Stripe Integration

Connect your Stripe account to Paygent to collect invoice payments through Stripe Checkout. Paygent generates secure payment links, sends them in invoice emails when configured, and automatically marks invoices as paid when Stripe confirms payment.

Prerequisites

• A Stripe account with API access (test or live mode)
• At least one customer with an email address (required for automated invoice emails)
• An unpaid invoice with a total amount greater than zero

Setup overview

Step 1 — Connect Stripe in Paygent

1. Open Settings → Integrations in the Paygent dashboard.
2. Toggle Stripe on (or click Edit if already connected).
3. Enter a connection name (for example, Production Stripe).
4. Paste your Stripe Secret Key — starts with sk_test_ or sk_live_.
5. Paste your Webhook Signing Secret — starts with whsec_ (you will get this in Step 2).
6. Click Save Connection.

Step 2 — Configure the Stripe webhook

Paygent needs Stripe to send a webhook when a customer completes checkout. The webhook URL is unique to your organization and shown in the Connect Stripe dialog after you save your connection.

https://api.withpaygent.com/api/webhooks/stripe/{your-organization-id}

In the Stripe Dashboard

1. Go to Developers → Webhooks and click Add endpoint.
2. Paste your Paygent webhook URL (copy it from Settings → Integrations or the connection modal).
3. Under Events to send, select:
   • checkout.session.completed
4. Save the endpoint, then open it and reveal the Signing secret (whsec_...).
5. Return to Paygent → Settings → Integrations → Edit Stripe and paste the signing secret if you did not have it during initial setup.

Step 3 — Collect payments on invoices

Once Stripe is connected, you can collect payment in two ways.

Option A — Generate a payment link manually

1. Open an unpaid invoice from the Invoices list.
2. Click Generate payment link.
3. Copy the Stripe Checkout URL and send it to your customer.
4. After payment, the customer is redirected to a Paygent confirmation page; the invoice status updates automatically via webhook.

Option B — Include a Stripe link in invoice emails

1. Configure email delivery under Settings → Email (SMTP or provider credentials).
2. When creating or editing an order, set Invoice email to Send invoice with Stripe payment link.
3. When an invoice is generated and emailed, Paygent automatically creates a Checkout Session and embeds the payment link in the email body.

How payment flow works

Customer                    Paygent                         Stripe
   |                            |                               |
   |<---- Invoice email/link ---|                               |
   |                            |--- Create Checkout Session -->|
   |<--------------------------- Stripe Checkout URL -----------|
   |--- Pays on Stripe ---------------------------------------->|
   |                            |<-- checkout.session.completed |
   |                            |--- Mark invoice paid          |
   |<--- Success page ----------|                               |

Checkout success and cancel URLs point to public Paygent pages (/pay/success and /pay/cancel). Customers do not need a Paygent login to pay.

Local development with Stripe CLI

For local testing, forward Stripe events to your machine and use the CLI signing secret in Paygent.

$
# Install Stripe CLI: https://stripe.com/docs/stripe-cli
$
stripe login
$
$
# Forward checkout events to your local Paygent API
$
stripe listen --forward-to http://localhost:8080/api/webhooks/stripe/{your-organization-id}
$
$
# The CLI prints a whsec_... signing secret — use that in Paygent while testing locally

Manual payment recording

If a customer pays outside Stripe Checkout (wire transfer, check, etc.), open the invoice and use Record payment to mark it paid manually. This does not go through Stripe.

Security

Stripe secret keys and webhook secrets are encrypted at rest. The dashboard only displays masked values (last four characters).

The webhook endpoint is public but secured with Stripe signature verification — requests without a valid Stripe-Signature header are rejected.

Troubleshooting

“Generate payment link” button is missing Stripe must be connected under Settings → Integrations, and the invoice must be unpaid.

Invoice email skipped with “stripe_not_connected” Connect Stripe before using “Send invoice with Stripe payment link” on orders.

Customer paid but invoice still shows unpaid Confirm the webhook endpoint URL matches your organization ID, the signing secret in Paygent matches the endpoint in Stripe, and checkout.session.completed is subscribed. Check webhook delivery logs in the Stripe Dashboard for failed attempts.

“Invalid Stripe signature” in logs The webhook signing secret in Paygent does not match the endpoint in Stripe. Re-copy the secret from Stripe → Webhooks → your endpoint → Signing secret.