Testing RevenueCat in-app purchases with e2e

An Expo app that makes real in-app purchases through RevenueCat's Test Store, used as an example of end-to-end testing a purchase flow you don't own, on iOS and Android, with e2e.

How it works

The app uses RevenueCat's paywall, the flow RevenueCat recommends, and its Test Store, so no App Store Connect or Google Play setup is needed:

• Plan screen (src/app/index.tsx) shows the monthly plan from RevenueCat's current offering and a Subscribe button.
• RevenueCat's paywall (RevenueCatUI.presentPaywall) opens over the app as a native screen RevenueCat draws. Its Purchase button opens the Test Store dialog.
• Back on the plan screen, the app asks RevenueCat for the customer's entitlement instead of trusting the paywall's result, and shows Subscribed, or "Paywall closed. Nothing was charged."

A link signs in as a RevenueCat customer: e2erevenuecat:///?customer=<id>. The tests open it to start every test as a new customer, and a fresh install that opens it gets the subscription back. Without it, the app uses RevenueCat's anonymous id.

There is no backend: RevenueCat keeps the purchases. The SDK setup is in src/lib/revenuecat.ts and src/hooks/use-subscription.ts.

Test Store

Nothing is charged.

Getting started

Use Node 22.22.3+, 24.8+, or 26+, with Xcode and an iOS simulator, or the Android SDK and an emulator (Expo's setup guide).

npm install
npm run ios       # or: npm run android

This builds the app in Debug, installs it on the running simulator or emulator, and starts Metro. RevenueCat's paywall needs native code, so the app doesn't run in Expo Go, and a Test Store key stops a Release build on purpose. Rebuild after native changes (app.json, packages with native code); JavaScript changes load from Metro.

RevenueCat key

Everything runs in a free RevenueCat project. Create one at app.revenuecat.com: it comes with a Test Store and a sample catalog, a monthly, a yearly, and a lifetime product in a default offering, which the app uses as is. Copy .env.example to .env.local and set EXPO_PUBLIC_REVENUECAT_API_KEY to the Test Store key (test_…) from Apps and providers → Test configuration. Restart Metro with npx expo start --clear after changing it.

End-to-end tests

The tests in tests/paywall.e2e.ts buy through RevenueCat's real paywall and Test Store dialog: a purchase, a failed purchase, cancelling, closing the paywall, and a fresh install that signs back in. They combine exact locators on the plan screen with agent.act / agent.assert steps on RevenueCat's screens, then check what RevenueCat recorded through its REST API v2. Each test signs in as a new customer through the app's link and deletes it afterwards. RevenueCat's screens aren't the app's own, so a failed test runs up to two more times. tests/home.e2e.ts uses locators only.

The tests read three more values from .env.local:

• REVENUECAT_SECRET_API_KEY: a V2 secret key (sk_…) from Project settings → API keys, with Customers read and write, Subscriptions read, and Products read. Give the demo a RevenueCat project of its own: a secret key reaches the whole project.
• REVENUECAT_PROJECT_ID: from Project settings → General.
• AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY: the agent model goes through the Vercel AI Gateway (or link a Vercel project).

With the app installed on the simulator or emulator, run:

npx e2e run --target ios
npx e2e run --target android

Without --target, both run. The runner starts Metro, or uses the one already running. Configuration lives in e2e.config.ts.

Scripts