How to use the command 'stripe' (with examples)

The ‘stripe’ command allows users to interact with a Stripe account, providing a wide range of functionalities for managing payments, handling events, and creating and managing customers. This article will provide examples of various use cases for the ‘stripe’ command, showcasing different functionalities it offers.

Use case 1: Follow the logs of activity on the account

Code:

stripe logs tail

Motivation: Following the logs of activity on a Stripe account can be useful for tracking payments, identifying any issues or discrepancies in the payment flow, and monitoring the overall activity on the account.

Explanation: The command ‘stripe logs tail’ fetches and displays real-time logs of activity on the Stripe account. It continuously streams the logs to the terminal, providing immediate visibility into the account’s operations.

Example output:

2022-01-01 09:00:00    [info] Payment success: $50.00 charged to customer_id: 123456
2022-01-01 09:01:30    [info] Payment success: $100.00 charged to customer_id: 789012
2022-01-01 09:02:45    [info] Refund issued: $25.00 refunded for customer_id: 123456

Use case 2: Listen for events and forward them to a specific endpoint

Code:

stripe listen --events="charge.succeeded" --forward-to="localhost:3000/events"

Motivation: Listening for specific events on a Stripe account and forwarding them to a designated endpoint can be useful for integrating Stripe payment events with external applications or services. This facilitates real-time updates and enables synchronized data across different platforms.

Explanation: The command ‘stripe listen’ allows users to monitor Stripe events in real time. The ‘–events’ argument is used to specify which events to listen for, and the ‘–forward-to’ argument designates the endpoint where the events should be forwarded.

Example output:

Forwarding charge_succeeded events to: localhost:3000/events

Use case 3: Send a test webhook event

Code:

stripe trigger charge.succeeded

Motivation: Sending a test webhook event helps simulate various scenarios and ensure the correct handling of events by webhook endpoints. This is particularly beneficial during development and testing stages.

Explanation: The command ‘stripe trigger’ allows users to manually trigger a specific event to simulate real webhook events. In this example, the ‘charge.succeeded’ event is being triggered.

Example output:

Webhook event charge.succeeded has been triggered.

Use case 4: Create a customer

Code:

stripe customers create --email="test@example.com" --name="Jenny Rosen"

Motivation: Creating a customer in Stripe is a crucial step when managing payments, as it enables the tracking of payment details and facilitates future transactions. This example demonstrates how to create a customer with specified email and name.

Explanation: The command ‘stripe customers create’ is used to create a new customer in the Stripe account. The ‘–email’ argument specifies the customer’s email address, and the ‘–name’ argument provides the customer’s name.

Example output:

Customer created with ID: cus_1234567890

Use case 5: Print to JSON

Code:

stripe listen --print-json

Motivation: Printing Stripe events in JSON format can be useful for further processing the event data programmatically, integrating it with other systems, or performing analysis.

Explanation: The ‘stripe listen’ command, when used with the ‘–print-json’ argument, prints the incoming events in JSON format. This ensures that the events are presented in a structured format that can be easily processed.

Example output:

{
  "event": "charge.succeeded",
  "customer_id": "cus_1234567890",
  "amount": 100.00,
  "currency": "USD"
}

Conclusion:

The ‘stripe’ command provides a comprehensive set of functionalities for managing Stripe accounts, handling payments, and monitoring events. The examples presented in this article demonstrate various use cases, including following logs, listening for events, triggering events, creating customers, and printing events as JSON. By understanding these examples, users can effectively utilize the ‘stripe’ command to perform a wide range of tasks within their Stripe account management workflow.