Cashier Stripe Development

Cashier Stripe Development

When to Apply

Activate this skill when:

• Installing or configuring Laravel Cashier Stripe
• Setting up subscriptions, trials, quantities, or plan swapping
• Handling webhooks or SCA/3DS payment failures
• Working with Stripe Checkout, invoices, or charges
• Testing billing scenarios with Stripe test cards or tokens

Documentation

Use search-docs for detailed Cashier patterns and documentation covering subscriptions, webhooks, Stripe Checkout, invoices, payment methods, and testing.

For deeper guidance on specific topics, read the relevant reference file before implementing:

• references/subscriptions.md covers subscription creation, status checks, swapping, trials, quantities, and multiple products
• references/webhooks.md covers webhook setup, custom handlers, CSRF exclusion, and local development with the Stripe CLI
• references/testing.md covers Stripe test cards, payment method tokens, and feature test patterns

Basic Usage

Installation

php artisan vendor:publish --tag="cashier-migrations"
php artisan migrate
php artisan vendor:publish --tag="cashier-config"

Environment Variables

STRIPE_KEY=pk_test_...
STRIPE_SECRET=sk_test_...
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET=whsec_...
CASHIER_CURRENCY=usd
CASHIER_CURRENCY_LOCALE=en_US

Billable Model

use Laravel\Cashier\Billable;

class User extends Authenticatable
{
    use Billable;
}

For a non-User model, register it in a service provider:

// In AppServiceProvider::boot()
Cashier::useCustomerModel(Team::class);

Creating a Subscription

use Laravel\Cashier\Exceptions\IncompletePayment;

try {
    $user->newSubscription('default', 'price_xxxx')->create($paymentMethodId);
} catch (IncompletePayment $e) {
    return redirect()->route('cashier.payment', [$e->payment->id, 'redirect' => route('home')]);
}

Always wrap subscription creation in a try/catch for IncompletePayment. When a card requires 3DS authentication, Cashier throws this exception. The cashier.payment route is auto-registered and handles the confirmation flow.

Verification

1. Run migrations and confirm stripe_id, pm_type, pm_last_four, and trial_ends_at columns exist on the billable model table
2. Test the webhook endpoint with stripe listen --forward-to localhost/stripe/webhook if you use the default path, or swap stripe for your configured CASHIER_PATH
3. Confirm $user->subscribed('default') returns the expected value for active and incomplete subscriptions

Common Pitfalls

• The migration publish tag is cashier-migrations, not cashier. Running migrate before publishing results in missing columns and tables.
• CASHIER_CURRENCY must be set explicitly. It defaults to USD, which silently breaks non-US apps.
• The Stripe CLI generates its own webhook signing secret. It is different from the Dashboard endpoint secret. Using the wrong one causes signature verification failures.
• The webhook route must be excluded from CSRF verification using your configured cashier.path. If you change CASHIER_PATH from stripe to billing, exclude billing/*, not stripe/*.
• canceled() returns true as soon as cancel() is called, but the user still has access during the grace period. Use ended() to confirm access is fully revoked.
• subscribed() returns true during the grace period even though the subscription is canceled.
• subscribed() returns false for incomplete and past_due subscriptions by default.
• Prices cannot be swapped and quantity cannot be updated while a subscription has an incomplete payment.
• When extending WebhookController, call Cashier::ignoreRoutes() in a service provider and re-register both cashier.payment and cashier.webhook under the configured cashier.path.
• Use Cashier::useCustomerModel() in a service provider to set a custom billable model. There is no CASHIER_MODEL env var.
• trial_ends_at is a local database column synced via webhooks. It will be stale if webhooks are not configured in production.
• In MySQL, the stripe_id column must use utf8_bin collation to avoid case-sensitivity issues.
• noProrate() has no effect when combined with swapAndInvoice(). That method always prorates.
• Methods like withPromotionCode() require the Stripe API ID such as promo_xxxx, not the customer-facing code. Use findPromotionCode() to resolve a code to its ID.
• Always use search-docs for the latest Cashier documentation rather than relying on this skill alone.