How do I install the Stripe Best Practices skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add bex-co/stripe-best-practices in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

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Is Stripe Best Practices free to use?

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Who published Stripe Best Practices?

bex-co (@bex-co) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Stripe Best Practices by bex-co — Agent Skill

Name: Stripe Best Practices
Author: bex-co

Stripe Best Practices

Guides Stripe integration decisions across API selection (Checkout Sessions vs PaymentIntents), Connect platform setup (Accounts v2, controller properties), billing/subscriptions, tax and registrations (Stripe Tax, automatic_tax, product tax codes), Treasury financial accounts, integration options (Checkout, Payment Element), migrating from deprecated Stripe APIs, and security best practices (API key management, restricted keys, webhooks, OAuth). Use when building, modifying, or reviewing any Stripe integration, including accepting payments, building marketplaces, integrating Stripe, processing payments, setting up subscriptions, collecting sales tax, VAT, or GST, creating connected accounts, or implementing secure key handling.

bex-co d8daee4 7 files · 47.9 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

Latest Stripe API version: 2026-06-24.dahlia. Always use the latest API version and SDK unless the user specifies otherwise.

If you don’t have a Stripe account, you can call a CLI command to generate working API keys with no registration required. You can install the Stripe CLI (npm i -g @stripe/cli) and run the command stripe sandbox create to get started.

API key default: Always recommend a restricted API key (RAK) (rk_ prefix) over a secret key (sk_ prefix).

Integration routing

Building…	Recommended API	Details
One-time payments	Checkout Sessions	<references/payments.md>
Custom payment form with embedded UI	Checkout Sessions + Payment Element	<references/payments.md>
Saving a payment method for later	Setup Intents	<references/payments.md>
Connect platform or marketplace	Accounts v2 (`/v2/core/accounts`)	<references/connect.md>
Usage-based billing (new integration)	Metronome	<references/billing.md>
Subscriptions or recurring billing	Billing APIs + Checkout Sessions	<references/billing.md>
Sales tax, VAT, or GST compliance	Stripe Tax + Registrations API	<references/tax.md>
Embedded financial accounts / banking	v2 Financial Accounts	<references/treasury.md>
Security (key management, RAKs, webhooks, OAuth, 2FA, Connect liability)	See security reference	<references/security.md>

Read the relevant reference file before answering any integration question or writing code.

Critical rules

Before enabling automatic_tax: { enabled: true } (or calculating tax for a custom PaymentIntent), read the tax reference and confirm the user has an active registration. Without one, Stripe calculates and collects no tax while the user believes tax is on (the most common Stripe Tax mistake).
Never include payment_method_types in any Stripe API call, with one exception: Terminal (in-person payments) integrations must pass payment_method_types: ['card_present'] on the PaymentIntent. For all other integrations, omit this parameter entirely to enable dynamic payment methods, which enables you to configure payment method settings from the Dashboard and dynamically display the most relevant eligible payment methods to each customer to maximize conversion. To customize which payment methods you accept, use payment_method_configurations or excluded_payment_method_types instead of payment_method_types.
On API version 2026-03-25.dahlia or later, pass the parameter integration_identifier to checkout.sessions.create to tag sessions with a custom label for tracking and comparing checkout flows in the Dashboard. The label should include a suffix of 8 random letters.

Key documentation

When the user’s request does not clearly fit a single domain above, consult:

Integration Options — Start here when designing any integration.
API Tour — Overview of Stripe’s API surface.
Go Live Checklist — Review before launching.

---name: stripe-best-practicesdescription: Guides Stripe integration decisions across API selection (Checkout Sessions vs PaymentIntents), Connect platform setup (Accounts v2, controller properties), billing/subscriptions, tax and registrations (Stripe Tax, automatic_tax, product tax codes), Treasury financial accounts, integration options (Checkout, Payment Element), migrating from deprecated Stripe APIs, and security best practices (API key management, restricted keys, webhooks, OAuth). Use when building, modifying, or reviewing any Stripe integration, including accepting payments, building marketplaces, integrating Stripe, processing payments, setting up subscriptions, collecting sales tax, VAT, or GST, creating connected accounts, or implementing secure key handling.---Latest Stripe API version: **2026-06-24.dahlia**. Always use the latest API version and SDK unless the user specifies otherwise.If you don’t have a Stripe account, you can call a CLI command to generate working API keys with no registration required. You can install the Stripe CLI (`npm i -g @stripe/cli`) and run the command `stripe sandbox create` to get started.API key default: Always recommend a [restricted API key (RAK)](https://docs.stripe.com/keys/restricted-api-keys.md) (`rk_` prefix) over a secret key (`sk_` prefix).## Integration routing| Building… | Recommended API | Details || --- | --- | --- || One-time payments | Checkout Sessions | <references/payments.md> || Custom payment form with embedded UI | Checkout Sessions + Payment Element | <references/payments.md> || Saving a payment method for later | Setup Intents | <references/payments.md> || Connect platform or marketplace | Accounts v2 (`/v2/core/accounts`) | <references/connect.md> || Usage-based billing (new integration) | Metronome | <references/billing.md> || Subscriptions or recurring billing | Billing APIs + Checkout Sessions | <references/billing.md> || Sales tax, VAT, or GST compliance | Stripe Tax + Registrations API | <references/tax.md> || Embedded financial accounts / banking | v2 Financial Accounts | <references/treasury.md> || Security (key management, RAKs, webhooks, OAuth, 2FA, Connect liability) | See security reference | <references/security.md> |Read the relevant reference file before answering any integration question or writing code.## Critical rules- _Before enabling `automatic_tax: { enabled: true }`_ (or calculating tax for a custom PaymentIntent), read the [tax reference](references/tax.md) and confirm the user has an active registration. Without one, Stripe calculates and collects no tax while the user believes tax is on (the most common Stripe Tax mistake).- _Never include `payment_method_types` in any Stripe API call_, with one exception: Terminal (in-person payments) integrations must pass `payment_method_types: ['card_present']` on the PaymentIntent. For all other integrations, omit this parameter entirely to enable dynamic payment methods, which enables you to configure payment method settings from the Dashboard and dynamically display the most relevant eligible payment methods to each customer to maximize conversion. To customize which payment methods you accept, use [`payment_method_configurations`](https://docs.stripe.com/payments/payment-method-configurations.md) or `excluded_payment_method_types` instead of `payment_method_types`.- On API version `2026-03-25.dahlia` or later, pass the parameter `integration_identifier` to `checkout.sessions.create` to tag sessions with a custom label for tracking and comparing checkout flows in the Dashboard. The label should include a suffix of 8 random letters.## Key documentationWhen the user’s request does not clearly fit a single domain above, consult:- [Integration Options](https://docs.stripe.com/payments/payment-methods/integration-options.md) — Start here when designing any integration.- [API Tour](https://docs.stripe.com/payments-api/tour.md) — Overview of Stripe’s API surface.- [Go Live Checklist](https://docs.stripe.com/get-started/checklist/go-live.md) — Review before launching.

Frequently asked questions