Build Paystack Subscriptions in Django REST Framework

# payments/views.py
class SubscribeView(APIView):
    def post(self, request):
        plan_code = request.data.get('plan_code')
        email = request.user.email

        response = requests.post(
            'https://api.paystack.co/transaction/initialize',
            json={
                'email': email,
                'plan': plan_code,
                'callback_url': settings.FRONTEND_URL + '/subscription/callback',
            },
            headers={
                'Authorization': 'Bearer ' + settings.PAYSTACK_SECRET_KEY,
                'Content-Type': 'application/json',
            },
        )

        result = response.json()

        if not result.get('status'):
            return Response({'error': result.get('message')}, status=400)

        return Response({
            'authorization_url': result['data']['authorization_url'],
            'reference': result['data']['reference'],
        })

# payments/models.py
class Subscription(models.Model):
    user = models.OneToOneField('auth.User', on_delete=models.CASCADE)
    subscription_code = models.CharField(max_length=100, unique=True)
    plan_code = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    email_token = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    status = models.CharField(max_length=20, default='active')
    next_payment_date = models.DateTimeField(null=True)
    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)

# payments/serializers.py
class SubscriptionSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
    class Meta:
        model = Subscription
        fields = ['subscription_code', 'plan_code', 'status', 'next_payment_date', 'created_at']

# payments/services.py
from django.contrib.auth.models import User
from .models import Subscription

def handle_subscription_create(data):
    email = data['customer']['email']
    try:
        user = User.objects.get(email=email)
    except User.DoesNotExist:
        return

    Subscription.objects.update_or_create(
        user=user,
        defaults={
            'subscription_code': data['subscription_code'],
            'plan_code': data['plan']['plan_code'],
            'email_token': data.get('email_token', ''),
            'status': 'active',
            'next_payment_date': data.get('next_payment_date'),
        },
    )

def handle_invoice_failed(data):
    sub_code = data.get('subscription', {}).get('subscription_code')
    if sub_code:
        Subscription.objects.filter(subscription_code=sub_code).update(status='past_due')

def handle_subscription_disable(data):
    sub_code = data.get('subscription_code')
    if sub_code:
        Subscription.objects.filter(subscription_code=sub_code).update(status='cancelled')

# payments/views.py
class SubscriptionStatusView(APIView):
    def get(self, request):
        try:
            sub = request.user.subscription
        except Subscription.DoesNotExist:
            return Response({'has_subscription': False})

        serializer = SubscriptionSerializer(sub)
        return Response({'has_subscription': True, 'subscription': serializer.data})

class CancelSubscriptionView(APIView):
    def post(self, request):
        try:
            sub = request.user.subscription
        except Subscription.DoesNotExist:
            return Response({'error': 'No subscription found'}, status=404)

        response = requests.post(
            'https://api.paystack.co/subscription/disable',
            json={'code': sub.subscription_code, 'token': sub.email_token},
            headers={
                'Authorization': 'Bearer ' + settings.PAYSTACK_SECRET_KEY,
                'Content-Type': 'application/json',
            },
        )

        result = response.json()
        if result.get('status'):
            sub.status = 'cancelled'
            sub.save()
            return Response({'message': 'Subscription cancelled'})

        return Response({'error': result.get('message')}, status=400)

# payments/permissions.py
from rest_framework.permissions import BasePermission

class HasActiveSubscription(BasePermission):
    message = 'An active subscription is required.'

    def has_permission(self, request, view):
        if not request.user or not request.user.is_authenticated:
            return False
        try:
            return request.user.subscription.status == 'active'
        except Exception:
            return False

Use it on any APIView:

class PremiumContentView(APIView):
    permission_classes = [IsAuthenticated, HasActiveSubscription]

    def get(self, request):
        return Response({'content': 'Premium data here'})

This guide is part of the Paystack integration guides by language and framework series.

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