Example applications

Try Stripe Terminal by using our example applications and simulated reader.

For a more immersive guide, check out our sample integration.

A Stripe Terminal integration starts with your point of sale application running at a physical location. Your point of sale application communicates with a reader via the Terminal SDK to collect in-person payments from your customers. Your backend works with your point of sale application to authenticate the Terminal SDK and finalize payments.

Before starting your own integration, we recommend setting up one of the Terminal example applications. This will give you a better feel for how the components of a Terminal integration fit together and show you the interactions between the SDK, the reader, your point of sale application, and your backend code.

Deploy our example backend

To get started with our example applications, first set up our Sinatra-based example backend by following the instructions in the README. You can either run the backend locally or deploy it to Heroku with a free account. The example backend works with the example application to authenticate the Terminal SDK and finalize payments.

Run the example application

Next, build and run one of our example applications:

Clone the example from GitHub:

Terminal

git clone https://github.com/stripe/stripe-terminal-js-demo.git

Run the following commands to run the example:

Terminal

cd stripe-terminal-js-demo
npm install
npm run start

In the running example, enter the URL of the example backend that you deployed in step 1.

Connect to a simulated reader

After you have the example running, select the Simulated option to connect to a simulated reader.

The JavaScript example app connected to a simulated reader

The simulated reader handles events just like a physical reader, so you can continue to collecting your first payment.

The simulated reader functionality is built into the SDK, so you can use it to develop and test your own point of sale application without connecting to a physical device.

Collect your first payment

Finally, collect your first payment using the example application and a simulated reader. Each of our examples features an event log for you to reference as you integrate Terminal in your own application. As you collect your first payment, you’ll see the following sequence:

Create payment: The example application collects a payment method via the SDK.
Collect payment method: The simulated reader receives a card.
Process and capture: The example application and backend finalize the payment.

Collecting a payment, using the JavaScript example app and a simulated reader

Next steps

Designing an Integration