Preview as Tier REST API

Three endpoints for activating, reading, and clearing the “Preview as Tier” admin feature. Preview mode lets an admin see the subscriber-facing front end exactly as a subscriber at a specific tier would see it — including episode access, locked states, player visibility, and episode archive. Preview is scoped to a show and tier and stored as a session cookie; it never affects what actual subscribers see.

All three endpoints require manage_options and a valid X-WP-Nonce header.

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GET /benecaster/v1/tools/preview-tier

Returns the current preview state for this admin session.

Auth: manage_options + X-WP-Nonce

Response (active preview):

{
  "active": true,
  "show_id": 45,
  "tier_slug": "basic"
}

Response (no active preview):

{
  "active": false,
  "show_id": null,
  "tier_slug": null
}

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POST /benecaster/v1/tools/preview-tier

Activates preview mode for a specific show and tier.

Auth: manage_options + X-WP-Nonce

Body:

{
  "show_id": 45,
  "tier_slug": "basic"
}

Response:

{
  "active": true,
  "show_id": 45,
  "tier_slug": "basic"
}

Errors:

How it works:

Activating preview sets a session cookie benecaster_preview_tier containing {"show_id": 45, "tier_slug": "basic"}. The PreviewTierManager class hooks benecaster_episode_is_accessible and benecaster_user_tier_for_show — when the cookie is present and the admin is viewing the show’s front end, both filters return values as if the current user holds a token at the preview tier. Existing subscribers are not affected; the preview only applies to the admin’s own browser session.

A preview mode banner is displayed to the previewing admin and is not visible to anyone else.

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DELETE /benecaster/v1/tools/preview-tier

Clears the active preview. Removes the benecaster_preview_tier session cookie.

Auth: manage_options + X-WP-Nonce

Response:

{
  "active": false
}

Calling this endpoint when no preview is active returns the same response — it is idempotent.

Preview is also cleared on logout. The session cookie is tied to the admin’s session; logging out clears it automatically regardless of whether this endpoint is called.

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Filters

Preview mode works by hooking two filters. These filters fire during normal episode access evaluation — add-on code that filters benecaster_episode_is_accessible or benecaster_user_tier_for_show will interact with preview mode. If your add-on also hooks these filters, make sure it respects values already set by PreviewTierManager rather than overriding them unconditionally.