# Software Licensing - Minimum Requirements

Software Licensing 3.8 introduced the ability to set minimum platform requirements for products. If a customer doesn't meet those requirements, they won't be given automatic updates through the API.

- [API prerequisites](#prerequisites)
- [Configuring requirements for a product](#configuring-requirements)
- [Adding custom requirements](#custom-requirements)



API prerequisites
-----------------

In order for this feature to work properly, the customer's platform versions need to be sent along with the API request that checks for an update.

If you're using [our plugin updater](https://easydigitaldownloads.com/docs/software-licensing-updater-implementation-for-wordpress-plugins/), that means your product needs to be bundling version 1.9 or greater of the `EDD_SL_Plugin_Updater` class file.

If you're using [our theme updater](https://easydigitaldownloads.com/docs/software-licensing-updater-implementation-for-wordpress-themes/), your product needs to be bundling version 1.2 or greater.

If you've built a custom integration, you need to make sure to include "php\_version" and "wp\_version" in your API request. Consult our [API documentation](https://easydigitaldownloads.com/docs/software-licensing-api/) for more details.

If a customer's site does not include the platform version(s) in the API request then those requirements will not be checked and the user may still receive the update.

Configuring requirements for a product
--------------------------------------

To configure requirements for a product, edit the product via Downloads > Edit. On the right sidebar, search for a metabox called "Download Requirements". It looks like this:

![](https://easydigitaldownloads.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/CleanShot-2025-09-15-at-2136502x-800x225.png)Simply enter your minimum required versions and save. Any versions left blank will not be checked or required.

Adding custom requirements
--------------------------

By default Software Licensing supports PHP and WordPress versions, though your own dependencies can be added with some custom code. Two steps are required:

**1. Add your dependency to the metabox**

Adding a new dependency is done with a simple filter like this, which needs to be added to your own site:

```
add_filter( 'edd_sl_platforms', function( $platforms ) {
	$platforms['your-platform-id'] = 'Your Platform Display Name';
	
	return $platforms;
} );
```

Replace `your-platform-id` with a unique, slug-friendly version of your dependency name, and replace `Your Platform Display Name` with the display-friendly version. Here's an example of adding Easy Digital Downloads as a requirement:

```
add_filter( 'edd_sl_platforms', function( $platforms ) {
	$platforms['easy-digital-downloads'] = 'Easy Digital Downloads';

	return $platforms;
} );
```

Once added, your platform will appear in the metabox:

![](https://easydigitaldownloads.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/CleanShot-2025-09-15-at-2138462x-800x229.png)**2. Include the dependency version in your API request**

When checking for a new update via the API (within your product), you need to send the dependency's current version number in the API request. To do that, you simply have to append a new argument: `{your platform ID}_version`.

A version check request normally looks like this:

```
https://YOURSITE.com/?edd_action=get_version&item_id=8&license=cc22c1ec86304b36883440e2e84cddff&url=https://licensedsite.com
```

But with our new argument, it would look like this:

```
https://YOURSITE.com/?edd_action=get_version&item_id=8&license=cc22c1ec86304b36883440e2e84cddff&url=https://licensedsite.com&easy-digital-downloads_version=1.0
```

Note the addition of `&easy-digital-downloads_version=1.0` at the end.

If you're using a custom updater, you can add the new argument directly to the API parameters sent with the request:

```
$api_params = array(
	'edd_action'                     => 'get_version',
	'license'                        => ! empty( $data['license'] ) ? $data['license'] : '',
	'item_name'                      => isset( $data['item_name'] ) ? $data['item_name'] : false,
	'item_id'                        => isset( $data['item_id'] ) ? $data['item_id'] : false,
	'version'                        => $this->version,
	'slug'                           => $data['slug'],
	'author'                         => $data['author'],
	'url'                            => home_url(),
	'beta'                           => ! empty( $data['beta'] ),
	'php_version'                    => phpversion(),
	'wp_version'                     => get_bloginfo( 'version' ),
	'easy-digital-downloads_version' => defined( 'EDD_VERSION' ) ? EDD_VERSION : '', // current version number
);
```

If you're using our plugin updater class (version 1.9 or greater), then you can add this argument to the API request by using a filter. This filter needs to be part of your plugin, as it runs on your customers' sites:

```
add_filter( 'edd_sl_plugin_updater_api_params', function( $api_params, $api_data, $plugin_file ) {
	/*
	 * Make sure $plugin_file matches your plugin's file path. You should have a constant for this
	 * or can use __FILE__ if this code goes in your plugin's main file.
	 */
	if ( __FILE__ === $plugin_file ) {
		// Dynamically retrieve the current version number.
		$api_params['easy-digital-downloads_version'] = defined( 'EDD_VERSION' ) ? EDD_VERSION : '';
	}

	return $api_params;
}, 10, 3 );
```

Be sure to replace `easy-digital-downloads` with the unique ID you've chosen for your dependency, and `defined( 'EDD_VERSION' ) ? EDD_VERSION : ''` with the current version number. This value needs to be able to be dynamically retrieved by the customer site.