name: polar-sdk-cancel-subscription

description: |

Fix for Polar SDK subscription cancellation. Use when: (1) TypeScript error "Property 'cancel'

does not exist on type 'Subscriptions'", (2) trying to cancel a Polar subscription via SDK,

(3) build failure with polar.subscriptions.cancel(). The correct method is revoke() not cancel().

author: Claude Code

version: 1.0.0

date: 2026-01-21

Polar SDK Subscription Cancellation

Problem

When trying to cancel a subscription using the Polar SDK, you might try:

await polar.subscriptions.cancel({ id: subscriptionId });

This causes a TypeScript/build error:

Type error: Property 'cancel' does not exist on type 'Subscriptions'.

Context / Trigger Conditions

• TypeScript error about cancel not existing on Subscriptions
• Build failure in code that cancels Polar subscriptions
• Following outdated examples or documentation

Solution

The correct method is revoke(), not cancel():

// WRONG
await polar.subscriptions.cancel({ id: subscriptionId });

// CORRECT
await polar.subscriptions.revoke({ id: subscriptionId });

Full Example

import { Polar } from "@polar-sh/sdk";

const polar = new Polar({
  accessToken: process.env.POLAR_ACCESS_TOKEN,
});

export async function cancelSubscription(subscriptionId: string) {
  const result = await polar.subscriptions.revoke({
    id: subscriptionId,
  });
  return result;
}

Verification

• TypeScript compiles without errors
• Subscription is canceled immediately in Polar
• Returns the revoked subscription object

Notes

• revoke() cancels the subscription immediately
• For canceling at period end, use a different approach (update subscription)
• The Polar SDK also has polar.customerPortal.subscriptions.cancel() for customer-initiated cancellation (different use case)

References

• Polar JS SDK docs: https://github.com/polarsource/polar-js