Stripe Best Practices

---
name: stripe-best-practices
description: >-
  Guides Stripe integration decisions — API selection (Checkout Sessions vs
  PaymentIntents), Connect platform setup (Accounts v2, controller properties),
  billing/subscriptions, Treasury financial accounts, integration surfaces
  (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, creating connected accounts, or
  implementing secure key handling.

---

Latest Stripe API version: **2026-04-22.dahlia**. Always use the latest API version and SDK unless the user specifies otherwise.

## 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>  |
| Subscriptions or recurring billing                                       | Billing APIs + Checkout Sessions    | <references/billing.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.

## Key documentation

When 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.