Paywalls

Paywall rules determine which content is gated and how.

Evaluation order

Rules are evaluated in ascending priority order. The first matching rule wins.

Rule types

Type	Behavior
Metered	Allow N free views, then deny
Hard	Deny unless the user has a matching subscription
Registration	Deny unless a `userId` is present
Soft	Grant access and return a paywall hint

Conditions in the dashboard

The current dashboard form primarily exposes URL-based conditions.

Available URL operators are:

contains
matches
eq

The access engine also supports has_user and segment_id, but the current UI focuses on URL matching.

Action fields

Each rule stores:

productIds
optional message
optional meterLimit
optional template — chooses which surface the SDK mounts when Latch.showPaywall(result) runs (see UI Components)
optional position — only meaningful for sticky-bar; either top or bottom

Templates

The dashboard’s Create Rule form exposes five templates. Each maps to a Web Component shipped in @latch/ui:

Template	Web component	Surface
`modal`	`<latch-paywall-modal>`	Centered overlay that blocks the page until the reader subscribes or dismisses. The default.
`bottom-bar`	`<latch-sticky-bar>`	Sticky bar pinned to the bottom of the viewport (`position` is forced to `bottom`). Non-blocking soft prompt.
`inline`	`<latch-inline-paywall>`	In-flow card mounted into the element matched by `paywallSelector` on `Latch.init()` (falls back to `<body>`). Renders alongside content rather than over it.
`sticky-bar`	`<latch-sticky-bar>`	Same as `bottom-bar`, but reads `action.position` (`top` or `bottom`). Use this when you want a top-pinned bar.
`inline-lock`	`<latch-content-lock>`	Truncates the article with a gradient fade and renders a CTA overlay below. Place a `<div id="latch-lock"></div>` marker where the cut should start, or rely on auto-detection of `<article>` / `<main>`.

For newsletter and data rule types, the SDK ignores template and routes to <latch-newsletter-wall> or <latch-data-wall> respectively.

Enable and disable

Rules can be toggled active or inactive without deleting them.

Soft paywalls

Soft paywalls return granted: true. If you want a visible prompt for soft rules, your integration should inspect the returned paywallRule and render the prompt itself.

Content categories

Content categories live alongside paywall rules under Paywalls → Categories (formerly Settings → Content Categories; the old URL still redirects). A category mapping is just a URL pattern → category name pair: when a request URL matches the pattern, the access engine derives a content_category value, which is then available as a field in the rule builder.

The flow is:

Define a mapping (e.g. /sports/** → sports) under Paywalls → Categories.
In a paywall rule, add a Content Category condition (e.g. is "sports"). The rule builder shows a Manage categories → deep-link next to the field for quick access.
At request time the engine resolves the request URL to a category, evaluates rules, and returns an access decision.

Old bookmarks for /settings/content-categories are redirected to /paywalls/categories.