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Before you go live

Use this checklist to make sure everything is ready for production.

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1. Connect your live Stripe account

In sandbox, BillingOS provisioned a test Stripe account for you. In production, you connect your own.
  • Switch to Production in the BillingOS environment switcher
  • Go to Settings → Billing
  • Click Connect Your Stripe Account and complete the OAuth flow
  • Confirm your account shows Active with charges and payouts enabled
Don’t have a Stripe account yet? Sign up at stripe.com and complete merchant onboarding (business details, identity, bank account) before connecting. See the Connect Stripe guide for the full walkthrough.

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2. Recreate your products in production

Sandbox and production are isolated — products don’t carry over.
  • Recreate every product, price, and feature you defined in sandbox
  • Verify product IDs are referenced correctly in any server-side code (entitlement checks, webhook handlers)

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3. Switch to live API keys

Replace your test keys with live keys in your production environment:
.env
# Production
BILLINGOS_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_...
Never commit API keys to version control. Use environment variables in your hosting provider (Vercel, Railway, etc.).
The SDK auto-detects the environment from your key prefix:
  • sk_test_* routes to the sandbox API
  • sk_live_* routes to the production API

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4. Test the full customer journey

Run through the complete flow with test cards before switching to live:
  • Visit pricing page — plans display correctly
  • Select a plan — checkout modal opens
  • Complete payment with test card 4242 4242 4242 4242
  • Verify subscription is active
  • Check feature gates work (access granted on subscribed features)
  • Open customer portal — subscription details display
  • Change plan (upgrade/downgrade) — proration shows correctly
  • Cancel subscription — cancellation flow works
  • Reactivate subscription — plan restores

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5. Verify Stripe is ready for live charges

  • Stripe account shows Active in dashboard.stripe.com
  • Bank account is connected and verified for payouts
  • Payout schedule is configured to your preference
  • Webhook signing secrets are configured if you’re consuming Stripe events directly

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6. Review security

  • Secret key is only used server-side (never in client code)
  • Session tokens are created with authenticated user IDs
  • Server-side entitlement checks are in place for critical features
  • HTTPS is enabled on your domain

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7. Error handling

  • Checkout failure shows a user-friendly error message
  • Payment decline shows the reason and next steps
  • Network errors are handled gracefully
  • onError callbacks are set on CheckoutModal

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8. Deploy

  • Environment variables set in production hosting
  • Test one real payment with a small amount
  • Monitor logs for any errors

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You’re live!

Once everything checks out, your customers can start subscribing. Monitor your BillingOS dashboard for:
  • New subscriptions
  • Failed payments
  • Customer activity