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Once a customer adds a subscription item to their cart, the cart needs to reflect the subscription context clearly and enforce the constraints required by the checkout flow.

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Purchase mode

The cart’s purchase mode is derived from line item metadata. Three modes are possible: Use a helper like getCartPurchaseMode(cart) to derive the current mode from line item metadata and drive your cart UI accordingly.

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Displaying subscription items

For each subscription line item, show the billing cadence alongside the product. The cadence is stored in the line item’s metadata fields frequency_interval and frequency_value:
Use these fields to display context like “Delivered monthly” or “Every 3 months” directly in the cart row.

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Mixed cart guard

Mixed carts are not supported in the current release. If the cart contains both subscription and one-time items, disable the checkout CTA and show a clear explanation to the customer.
If a customer wants to purchase a subscription item and a one-time item together, they need to use separate carts and complete them through their respective checkout flows.

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Cart CTA

Change the cart’s call-to-action label based on the current purchase mode to set the right expectation before checkout:

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Next step

When the customer proceeds from a subscription cart, complete the order through the Subscription Checkout flow instead of the standard Medusa cart-complete route.