Afrexai Stripe Production

# Stripe Production Engineering

Complete methodology for building, scaling, and operating production Stripe payment systems. From first checkout to enterprise billing at scale.

## Quick Health Check

Run through these 8 signals. Score 1 point each. Below 5 = stop and fix.

1. ✅ Webhook endpoint verified and idempotent
2. ✅ All API calls use idempotency keys
3. ✅ Customer portal enabled for self-service
4. ✅ Stripe Tax or manual tax collection configured
5. ✅ Failed payment retry logic with dunning emails
6. ✅ PCI compliance questionnaire completed (SAQ-A minimum)
7. ✅ Test mode → live mode checklist completed
8. ✅ Monitoring/alerting on payment failures and webhook errors

**Score: /8** — Below 5? Fix gaps before adding features.

---

## Phase 1: Architecture Strategy

### Integration Pattern Decision

| Pattern | Best For | Complexity | PCI Scope |
|---------|----------|------------|-----------|
| **Stripe Checkout (hosted)** | MVPs, quick launch | Low | SAQ-A (minimal) |
| **Payment Element (embedded)** | Custom UX, brand control | Medium | SAQ-A |
| **Card Element (legacy)** | Existing integrations | Medium | SAQ-A-EP |
| **Direct API** | Platform/marketplace | High | SAQ-D (avoid) |

**Decision rule:** Start with Checkout. Move to Payment Element only when you have specific UX requirements that Checkout can't solve.

### Billing Model Selection

| Model | Stripe Product | Use When |
|-------|---------------|----------|
| One-time | Payment Links / Checkout | Single purchases, lifetime deals |
| Recurring flat | Subscriptions | Fixed monthly/annual SaaS |
| Usage-based | Metered billing | API calls, compute, storage |
| Per-seat | Subscriptions + quantity | Team/user-based pricing |
| Tiered | Tiered pricing | Volume discounts |
| Hybrid | Subscription + usage records | Base fee + overage |

### Project Structure

```
src/
  payments/
    stripe.config.ts        # Stripe client initialization
    webhooks.handler.ts     # Webhook endpoint + event routi...

# Stripe Production Engineering

Complete methodology for building, scaling, and operating production Stripe payment systems. From first checkout to enterprise billing at scale.

## What This Skill Does

Gives your AI agent deep knowledge of Stripe production engineering:

- **Architecture patterns** — Checkout vs Payment Element vs Direct API decision framework
- **Subscription lifecycle** — Create, upgrade, downgrade, cancel, pause, dunning
- **Webhook mastery** — Signature verification, idempotency, event routing, error handling
- **Stripe Connect** — Marketplace payment flows (Standard/Express/Custom)
- **Security & PCI** — SAQ-A compliance, key management, fraud prevention
- **Usage-based billing** — Metered subscriptions with aggregated usage reporting
- **Tax collection** — Stripe Tax setup, EU VAT, US sales tax nexus
- **Testing strategy** — Test cards, CLI setup, edge case coverage
- **Go-live checklist** — Pre-production verification (P0/P1/P2)
- **Operations** — Revenue metrics, dispute handling, dunning optimization

## Install

```bash
clawhub install afrexai-stripe-production
```

## Quick Start

Ask your agent:
- "Set up Stripe checkout for my SaaS"
- "Add subscription billing with plan changes"
- "Configure webhook handler with idempotency"
- "Run the go-live checklist"
- "Stripe security audit"

## Who This Is For

- **SaaS founders** building subscription billing
- **Developers** integrating Stripe for the first time
- **Teams** migrating from basic Checkout to production-grade billing
- **Marketplaces** implementing Stripe Connect

## ⚡ Level Up

This free skill covers Stripe engineering methodology. For complete business automation context packs ($47):

- **[SaaS Context Pack](https://afrexai-cto.github.io/context-packs/)** — Full SaaS ops: billing + onboarding + support + growth
- **[Fintech Context Pack](https://afrexai-cto.github.io/context-packs/)** — Payments, compliance, risk management
- **[Ecommerce Context Pack](https://afrexai-cto.gith...