# Send invites automatically from Stripe

Ask every customer who pays through Stripe Checkout or a Payment Link for a testimonial, with a Smart Invites webhook.

Connect Stripe to a Smart Invites webhook, and each customer who completes a purchase through Stripe Checkout or a Payment Link gets your testimonial request by email. Smart Invites are on Premium and Business.

This guide covers only what's specific to Stripe. For the form, the emails and the timing, see [Send invites automatically with a webhook](/help/collect/send-invites-automatically-with-a-webhook). For the webhook's activity log, see [Smart Invites webhook not inviting customers](/help/troubleshooting/invite-webhook-not-inviting-customers).

ReTestimonial listens for Stripe's `checkout.session.completed` event. Stripe sends it for Checkout and Payment Links only, so if your customers pay you another way, nobody is invited.

1. **Create a Stripe webhook in ReTestimonial**

   In your project, open **Invites** under **Collect**, go to the **Webhooks** tab, click **New webhook** and choose **Stripe**.

   The next step comes filled in for Stripe's event. Leave these as they are:

   - **Email path**: `data.object.customer_details.email`
   - **Name path**: `data.object.customer_details.name`
   - **Company path**: `data.object.customer_details.business_name`
   - **Only invite when (optional)**: **Field path** `type`, **Condition** **equals**, **Value** `checkout.session.completed`. Any other Stripe event is skipped.

   ![The Map data step filled in for Stripe: Email path, Name path and Company path with the values they find in the Sample event, and Only invite when (optional) with Field path type, Condition equals and Value checkout.session.completed, with Email path and Sample event outlined](https://assets.retestimonial.com/app-statics/help/shots/invites-webhook-map-data.5e6129ba.webp)

   Name and company are optional: when the event has none, the customer is still invited. Click **Continue**, choose the form, the emails and the timing, then click **Create webhook**.

2. **Add the endpoint in Stripe**

   Click **Copy** next to **Your webhook URL**. Then, in the Stripe Dashboard:

   1. Open the **Webhooks** tab in Workbench and click **Create an event destination**.
   2. Select **Your account**, then select the event `checkout.session.completed`.
   3. Click **Continue** and select **Webhook endpoint**.
   4. Click **Continue**, paste the URL as the **Endpoint URL** and create the destination.

   Stripe's own steps are in its [webhooks guide](https://docs.stripe.com/webhooks).

3. **Paste the signing secret**

   On the new endpoint's page in Stripe, click **Reveal secret** and copy the secret, which starts with `whsec_`. In ReTestimonial, paste it into **Stripe signing secret (recommended)** and click **Save**.

   The field then reads **Signature verification is on — unsigned events are rejected.** From now on, only events signed by Stripe are accepted. The secret can't be viewed again; to change it, click **Replace secret** on the webhook's **Setup** tab.

4. **Check the first event**

   The page shows **Listening for the first event…** until Stripe sends one. A test-mode purchase (see below) checks the connection without inviting anyone; a live one invites its customer and shows **Event received — it works**. A skipped or failed event shows its reason under it.

## Test mode and live mode

Test mode and live mode are separate in Stripe: each has its own endpoint and its own signing secret, and a ReTestimonial webhook holds one secret. Either test first, then add the same URL in live mode and paste the live secret with **Replace secret**, or create a second webhook for testing. Events from a mode whose secret isn't saved fail with a signature error.

> **Warning:** A test-mode purchase reaches ReTestimonial but is skipped, with the reason "A test event from the platform, so nobody was invited and no invite was used". Nobody is emailed, so it's a safe way to check the connection. Only live-mode purchases invite their customers.

## Bank debits and other delayed payments

Some payment methods, such as bank debits, confirm the payment later. Stripe sends `checkout.session.completed` when the checkout completes, before the money arrives, so these customers are invited even if their payment fails later.

To invite only once a payment has gone through, click **Settings** on the webhook's page and change **Only invite when (optional)** to **Field path** `data.object.payment_status`, **Condition** **not equals**, **Value** `unpaid`. In Stripe, select `checkout.session.async_payment_succeeded` as well, and no other events: that one arrives when a delayed payment succeeds. Click **Save changes**.

## Resends and retries

- **Each Stripe event invites once**, by its event ID. If Stripe delivers an event again after it invited a customer, or you click **Resend** on it in Stripe, it counts as **Skipped** and invites nobody. An event that was skipped or failed, for example because of a wrong **Email path** or no invites left, is processed again: fix the cause, then click **Resend** on the event in Stripe. Its line in the **Activity** tab shows the new result.
- **An event rejected for its signature was never handled.** Stripe is told it failed and retries it on its own, for up to three days in live mode. Once the right secret is saved, the next retry goes through.
- **Skipped events show as delivered in Stripe**, and so do events that failed because of what they contain, such as no email found or no invites left: ReTestimonial received them. Read the reason on the webhook's **Activity** tab.

If you roll the endpoint's secret in Stripe (**Roll secret**), paste the new one with **Replace secret**.

## If events are skipped or fail

| What you see                                                                                                                      | Likely cause and fix                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Failed**: The signature didn't match — compare the signing secret on this webhook's Setup tab with the one your platform shows. | The saved secret belongs to another endpoint or to the other mode, or it was rolled. Copy the secret of the endpoint that has this URL, in the same mode, and paste it with **Replace secret**.                                                                             |
| **Skipped**: Didn't match your “only invite when” filter                                                                          | Stripe sent an event other than `checkout.session.completed`. Nothing to do, or select only that event in Stripe.                                                                                                                                                           |
| **Failed**: No email was found at the mapped path — check the email path in this webhook's settings.                              | Set **Email path** back to `data.object.customer_details.email` in **Settings**.                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| Nothing arrives                                                                                                                   | Check that the destination is in the mode you're buying in, that it listens for `checkout.session.completed`, and that the webhook isn't paused (events that arrive while it's paused are discarded). Stripe lists each attempt on the endpoint's **Event deliveries** tab. |

## Related

- [Send invites automatically with a webhook](/help/collect/send-invites-automatically-with-a-webhook)
- [Smart Invites](/help/collect/smart-invites)
- [Manage the do-not-email list](/help/collect/manage-the-do-not-email-list)
- [Invite emails not sending](/help/troubleshooting/invite-emails-not-sending)