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Using Postman to Connect to the Stripe API

What's Postman?​

Postman is a collaborative platform for API development. Developers can use Postman to develop, manage, test, and document APIs. Its user-friendly interface makes it simple to collaborate on APIs, making it an ideal platform for cross-functional teams.

Setting up Postman​

  1. Download and install the Postman app.
  2. Open the Postman application and complete the setup process.

A screenshot of the Postman homepage

  1. Enter “Stripe” in the search bar at the top of the page and select Stripe Developers APIs.

A screenshot of the Stripe Developers APIs in the search results

  1. In the Collection tab, find the most recent collection and click the Fork button to add it to your collection.

Generating your secret keys​

Stripe servers authenticate and authorize API requests using bearer token authorization. To set this up, you will need to create a Stripe account.

  1. Go to https://dashboard.stripe.com/ and follow the instructions there to create your account.
  2. The secret key is on the homepage of the dashboard. Click it to copy it to your clipboard.
    note

    Don't share your secret key with other users for security purposes.

  3. Return to the Postman app.
  4. Click Environments > Add (+).
  5. Enter a name for the environment in the Name field (e.g., Stripe API).

A screenshot of the environment setup dialog in Postman

  1. In the Variable cell, enter secret_key.

  2. In the Current Value cell, paste the secret key copied from the Stripe Dashboard.

  3. Click on Save.

  4. To set the environment to the Stripe API environment, click the Environment dropdown menu in the top right corner of the workspace.

Stripe servers will now authenticate and authorize your API requests.

Connection prerequisites​

To connect to the Stripe API, you need the base URL: https://api.stripe.com