1What FoxPlug reads from Polar
These are the exact things it reads, and nothing else.
| What | The details it takes |
|---|---|
| Subscriptions | up to 5 pages of 100 subscriptions, stopping early when Polar says there are no more pages. Per subscription: status, amount, currency, billing interval and interval count, started time, canceled time and ended time. |
| Currency | the currency on the subscriptions as read (the last one seen wins), written in lower case; usd is used when none is given. |
| Monthly amount per subscription | each subscription's amount is turned into a monthly figure from its billing interval (year, week, day or month) and interval count. An amount that is missing counts as 0. |
| Active subscribers and monthly revenue | subscriptions with status active or trialing are counted as active subscribers; only the active ones add their monthly amount to monthly revenue. |
| Past-due subscriptions | status past due or unpaid: how many, and the monthly amount at risk. The count is stored only when it is above zero. |
| New and cancelled in 30 days | new = started time in the last 30 days; cancelled = status canceled or incomplete expired with a canceled time (or, failing that, an ended time) in the last 30 days. |
2Moments it finds, and what each becomes
A moment is one thing that happened in Polar worth a second look. Each one is scored, then it becomes a post, a changelog entry, a thing to fix or an idea to email, or it is skipped.
The first active subscriber appears
The moment is titled like this: 💸 Got the first paying customer
A maker connects Polar and presses Check for what's new. One subscription is active (or in a trial), so the moment reads 'Got the first paying customer' with the line 'Someone is paying for the thing I'm building (counted from Polar).' A post is drafted for review.
Active subscribers reach 10, 50 or 100
The moment is titled like this: Passed 10 paying subscribers
The 10th active subscription is read. The moment 'Passed 10 paying subscribers' is written once, described as '10 people now pay for it every month (counted from Polar).'
One or more subscriptions are past due or unpaid
The moment is titled like this: No milestone. Brief line like '2 subscriptions are past due, $48 a month at risk.'
Two subscriptions show past due. The monthly amount at risk is added up from their amounts and the brief puts a Fix line ahead of any post.
Monthly revenue crosses a milestone number between two reads
The moment is titled like this: Brief line: 'You passed $1,000 a month. Tell people.'
A first read shows $940 a month and a later read at least a day on shows $1,060. The brief offers a Say line for crossing $1,000.
3How the brain uses it
The rules below are the ones that apply to Polar. The same rules, with worked examples, are on the brain page.
- Lemon Squeezy, Paddle and Polar report past-due subscriptions, which become the fix line. How the brain decides
- The first paying customer, then 10, 50 and 100 subscribers, become say lines. How the brain decides
- Crossing a monthly revenue milestone ($100 up to $50,000) becomes a Say line. How the brain decides
- Card expiry, saving customers and win-back need each customer's details, so they stay Stripe only. How the brain decides
- When several revenue tools are connected the brief uses one: connected Stripe first, else another connected one. How the brain decides
4Set up Polar in a few steps
Access: Organization Access Token pasted into FoxPlug. What to give it: Organization Access Token. The guide tells the person to choose read access only if Polar lets them choose what the token may do. The sheet names no Polar scope, because Polar's documentation does not list token scopes.
- In Polar, open your organization settings and find Organization Access Tokens (Polar's page, linked in the guide, says where tokens are created).
- Create an Organization Access Token named FoxPlug and copy it. If Polar lets you choose what it may do, choose read access only.
- Paste it into the Polar box in FoxPlug. Keep it private; FoxPlug only reads and never writes.
5Limits worth knowing
Where it stops, so nothing surprises you.
- At most 500 subscriptions are read (5 pages of 100).
- Trialing subscriptions count as active subscribers, so they also count toward the first customer and the 10, 50, 100 moments, but they add nothing to monthly revenue.
- Cancelled in 30 days uses the canceled time, or the ended time when there is none.
- No test or sandbox filter is applied: every subscription the token can see is counted.
- The reader treats the amount on each subscription as a number in the smallest currency unit (cents) and divides by the interval; that unit was not checked against Polar's documentation.
- If subscriptions use more than one currency, the last currency seen is reported for the whole total and amounts are not converted.
- The brief shows one revenue tool at a time, so with Stripe connected as well, Polar's numbers are not the ones shown.
- No failed-payment rescue, expiring card, saving or win-back drafts: those are Stripe only.
6What it never reads
Read only means read only, and the list below is what the code leaves alone.
- Customer names and emails. No customer email is read or stored; the reader only picks the subscription fields listed above.
- Which customer owns which subscription: the loop touches status, amount, currency, interval and dates, and nothing about the buyer.
- Anything written back: the token is only used for plain GET reads with an Authorization header, nothing is written to Polar.
7How Polar differs from the tools next to it
Polar gives each subscription with its own amount, currency and billing interval, so FoxPlug needs no second price lookup, unlike Lemon Squeezy. It lists subscriptions page by page (up to 5 pages of 100) like Paddle does. Unlike Lemon Squeezy it has no test-mode flag in the reader, so nothing is left out, and trialing subscriptions are counted as active. Unlike Gumroad it reads real subscriptions, so past due is counted. The same saved token is also used by the Polar subscriber count in the funding connector.
8Questions
Does FoxPlug see my customers' names or emails from Polar?
No. It reads subscription status, amount, currency, billing interval and dates. No customer name or email is read or stored.
Is this the same Polar token I may have given FoxPlug for subscriber counts?
Yes. Polar keeps one saved token in FoxPlug: the funding connector and the revenue read both look up the token saved under Polar, so connecting once covers both.
What does FoxPlug do with the numbers?
It keeps active subscribers, monthly revenue, new and cancelled in 30 days and past due, and the brief uses them. Past-due subscriptions become the fix line, and the first customer and 10, 50, 100 subscribers become things to post about.
Which Polar permissions does the token need?
Polar's documentation does not list token scopes, so FoxPlug does not promise one. The connect steps say to choose read access only if Polar lets you choose what the token may do.
When does it read Polar?
When you press Check for what's new or Build the brief.
FoxPlug reads this tool only when you press Check for what's new, and only to read. Plans and limits are on the pricing page. Questions: support.