Send your first Stripe API request

Get started with the Stripe API.

Every call to a Stripe API must include an API secret key. After you create a Stripe account, we generate two pairs of API keys for you—a publishable client-side key and a secret server-side key—for both test and live modes. To start moving real money with your live-mode keys, you need to activate your account.

Before you begin

This guide walks you through a simple interaction with the Stripe API—creating a customer. For a better understanding of Stripe API objects and how they fit together, take a tour of the API or visit the API reference. If you’re ready to start accepting payments, see our quickstart.

Send your first API request

You can begin exploring Stripe APIs using the Stripe Shell. The Stripe Shell allows you to execute Stripe CLI commands directly within the Stripe docs site. As it operates in test mode only, you don’t have to worry about initiating any real money-moving transactions.

To create a customer using the Stripe Shell, enter the following command:

Command Line
stripe customers create --email=jane.smith@email.com --name="Jane Smith" --description="My First Stripe Customer"

If everything worked, the command line displays the following response:

{
  "id": "cus_LfctGLAICpokzr"
,
  "object": "customer"
,

(Optional) Run the same command by passing in your API secret key for test mode:

Command Line
stripe customers create --email=jane.smith@email.com --name="Jane Smith" --description="My First Stripe Customer" --api-key sk_test_4eC39HqLyjWDarjtT1zdp7dc

If everything worked, the command line displays the following response:

{
  "id": "cus_LfdZgLFhah76qf"
,
  "object": "customer"
,

View logs and events

Whenever you make a call to Stripe APIs, Stripe creates and stores API and Events objects for your Stripe user account. The API key you specify for the request determines whether the objects are stored in test or live mode. For example, the last request used your API secret key, so Stripe stored the objects in test mode.

To view the API request log:
- Open the Logs page.
- Click 200 OK POST /v1 customers.
To view the Event log:
- Open the Events page.
- Click jane.smith@email.com is a new customer.

Store your API keys

All accounts have a total of four API keys by default—two for test mode and two for live mode:

Test mode secret key: Use this key to authenticate requests on your server when in test mode. By default, you can use this key to perform any API request without restriction.
Test mode publishable key: Use this key for testing purposes in your web or mobile app’s client-side code.
Live mode secret key: Use this key to authenticate requests on your server when in live mode. By default, you can use this key to perform any API request without restriction.
Live mode publishable key: Use this key, when you’re ready to launch your app, in your web or mobile app’s client-side code.

Testing and development

Use only your test API keys for testing and development. This ensures that you don’t accidentally modify your live customers or charges.

You can find your secret and publishable keys in API keys. When you’re logged in, Stripe’s documentation automatically populates code examples with your test mode API keys (only you can see these values). If you’re not logged in, our code examples include randomly generated API keys. You can replace them with your own test keys or log in to see the code examples populated with your test API keys. If you can’t view your API keys, ask the owner of your Stripe account to add you to their team, with the proper permissions.

The following table shows randomly generated examples of secret and publishable test API keys:

Restricted API keys

The Dashboard can also generate restricted API keys, enabling customizable and limited access to the API. However, Stripe doesn’t offer any restricted keys by default.

Type	Value	When to use
Secret	`sk_test_4eC39HqLyjWDarjtT1zdp7dc`	On the server side: Must be secret and stored securely in your web or mobile app’s server-side code (such as in an environment variable or credential management system) to call Stripe APIs. Don’t expose this key on a website or embed it in a mobile application.
Publishable	`pk_test_TYooMQauvdEDq54NiTphI7jx`	On the client side: Can be publicly accessible in your web or mobile app’s client-side code (such as checkout.js) to securely collect payment information, such as with Stripe Elements. By default, Stripe Checkout securely collects payment information.
Restricted	A string that starts with `rk_test_`	In microservices: Must be secret and stored securely in your microservice code to call Stripe APIs. Don’t expose this key on a website or embed it in a mobile application.