Pay Gem

How Pay Gem Works

Pay is a payments engine for Rails that abstracts Stripe (and other processors) into a Rails-friendly interface.

1. Payment Processor Pattern

Always set a payment processor before any payment operations:

@user.set_payment_processor :stripe
# OR set default on model
class User < ApplicationRecord
  pay_customer default_payment_processor: :stripe
end

Access the processor via @user.payment_processor for all operations.

2. Amounts in Cents

All amounts are in cents (smallest currency unit):

@user.payment_processor.charge(15_00)  # $15.00
@user.payment_processor.charge(99_99)  # $99.99

3. Webhooks Are Required

Pay relies on Stripe webhooks to sync subscription status, payment confirmations, and more. Without webhooks, your local records will be stale.

# Development: Use Stripe CLI
stripe listen --forward-to localhost:3000/pay/webhooks/stripe

4. SCA/3D Secure Handling

Stripe requires Strong Customer Authentication for EU payments. Pay handles this via:

• Pay::ActionRequired exception for charges needing confirmation
• Built-in /pay/payments/:id confirmation route
• Automatic webhook sync for async confirmations

5. Fake Processor for Testing

Use the fake processor to test without hitting Stripe:

@user.set_payment_processor :fake_processor, allow_fake: true
@user.payment_processor.subscribe(plan: "fake")

What would you like to do?

1. Set up Pay gem in a new project
2. Create a subscription
3. Manage subscriptions (cancel, pause, resume, swap)
4. Create a one-time charge
5. Set up Stripe Checkout
6. Set up Billing Portal
7. Configure webhooks
8. Implement metered/usage-based billing
9. Set up Stripe Connect (marketplace)
10. Debug payment issues
11. Write tests
12. Something else

Then read the matching workflow from workflows/ and follow it.

After Every Change

# 1. Does it load?
bin/rails runner "Pay::Subscription"

# 2. Do tests pass?
bin/rails test test/models/

# 3. Check webhook forwarding (development)
stripe listen --forward-to localhost:3000/pay/webhooks/stripe

Report to the user:

• "Pay models load: OK"
• "Tests: X pass, Y fail"
• "Webhooks: forwarding to localhost"

Domain Knowledge

All in references/:

Setup: installation.md, configuration.md Core: customers.md, payment-methods.md, charges.md, subscriptions.md Stripe Features: stripe-checkout.md, billing-portal.md, sca-payment-intents.md Advanced: webhooks.md, metered-billing.md, stripe-connect.md Quality: testing.md, anti-patterns.md

Workflows

All in workflows/: