> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://dugble.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Subscriptions

> Understand topic defaults and contact-level opt-in or opt-out preferences.

Subscriptions represent a contact's preference for a topic. They let the same contact opt into one category of communication while opting out of another.

## Default subscription

Every topic has a `default_subscription` of `opt_in` or `opt_out`.

That default applies when a contact has not recorded an explicit preference for the topic. Once the contact has a topic-specific subscription, the explicit value becomes the contact's effective preference.

## Contact-level preferences

A contact subscription can be:

* `opt_in`
* `opt_out`

These preferences are stored per contact and per topic, so changing one topic does not affect the contact's preferences for other topics.

## Subscription is not segment membership

A subscription answers whether the contact wants a category of communication. Segment membership answers whether the contact is part of a target group.

A recipient can therefore be selected by a segment but still be ineligible for a topic because they are opted out.

## Subscription is not global unsubscribe

Topic subscriptions are also separate from a contact's general email `unsubscribed` state and from SMS consent.

Think of the layers this way:

* `unsubscribed` controls broad email eligibility,
* topic subscriptions control category-level preferences,
* SMS consent controls SMS permission,
* segments control targeting.

## API details

For listing or updating a contact's topic subscriptions, see the Contacts API Reference.