# Shell and API Explorer

Use a command line interface to manage your integration and explore APIs.

Shell is a command line interface within Workbench that provides many of the same commands built into the [Stripe CLI](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-cli.md). When using Workbench, a minimal Shell is always available at the bottom of the pane, or use the **Shell** tab to launch a full-screen session.

Use the following Shell features to help you manage and debug your Stripe integration:

- **Autocompletion**: Shell provides tab completion for API requests and CLI commands.
- **API Explorer:** Use the built-in API Explorer to visually explore API resources and build API calls from Shell.

> Shell runs in the browser, so it has some limitations when compared to the [Stripe CLI](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-cli.md), which can receive and trigger webhook events on your local machine with a local event listener. See [Test a webhooks integration with the Stripe CLI](https://docs.stripe.com/webhooks.md#test-webhook) to learn more.

## Initial setup

Sign in to the [Dashboard](https://dashboard.stripe.com). From the **Developers** menu, click **Workbench**. Switch to the **Shell** tab.

> Shell is read-only in live mode. Switch to a [sandbox](https://docs.stripe.com/sandboxes.md) to run API requests that create, modify, or delete API objects.

## Listen for events

1. From the command line prompt, type `stripe listen` to listen for [webhook events](https://docs.stripe.com/event-destinations.md#events-overview), then press **Enter** on your keyboard to run the command.

```bash
stripe listen
```

> This listens to incoming events for your Stripe account.

## Run your first API request

1. Click **New pane** to open a new session in a pane alongside your existing session.
1. Copy the command, paste it into the command line prompt, then press **Enter** on your keyboard.
1. Copy the object identifier (in `id`) from the response for subsequent requests.

#### curl

```bash
stripe products create \
--name="Introductory offer (Monthly)" \
--description="$0.99 per month"
```

> This creates a product with a name and description.

## Use the API Explorer

1. Click **API Explorer** to show the interactive API Explorer on the right.
1. Choose the `Products` resource and the `Update` method. The API Explorer shows all the required and optional parameters for the Products resource.
1. Paste the object identifier from the previous step into the `Value` for the `id` path argument. When you provide the API Explorer with an existing object’s identifier, it loads the properties of the existing product.
1. Update the optional parameter `description` to 1.99 USD per month. The API Explorer automatically populates Shell with the equivalent API command to update the product’s description. Press **Enter** to run the command and update the product.
1. Click **Print SDK code** to see the equivalent code snippet in the language of your choice.

## Available commands

Shell provides multiple commands in addition to the `stripe` command (see the [Stripe CLI reference](https://docs.stripe.com/cli.md)).

| Command     | Purpose                                                                                      |
| ----------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `cd`        | Navigates to other documentation pages                                                       |
| `clear`     | Clears all prior text from the shell                                                         |
| `ls`        | Lists Dashboard pages relative to the current one                                            |
| `pwd`       | Prints the current page slug and title                                                       |
| `shortcuts` | Displays keyboard shortcuts that you can use with Shell                                      |
| `stripe`    | Available Stripe CLI commands (see the [complete reference](https://docs.stripe.com/cli.md)) |
| `whoami`    | Displays logged in merchant details                                                          |