Charge for resources and API calls with web monetization
Using Interledger for payments, Web Monetization allows sites to monetize their traffic without being tied to an ad network. And because payments happen instantly, they can also be tracked on the server-side to unlock exclusive content or paywalls.
koa-web-monetization
makes this easy by providing middleware for your
Koa application. Charging your users is as easy as putting
ctx.spend(100)
in your route handler. No need to convince them to
buy a subscription or donate.
Below is an example of some of the functions that you would use to create paywalled content. For a complete and working example, look at the next section.
const Koa = require('koa')
const app = new Koa()
const router = require('koa-router')()
const KoaWebMonetization = require('koa-web-monetization')
const monetizer = new KoaWebMonetization()
// This endpoint charges 100 units to the user with :id
// If awaitBalance is set to true, the call will stay open until the balance is sufficient. This is convenient
// for making sure that the call doesn't immediately fail when called on startup.
router.get('/content/', async ctx => {
await ctx.awaitBalance(100)
ctx.spend(100)
// load content
})
router.get('/', async ctx => {
// load index page
})
app
.use(monetizer.mount())
.use(router.routes())
.use(router.allowedMethods())
.listen(8080)
The client side code to support this is very simple too:
<body>
<h1>Hello World</h1>
<p>Underneath this is a paid image. It will load if you have web monetization on.</p>
<div id="container">
<!-- Paid image will be appended here -->
<img src="/content" width="600"/>
</div>
<script src="/client.js"></script>
<script>
var monetizerClient = new MonetizerClient();
monetizerClient.start()
</script>
</body>
This repo comes with an example server that you can run. It serves a page that has a single paywalled image on it. The server waits for money to come in and then shows the image.
-
You should be running Moneyd for Interledger payments. Local mode will work fine.
-
Build and install the Minute extension. This adds Web Monetization support to your browser.
git clone https://github.com/sharafian/koa-web-monetization.git
cd koa-web-monetization
npm install
DEBUG=koa* node example/index.js
Now go to http://localhost:8080, and watch the server logs.
If you configured Minute and Moneyd correctly, you'll start to see that money is coming in. Once the user has paid 100 units, the example image will load on the page.
new KoaWebMonetization(opts: Object | void): KoaWebMonetization
Create a new KoaWebMonetization
instance.
opts.plugin
- Supply an ILP plugin. Defaults to using Moneyd.opts.maxBalance
- The maximum balance that can be associated with any user. Defaults toInfinity
.opts.receiveEndpointUrl
- The endpoint in your Koa route configuration that specifies where a user pays streams PSK packets to your site. Defaults to/__monetizer/{id}
where{id}
is the server generated ID (stored in the browser as a cookie).opts.clientFilePath
- This sets the endpoint which specifies where you want to serve the MonetizerClient file to your frontend. Your html script source must match this.opts.cookieName
- The cookie key name for your server generated payer ID. Defaults to__monetizer
.opts.cookieOptions
- Cookie configurations for Koa. See Koa ctx setting cookies options for more details! httpOnly has to be false for the monetizer to work!
instance.mount(): Function
This middleware allows cookies to be generated (or just sent if already set) from the server to the client. It also injects the awaitBalance
and spend
methods described below. It also serves the MonetizerClient below to the client side.
new MonetizerClient(opts: Object | void): MonetizerClient
Creates a new MonetizerClient
instance.
opts.url
- The url of the server that is registering the KoaWebMonetization plugin. Defaults tonew URL(window.location).origin
opts.cookieName
- The cookie key name that will be saved in your browser. Defaults to__monetizer
. This MUST be the same hasopts.cookieName
in the server configuration.opts.receiveEndpointUrl
- The endpoint where users of the site can start streaming packets via their browser extension or through the browser API. Defaults toopts.url + '__monetizer/:id'
where id is the server generated payer ID. This MUST be the same hasopts.receiverEndpointUrl
in the server configuration.
The methods ctx.spend()
and ctx.awaitBalance()
are available to use inside handlers.
ctx.spend(amount): Function
Specifies how many units to charge the user.
ctx.awaitBalance(amount): Function
Waits until the user has sufficient balance to pay for specific content.
awaitBalance
can be useful for when a call is being done at page start.
Rather than immediately failing because the user hasn't paid, the server will
wait until the user has paid the specified price.