Digital Products

Overview

Selling digital products — ebooks, software licenses, templates, music, courses — requires secure delivery after payment, download limits to prevent unauthorized sharing, and expiring access links. Every major platform either has this built in (WooCommerce) or has a mature app that handles it (Shopify, BigCommerce). Use the platform's native solution first; only build custom delivery infrastructure if your use case (complex license key management, subscription-gated content libraries) exceeds what apps offer.

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

Platform	Recommended Tool	Why
Shopify	Sky Pilot or Fileflare	Sky Pilot handles files, license keys, streaming video, and download limits; Fileflare is simpler for basic file downloads
WooCommerce	WooCommerce Downloadable Products (built-in)	WooCommerce has native digital product support including download limits, expiry, and secure token URLs
BigCommerce	Downloadable Digital Products (built-in) or Fileflare	BigCommerce handles file attachment and download delivery natively
Custom / Headless	Build delivery with S3 presigned URLs	Required when the platform has no native digital product support

Step 2: Platform-specific setup

Shopify

Shopify does not have native digital product support — you need an app. Sky Pilot is the most feature-complete option.

Setting up Sky Pilot:

Install Sky Pilot from the Shopify App Store
Go to Sky Pilot → Files → Upload your digital file (PDF, ZIP, etc.)
Go to Sky Pilot → Products and link the uploaded file to a specific product or variant
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
Customize the delivery email under Sky Pilot → Settings → Email template

For license key products:

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

For subscription-gated content (Sky Pilot + Recharge):

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

WooCommerce

WooCommerce has digital product delivery built in — no extra plugin required for basic use.

Setting up a downloadable product:

Go to WooCommerce → Products → Add Product
Check Downloadable (and optionally Virtual to skip shipping)
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
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
WooCommerce generates a secure, token-based download URL for each purchase automatically

Forcing customer account for downloads:

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

For license key products:

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

Setting up digital delivery (built-in):

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

For more advanced delivery:

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

Custom / Headless

For headless storefronts, implement secure file delivery using S3 presigned URLs — never expose the raw S3 key:

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

All platforms send an automatic delivery email — customize it to be clear and professional:

Content to include:

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

Shopify (Sky Pilot): Customize under Sky Pilot → Settings → Email Template

WooCommerce: Customize under WooCommerce → Settings → Emails → Customer Processing Order (includes download links automatically)

BigCommerce: Customize under Marketing → Transactional Emails → Order Status Notification

Step 4: Monitor license key inventory

For license key products, set up alerts before keys run out:

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

Problem	Solution
Download link expires before customer clicks it	For headless builds, generate a fresh presigned URL on each page load, not at email send time
Digital product delivered after a failed payment	Trigger delivery only from the payment success webhook (`payment_intent.succeeded` in Stripe), never from order creation
License keys double-assigned	Use a database transaction for key assignment with an atomic status check — never select and then update in two steps
Customer loses access after account deletion	Store download access against `order_id` + `email`, not only the user account ID; allow access recovery via order number
Large file download times out	Use S3 presigned URLs to deliver files directly from S3 to the customer's browser — never proxy through your server

Related Skills

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

digital-products