Variation Metadata in Responses

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Variation Metadata in Responses

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Variation Metadata in Responses #

New in v1.2.0

License response objects now include variation metadata fields that tell client software which licensing tier settings apply.

Affected Endpoints #

Variation metadata is included in responses from:

  • GET /licenses (list)
  • GET /licenses/{id} (single)
  • POST /licenses/validate (validate)
  • POST /licenses/activate (key-based activate)
  • POST /licenses/{id}/activate (ID-based activate)

Metadata Fields #

FieldTypeDescription
license_typestringSlug of the License Type applied (e.g., “professional”)
activation_limitintegerEffective activation limit (resolved from License Type/product/variation)
license_durationstringEffective duration: “lifetime” or a number of months as a string (e.g., “12”)

Where These Values Come From #

The values are resolved by resolve_effective_settings(), which applies a 3-level inheritance chain:

  • License Type defaults – the base values set on the License Type record
  • Product overrides – values set directly on the WooCommerce product (override License Type)
  • Variation overrides – values set on a specific product variation (override both above)

    • The final resolved values are what appears in the API response. This means two licenses for the same product but different variations will return different activation_limit and license_duration values.

    Example: Variable Product #

    A vendor sells “Pro Plugin” as a variable product with three variations:

    VariationLicense TypeActivation LimitDuration
    Personalstandard112 months
    Businessprofessional512 months
    Agencyprofessional25lifetime

    A GET /licenses/{id} call for a “Business” license returns:

    {

    "id": 789,
    

    "license_key": "DMSI-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX",
    

    "status": "active",
    

    "license_type": "professional",
    

    "activation_limit": 5,
    

    "license_duration": "12"
    

    }

    A GET /licenses/{id} call for an “Agency” license returns:

    {

    "id": 790,
    

    "license_key": "DMSI-YYYY-YYYY-YYYY-YYYY",
    

    "status": "active",
    

    "license_type": "professional",
    

    "activation_limit": 25,
    

    "license_duration": "lifetime"
    

    }

    Use Cases #

    Displaying tier information in plugin settings:

    Read license_type to show “Professional License” label in your plugin’s settings screen.

    Enforcing limits client-side:

    Read activation_limit to display “X of Y activations used” without a second API call.

    Showing renewal dates:

    Read license_duration to calculate and display the expected renewal period.

    Adapting UI per tier:

    Different license_type values can enable or disable features in your plugin UI based on the purchased tier.

    Related Topics #

    • [Validate License Endpoint](#)
    • [Key-Based Activate and Deactivate](#)
    • [License Endpoints](#)
    • [License Types](#) (Part 13)

    Summary #

    API Documentation covers:

    • Authentication methods (Cookie, App Passwords, API Keys)
    • Rate limiting by authentication type
    • Error handling and status codes
    • Pagination for list endpoints
    • License endpoints (CRUD operations)
    • Public validate endpoint (with variation metadata)
    • Activation endpoints (ID-based and key-based)
    • Key-based activate/deactivate (new in v1.2.0)
    • Variation metadata in responses (new in v1.2.0)
    • Utility endpoints (health check)
    • Integration examples

    Next Steps #

    • Review [API Settings](#) in the admin
    • Test endpoints with a REST client
    • Use [Key-Based Activate and Deactivate](#) for new integrations
    • See [Variation Metadata in Responses](#) to use tier data in your plugin UI

    Document Created: 2025-11-24 | Updated: 2026-03-22 for v1.2.2
    Category: API Documentation (ddls-api-documentation)
    Total Docs: 12
    Status: Ready for BetterDocs import

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