antiwork/gumroad · error · Subscription::UpdateFailed

Installment plans cannot be updated.

Error message

Installment plans cannot be updated.

What it means

Raised as Subscription::UpdateFailed (app/models/subscription.rb:10) at the top of Subscription#update_current_plan! when the subscription is an installment plan (is_installment_plan?). update_current_plan! works by creating a new original subscription purchase and archiving the old one — a migration that has no defined meaning for installment plans, so it is refused up front. Callers in the codebase (Subscription::UpdaterService, RecurringChargeWorker, ScheduleMembershipPriceUpdatesJob) rescue Subscription::UpdateFailed explicitly.

Source

Thrown at app/models/subscription.rb:1032

    end
  end

  def end_subscription!
    with_lock do
      return if ended_at.present?

      self.ended_at = Time.current
      self.deactivate!

      CustomerLowPriorityMailer.subscription_ended(id).deliver_later(queue: "low")
      ContactingCreatorMailer.subscription_ended(id).deliver_later(queue: "critical") if seller.enable_payment_email?
    end
  end

  # creates a new original subscription purchase & archives the existing one.
  # Any changes to the subscription made here must be reverted in `Subscription::UpdaterService#restore_original_purchase`
  def update_current_plan!(new_variants:, new_price:, new_quantity: nil, perceived_price_cents: nil, is_applying_plan_change: false, skip_preparing_for_charge: false, offer_code: nil, clear_discount: false, clear_deleted_discount: false, authenticated_offer_code_buyer: AUTHENTICATED_OFFER_CODE_BUYER_NOT_PROVIDED, submitted_pre_discount_price_cents: nil, once_per_cart_discount_allocation: nil)
    raise Subscription::UpdateFailed, "Installment plans cannot be updated." if is_installment_plan?
    raise Subscription::UpdateFailed, "Changing plans for fixed-length subscriptions is not currently supported." if has_fixed_length?

    ActiveRecord::Base.transaction do
      payment_option = last_payment_option

      # build new original subscription purchase
      new_purchase = build_purchase(override_params: { is_original_subscription_purchase: true,
                                                       email: original_purchase.email,
                                                       is_free_trial_purchase: original_purchase.is_free_trial_purchase },
                                    authenticated_offer_code_buyer:)
      # avoid failing `Purchase#variants_available` validation if reverting back to the original set of variants & those variants are unavailable
      new_purchase.original_variant_attributes = original_purchase.variant_attributes
      # avoid failing `Purchase#price_not_too_low` validation if reverting back to the original subscription price & price has been deleted
      new_purchase.original_price = price
      # avoid `Purchase#not_double_charged` and sold out validations
      new_purchase.is_updated_original_subscription_purchase = true
      # avoid price validation failures when applying a pre-existing plan change (i.e. a downgrade)
      new_purchase.is_applying_plan_change = is_applying_plan_change

View on GitHub (pinned to afeacbd394)

Solutions

1. Filter plan-change flows on !subscription.is_installment_plan? before calling update_current_plan! — installment plans don't support mid-flight plan changes.
2. For installment-plan members who want a different plan, cancel and repurchase instead.
3. In jobs/services, rescue Subscription::UpdateFailed as the existing callers do and record/report it rather than letting it crash the worker.

Example fix

# before
subscription.update_current_plan!(new_variants:, new_price:) # Subscription::UpdateFailed

# after
if subscription.is_installment_plan?
  return { error: "Installment plans cannot be updated." }
end
subscription.update_current_plan!(new_variants:, new_price:)

return { unsupported: true } if subscription.is_installment_plan?

begin
  subscription.update_current_plan!(new_variants:, new_price:)
rescue Subscription::UpdateFailed => e
  # same pattern as Subscription::UpdaterService / RecurringChargeWorker
  log_and_report(e) # installment plans cannot change plans mid-flight
end

When it happens

Trigger: Invoking update_current_plan! (the change-plan path used by Subscription::UpdaterService and price-update jobs) on a subscription where is_installment_plan? is true — e.g. a member's plan-change request hitting an installment-plan subscription.

Common situations: Product mixes installment-plan and normal memberships and the change-plan endpoint doesn't filter; scheduled membership price-update jobs sweeping all subscriptions including installment plans; UI offering 'change tier' on installment purchases.

Related errors

• Changing plans for fixed-length subscriptions is not current
• india_card_mandate_missing
• upi_recurring_authorization_required
• upi_recurring_authorization_required
• This commission has already been completed, so its files can

AI-assisted analysis of antiwork/gumroad@afeacbd394 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ae9966f6606f55f2. Report an issue: GitHub.