stripe-best-practices

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

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> | | 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

• 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.

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.