Digital Products

Overview

When to Use This Skill

• When adding downloadable products (PDFs, software, audio, templates) to an existing store
• When implementing a license key delivery system for software products
• When building a subscription that gates access to a digital content library
• When replacing publicly accessible download URLs with secure, expiring signed URLs

Core Instructions

Step 1: Determine platform and choose the right tool

Step 2: Platform-specific setup

Shopify

1. Install Sky Pilot from the Shopify App Store
2. Go to Sky Pilot → Files → Upload your digital file (PDF, ZIP, etc.)
3. Go to Sky Pilot → Products and link the uploaded file to a specific product or variant
4. Configure delivery settings:
   • Download limit: set to 3–5 for standard products, unlimited for subscriptions
   • Link expiry: 48–72 hours is standard; customers can request a new link from their account
   • Automatic delivery: enabled by default — customers receive a download email immediately after payment
5. Customize the delivery email under Sky Pilot → Settings → Email template

1. In Sky Pilot, go to License Keys → Import and upload a CSV of your license keys
2. Link the license key pool to the product
3. Sky Pilot automatically assigns one key per purchase and includes it in the delivery email

• Sky Pilot integrates with Recharge — customers with an active subscription automatically gain access; access is revoked when the subscription cancels

WooCommerce

1. Go to WooCommerce → Products → Add Product
2. Check Downloadable (and optionally Virtual to skip shipping)
3. Under Product Data → Downloadable Files:
   • Click Add File and upload the file or enter a URL
   • File name: the name shown to customers in their account
4. Configure access settings:
   • Download limit: enter a number (e.g.,

     5

     ) or leave blank for unlimited
   • Download expiry: number of days after purchase (e.g.,

     365

     ), or leave blank for no expiry
5. WooCommerce generates a secure, token-based download URL for each purchase automatically

• Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Accounts & Privacy
• Enable Grant access to downloadable products after payment and Require login to download

• Install License Manager for WooCommerce (free plugin)
• Go to License Manager → Add License Keys and bulk import your keys
• Link the license key pool to a product
• The plugin delivers keys in the order confirmation email and the customer's account page

BigCommerce

1. Go to Products → Add Product
2. Under Files, upload your digital file (BigCommerce supports files up to 512 MB)
3. Set Max downloads to limit how many times the file can be downloaded per order
4. BigCommerce sends an automatic download email after payment with a secure link

• Install SendOwl or Fileflare from the BigCommerce App Marketplace
• These apps add license key management, download analytics, and streaming video delivery

Custom / Headless

import { S3Client, GetObjectCommand } from '@aws-sdk/client-s3';
import { getSignedUrl } from '@aws-sdk/s3-request-presigner';

const s3 = new S3Client({ region: process.env.AWS_REGION });

// Generate a short-lived presigned URL for each download attempt
export async function generateDownloadUrl(orderId: string, digitalProductId: string) {
  const access = await db.orderDigitalAccess.findUnique({
    where: { orderId_digitalProductId: { orderId, digitalProductId } },
    include: { digitalProduct: true },
  });

  if (!access) throw new Error('No access record found');
  if (access.expiresAt && access.expiresAt < new Date()) throw new Error('Download access has expired');
  if (access.maxDownloads && access.downloadCount >= access.maxDownloads) throw new Error('Download limit reached');

  // Atomically increment download count
  await db.orderDigitalAccess.update({ where: { id: access.id }, data: { downloadCount: { increment: 1 } } });

  // 60-second presigned URL — short enough to prevent sharing, long enough for the redirect
  const command = new GetObjectCommand({
    Bucket: process.env.DIGITAL_PRODUCTS_BUCKET,
    Key: access.digitalProduct.fileStorageKey,
    ResponseContentDisposition: `attachment; filename="${access.digitalProduct.fileName}"`,
  });

  return getSignedUrl(s3, command, { expiresIn: 60 });
}

// Provision access after payment — call this from your payment webhook
export async function provisionDigitalAccess(orderId: string) {
  const order = await db.orders.findUnique({
    where: { id: orderId },
    include: { items: { include: { variant: { include: { digitalProduct: true } } } } },
  });

  for (const item of order.items.filter(i => i.variant.digitalProduct)) {
    const dp = item.variant.digitalProduct;
    await db.orderDigitalAccess.upsert({
      where: { orderId_digitalProductId: { orderId, digitalProductId: dp.id } },
      create: {
        orderId, digitalProductId: dp.id, downloadCount: 0,
        maxDownloads: dp.downloadLimit,
        expiresAt: dp.accessDurationDays ? new Date(Date.now() + dp.accessDurationDays * 86400000) : null,
      },
      update: {}, // Idempotent — webhooks can fire multiple times
    });
  }
}

// License key pool management
export async function assignLicenseKey(orderId: string, productId: string) {
  return db.$transaction(async tx => {
    const license = await tx.digitalProductLicenses.findFirst({
      where: { productId, status: 'available' },
    });
    if (!license) throw new Error(`No available license keys for product ${productId}`);
    await tx.digitalProductLicenses.update({
      where: { id: license.id },
      data: { status: 'sold', orderId, soldAt: new Date() },
    });
    return license.licenseKey;
  });
}

Step 3: Configure post-purchase delivery email

• Order confirmation number
• Product name and description
• Download link (or license key, displayed prominently)
• Download limit and expiry date if applicable
• Instructions for how to access/install the product
• Support contact if they have trouble

Step 4: Monitor license key inventory

• Sky Pilot: Go to License Keys → [Product] — shows remaining key count; Sky Pilot sends email alerts when stock drops below a threshold you configure
• License Manager for WooCommerce: Dashboard shows keys remaining per product with color-coded warnings
• Custom: Run a daily check and alert when available keys drop below 10

Best Practices

• Never deliver digital products until payment is confirmed — trigger delivery from the payment confirmed webhook, not the order created event; card declines happen after order creation
• Use short-lived download links (60 seconds) for headless implementations — generate the URL fresh on each download page load, not when the page renders
• Set download limits for most products — 3–5 downloads is standard; unlimited for subscription access; limits prevent casual file sharing
• Store files in private buckets — never make your S3/GCS bucket public; all access must go through signed URL generation
• Monitor license key inventory — running out of keys causes support tickets and chargebacks; set up alerts when below 20% of original inventory
• Send a separate, dedicated delivery email — don't bundle license keys into the generic order confirmation; a focused delivery email is easier for customers to find and reference

Common Pitfalls

payment_intent.succeeded

order_id

email

Related Skills

• @inventory-tracking
• @low-stock-alerts
• @product-data-modeling