Send Stripe Payment Link SMS

This template shows you how to create an invoice in Stripe based on an SMS prompt (in this case DONATE <AMOUNT>). Once the invoice is finalized, it will reply with a payment link.

It is divided up into two functions:

• create-invoice: handles the Twilio webhook event when an SMS is received and creates the invoice in Stripe.
• send-invoice-sms: handles the Stripe webhook event when the invoice is finalized and send the payment link SMS to the customer.

How to use the template

The best way to use the Function templates is through the Twilio CLI as described below. If you'd like to use the template without the Twilio CLI, check out our usage docs.

Create a new project with this template

1. Install the Twilio CLI
2. Install the Twilio Serverless Toolkit

twilio plugins:install @twilio-labs/plugin-serverless

3. Initiate a new project

twilio serverless:init twilio-stripe-payment-link --template=stripe-payment-link-sms && cd twilio-stripe-payment-link

Environment variables

This project requires some environment variables to be set. To keep your tokens and secrets secure, make sure to not commit the .env file in git. When setting up the project with twilio serverless:init ... the Twilio CLI will create a .gitignore file that excludes .env from the version history.

In your .env file, set the following values:

Variable	Meaning	Required
ACCOUNT_SID	Find in the console	Yes
AUTH_TOKEN	Find in the console	Yes
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY	Find in your Stripe Dashboard	Yes
TWILIO_PHONE_NUMBER	Needs to be configured	Maybe (depending on country)

Deploying

To run your function on Twilio, you need to:

• Enable ACCOUNT_SID and AUTH_TOKEN in your functions configuration.
• Add your STRIPE_SECRET_KEY to your environment variables.
• Add stripe to your NPM package dependencies. You can find the latest stripe-node version number on GitHub.

Deploy your function with the Twilio CLI. Note: you must run this from inside your project folder.

twilio serverless:deploy

After successful deployment the Twilio CLI will output two function URLs along the lines of:

1. https://stripe-payment-link-sms-1234-dev.twil.io/create-invoice
2. https://stripe-payment-link-sms-1234-dev.twil.io/send-invoice-sms

Set (1) as the messaging webhook for your phone number in the Twilio console:

Note: if you don't have an SMS enabled Twilio phone number yet, you will need to buy one in the console.

Set (2) as the webhook URL in your Stripe Dashboard (Note: you need to set up test and live mode webhooks separately):

Testing

Scenario 1: Customer initiated (SMS)

Send DONATE 10 to your SMS enabled Twilio phone number

Scenario 2: Merchant initiated (Stripe Dashboard)

Create an invoice in the Stripe Dashbboard. Follow this guide or this video. Make sure to set a phone number when entering the customer details.