriptions > Received or Requested.

2. Locate the subscription.

3. Click DELETE.

4. Confirm the action.

Post-Conditions:

• The subscription is permanently removed.

Viewing subscription keys

Prerequisites:

• Requires Administrator, Developer, or equivalent permissions for the application.

• The last date of display of the secret set for the keyset in question must not be exceeded

Steps:

1. Navigate to Workspace > Subscriptions > Received or Requested.

2. Locate the subscription.

3. Click View Keys.

4. Retrieve authentication credentials (API Keys, Client IDs, Secrets).

Post-Conditions:

• The authentication keys associated with the subscription are displayed, if the secret's last view date has not expired.