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Testing

Stripe provides a number of resources for testing your integration. Make sure to test the following use cases before launch, and use our Postman collection to make the testing process simpler.

Each Stripe account includes a test and live mode. Test mode includes a separate set of data and API keys that you can use exclusively for testing your integration; we recommend using test mode to build the integration and replace your test keys with live keys when you’re ready to go live.

You’re welcome to test on as many accounts as you’d like; however, if you create a new test account, make sure to let your Stripe contact know so they can apply any custom configurations. You can open additional Stripe accounts directly from the Dashboard.

QA testing use cases

USE CASEACTION
Creating customers and saving a payment method.Depending on the order of the checkout flow, there are several possible sequences of API calls that will create customer objects with a payment method. Ensure the invoice_settings.default_payment_method field within the customer object is populated.
{
  "id": "cus_F1wZJbkck1CJ3dqk",
  "object": "customer",
  ...
  "invoice_settings": {
    "default_payment_method": "pm_r0RmwZ223kJwCcgQ"
  }

}
Creating, finalizing, and paying invoices
{
  "id": "in_1h8k358XFGi8emXvp98cAmz6",
  "object": "invoice",
  ...
}
Creating, updating, and canceling subscriptions
{
  "id": "sub_kqVwINFV310wTaLI",
  "object": "subscription",
  ...
  "status": "active",
}
Create trial subscriptions and handle trial conversions
{
  "id": "sub_dm4TOTWeCMtBQ8pm",
  "object": "subscription",
  ...
  "status": "trialing",
}
Create credit notes (refunds or credits)
{
  "id": "cn_i67uEkJXsE1P9ndZmz3sgfPc",
  "object": "credit_note",
  ...
}
Handle a failed payment on an invoiceInvoice should still be open and with a “Failed” payment in the Stripe Dashboard and return the below:
{
  "error": {
    "charge": "ch_KHeftyC4hIq27RMR",
    "code": "card_declined",
    "decline_code": "<<REASON HERE>>",
    "doc_url": "https://stripe.com/docs/error-codes/card-declined",
    "message": "Your card was declined.",
    "type": "card_error"
  }
}
Ensure you have the right subscription settings in the dashboard for the cases where payments fail.
Radar blockNo matter which version of Radar you use, a charge may be blocked due to high risk, or because of a rule. The response will be the same as above in Charge fail.
Charge disputedCharge should show as “Disputed” in “Payments.” Charge amount plus dispute fee should be debited from the balance, and a Dispute object should be created (and its associated charge.dispute.created event):
{
  "object": {
    "id": "du_7BbZMSiKYhu08qzs",
    "object": "dispute",
    "charge_id": "ch_iXm2dHP2T7MxwFZy",
    ...
    "status": "needs_response"
  }
}
Charge inquiry openedInquiries are similar to disputes, with three key distinctions: no funds are withdrawn unless the inquiry is elevated to a dispute, they remain refundable until disputed, and have a different set of statuses. A charge.dispute.created event is fired:
{
  "object": {
    "id": "du_ArIDOAz0lAr9GroB",
    "object": "dispute",
    "charge_id": "ch_c32sKZkNIHpsGpox",
    ...
    "is_charge_refundable": true,
    ...
    "status": "warning_needs_response"
  }
}
Dispute wonWhen a dispute is won, the funds of the original charge are restored to the account, less the dispute fee. The existing Dispute object is updated (and a charge.dispute.closed event is fired):
{
  "object": {
    "id": "du_RNlbCQDnxjAu8oWg",
    "object": "dispute",
    "charge_id": "ch_s3IWn5YvjWM4YSVV",
    ...
    "status": "won"
  }
}
Dispute lostWhen a dispute is lost, the existing Dispute object is updated (and a charge.dispute.closed event is fired):
{
  "object": {
    "id": "du_xOfUt79o7tPke0Pn",
    "object": "dispute",
    "charge_id": "ch_sUE8Mkf4g5IDW6L1",
    ...
    "status": "lost"
  }
}
Inquiry wonWhen an inquiry is won, your balance remains the same, as no funds were removed when the inquiry was initially opened. The existing Dispute object is updated (and a charge.dispute.closed event is fired):
{
  "object": {
    "id": "du_IolZE0oIFpCq2i8O",
    "object": "dispute",
    "charge_id": "ch_FmPqMSWe2NwFaPVz",
    ...
    "status": "warning_closed"
  }
}
Inquiry lostWhen an inquiry is lost, it will escalate to a dispute. At that time the status will be changed with a charge.dispute.updated event, and funds will be withdrawn in a charge.dispute.funds_withdrawn event:
{
  "object": {
    "id": "du_kkPxqSncCo7RtuVr",
    "object": "dispute",
    "charge_id": "ch_nX0RAlxlAOjjTrlG",
    ...
    "status": "needs_response"
  }
}
Account balance goes negativeEnsure that your bank accounts can accept debits from Stripe, and test a negative balance on Stripe.
Successful payoutIf you’ve enabled webhooks for a successful payout (recommended), test your handling of the event.
Failed payoutIf you’ve enabled webhooks for a failed payout (recommended), test your handling of the event.

Postman collection

Postman is a widely-used API development tool. To make integrating Stripe simpler, we provide a Billing-specific Postman collection with the tools you’ll need to test the server-side component of your integration.

Importing the collection

To get started, you’ll need access to the Postman application. The app is available in a browser-based version or a standalone desktop version. As soon as you have either version launched, the first step is to import the collection:

Desktop

Go to File > Import.

Web

Click the Import button on the upper left hand corner.

Select the tab titled Link and paste in the link for the Billing collection:

The Import Modal

The Import Modal

You’ll now see the top level collection listed in your instance of Postman.

Using the collection

To get started, populate the {{secret_key}} collection variable. To do this, navigate to the collection you just imported in the workspace and you’ll see a tab titled Variables as shown below.

The Variables Tab for the Collection

The Variables Tab for the Collection

Copy your testmode Stripe secret key from the Stripe Dashboard and paste it into the field titled Initial Value. When you’ve done that, you’re ready to begin making requests.

Other variables will get populated by scripts during the runtime of the collection. For example, when creating a customer or price, a script in the collection will save that ID to be used in subsequent requests, such as to create a subscription.

Start with the requests to create Customer objects, because these are required for any Billing implementation. The collection contains two Customers, one that stores a successful test payment method, and another that stores a failing test payment method. In both cases, the returned customer IDs are saved as collection level variables. If you’d like to create more customers to simulate other scenarios, replace the test payment method with another from this page.

Next, you can run the requests to create products and prices, as these are used heavily in the requests to create invoices and subscriptions. As with the customer requests, the associated IDs will be saved as collection variables.

Additional testing resources

We recommend using the following Stripe documentation to test your integration:

Next steps

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QA testing use cases
Postman collection
Additional testing resources
See also
Products Used
Billing
Stripe Shell
Test mode

Welcome to the Stripe Shell!

Stripe Shell is a browser-based shell with the Stripe CLI pre-installed. Log in to your
Stripe account and press Control + Backtick (`) on your keyboard to start managing your Stripe
resources in test mode.

- View supported Stripe commands: 
- Find webhook events: 
- Listen for webhook events: 
- Call Stripe APIs: stripe [api resource] [operation] (e.g., )
The Stripe Shell is best experienced on desktop.
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