Products
Anatomy of a plan
A plan sits inside a product and defines the APIs, access, security, limits, and price for one tier. This page covers the plan tabs, the plan lifecycle, and versioning.
A plan sits inside a product and defines one tier: the APIs it includes, how access is secured, its limits, and its price. You open a plan from a product's API Plans tab, then work through its tabs.
What are the tabs on a plan?
A plan is configured across a row of tabs in the plan editor. Each tab owns one part of the plan, and all of them save together when you click Save Changes.
| Tab | What it configures |
|---|---|
| Details | The plan name, description, and portal presentation. |
| APIs | The APIs in the plan and its coupling (Gateway-bound or Catalog-bound). |
| Access Control | Scope assignments per API. Appears when scope-based access control and an authorization server are configured. |
| Security | The authentication method for the plan, for example API key or OAuth2. |
| Documentation | The API reference and guides shown to subscribers. |
| Limits | Rate limits. Available on Gateway-bound plans only. |
| Approvals | Whether subscriptions are auto-approved or sent for review. |
| Monetization | The pricing and billing for the plan. |
| Custom Properties | Extra fields collected during subscription. |
| Onboarding | The steps a developer follows after subscribing. |
| Publish | Activating the plan and managing its versions. |
The Access Control tab is shown only when your account has scope-based access control enabled and at least one authorization server connected. The Limits tab is disabled on Catalog-bound plans, because rate limits run on a single gateway.
What do the plan statuses mean?
A plan moves through five statuses. The header toggle switches a plan between Inactive and Active; the other statuses come from versioning and deprecation.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | A new version in progress, not yet published. |
| Inactive | Saved but not visible to developers. |
| Active | Published and available to subscribe to. |
| Deprecated | Superseded by a newer version; subscribers may be asked to migrate. |
| Archived | Retired and no longer offered. |
A product needs at least one Active plan before the product itself can be published.
How do I publish a plan?
Open the plan's Publish tab and choose Confirm and publish. This sets the plan to Active. The Publish tab also compares the plan against earlier versions and lets you set a deprecation date for an older version.
When do I create a new plan version?
Create a new version when the plan has active or pending subscriptions. A banner reads that the plan has active or pending subscriptions, with a Create button that opens a fresh version you can edit without changing what current subscribers hold.
- Open a plan that has active or pending subscriptions.
- In the banner, click Create to start a new version.
- Edit the new version, then publish it from its Publish tab.
- Optionally deprecate the old version and set a date for subscribers to migrate.
While a plan has active or pending subscriptions, its APIs and coupling are locked on the live version, which is why structural changes go through a new version.
Where to next
Add APIs and choose coupling
Add APIs to the plan and choose Gateway-bound or Catalog-bound.
Set a plan's security level
Choose the authentication a subscriber uses, from API key to OAuth2.
Set rate limits on a plan
Cap throughput per subscriber on Gateway-bound plans.
Attach documentation to a plan
Add versioned docs and publish SDKs for the plan.
Assign scopes to a plan
Set each scope to Active, Optional, or Restricted on the Access Control tab.