API Overview

Chargebee provides HTTP based API which follows the essence of REST*. The HTTP protocol's rules are followed thereby enabling simple HTTP client tools like "curl" to be used.

The following client libraries provide a "easy to use" wrapper around the raw HTTP based API.

• PHP
• Ruby
• Python
• Java
• .Net
• Node

Please do mail us at support@chargebee.com if you need any other language bindings.

Sample Snippets

The top language bar allows you to see samples in your preferred language.

Sample Apps

Checkout our collection of sample applications with tutorials on integrating with Chargebee.

Documentation

Refer to our documentation for a detailed definition & description of all the components in Chargebee.

Chargebee now supports two API versions - V1 and V2. V2 version has been released to accommodate certain backwards-incompatible changes that we wanted to make over V1 for a more streamlined functionality.

All further developments will happen in V2. However we will continue to support V1 in order to avoid breaking your code.

Downloading/Installing Client libraries:

As we support multiple API versions now, we request you to

• Use the appropriate GitHub branches if you are building from source. The master branch will have the API V2 code, and chargebee-v1 branch will have the API V1 code.
• Use appropriate version specifiers, if you are installing/updating using package managers (composer, gem, pip, easy_install, maven, NuGet, npm, etc.).

Webhooks and API Versions:

With multiple versions of API being supported, the property Api Version has been added to Webhooks, which decides the structure of the event content sent to the webhooks.

Which API version am I using?

Find out the version of the API you are using, with the following indicators:

• The Chargebee client lib release version: Release versions 1.x.x indicate that you're on V1 and 2.x.x indicate that you are on V2.
• The API end-points: They start with /api/v1 for V1 and /api/v2 for V2.

What changes does Chargebee consider to be "backwards-compatible"?

As all of our future development will happen in API V2, the latest version of Chargebee API, you might want to upgrade to V2 to benefit from the new functionality.

What's changed in API V2 ?

The changes made in V2 that are not V1-compatible, are listed in this section. You may want to change your existing code appropriately as part of the upgradation process.

Refunds-related changes to Invoice and Transaction resources:

In API V1, refunds were directly linked to Invoices. In V2, refunds are not directly linked to Invoices; instead they are linked to Credit Notes, which in turn are linked to their respective invoices.

• The attribute linked_transactions[] , which listed both the payments and refunds applied to this invoice, is removed in V2. It is replaced by linked_payments[] attribute, which lists only the payments applied to this invoice.
• The linked_invoices[] attribute in V1, is no longer applicable for the transaction type 'refund' in V2. Instead, linked_credit_notes[] attribute is provided, which lists the Credit Notes to which this refund is attached.
• The operation List transactions for an invoice is removed in V2. It is replaced by the list operation List payments for an invoice, which lists only the payment transactions linked to the invoice.

Changes to Estimate Resource:

The Estimate resource has been revamped in V2: in V1 it had both subscription and invoice related attributes without any segregation at the top level. Whereas in V2, all the subscription related attributes are grouped under subscription_estimate sub-resource and all the invoice related attributes are grouped under invoice_estimate sub-resource. Additionally, the following changes have been made:

• The attribute collect_now has been removed. The invoice_estimate returned by the 'Create Subscription' and 'Change Subscription' Estimates, will represent the estimate of the invoice that will get generated immediately.
• If no invoice gets generated during Estimate invocations ('Create Subscription Estimate', etc.), the invoice_estimate sub-resource will not be returned.
• The invoice_estimate returned by Estimate operations (such as 'Change Subscription Estimate') will include the existing customer balances - Promotional Credits, Refundable Credits, and Excess Payments - by default. This is not the default behavior in API V1.

Country input parameters - strict validation done:

For the 'country' input parameters - card[billing_country], billing_address[country], shipping_address[country], address[country] - in the operations like 'Create Subscription' etc, the 2-letter ISO 3166 alpha-2 code is expected. But in V1, for few sites, we were allowing values in other formats too (like full country names). In V2, only the 2-letter ISO 3166 codes are allowed. For other formats, error will be thrown.

Invoice subtotal:

In API V1 the sub_total attribute is the sum of all the line items and discounts. Whereas in V2, this is sum of line items and item-level discount amounts alone. So in V2, document-level discounts are not part of the sub_total.

Void and Delete Invoice operations:

With V2, when an invoice is voided/deleted, and 'Prorated credits' have been applied to the invoice, they will be reclaimed and added back to the subscription.

Attributes and operations that have been renamed/removed:

This section provides the complete listing of the attributes and operations that have been renamed/removed in API V2 for a more streamlined functionality:

Customer Resource:

Account Credits are now called Promotional Credits. We have renamed the related attributes and operations to reflect the same:

• Attribute account_credits is renamed to promotional_credits.
• Operation Add account credits is renamed to 'Add Promotional credits'.
• Operation Deduct account credits is renamed to 'Deduct Promotional credits'.
• Operation Set account credits is renamed to 'Set promotional credits'.

Invoice Resource:

• Operation Collect (which is used for closing a pending invoice) is renamed to 'Close'
• The following Invoice attributes are renamed:
  • end_date is renamed to date.
  • amount is renamed to total.
  • paid_on is renamed to paid_at.
  • next_retry is renamed to next_retry_at.
  • line_items[].tax is renamed to line_items[].tax_amount.
  • discounts[].type is renamed to discounts[].entity_type.
• The attribute start_date is removed.
• The attribute line_items[].type is removed (line_items[].entity_type captures all the required details in API V2).
• The attribute linked_transactions[] is removed. More details here

Transaction Resource:

• The attribute linked_invoices[].invoice_amount is renamed to linked_invoices[].invoice_total.
• The attribute linked_invoices[] is not applicable for 'refund' type in V2. More details here.
• The operation List transactions for an invoice is removed. More details here.
• The operation Record payment for an invoice is moved under Invoice resource in V2.

Estimate Resource:

Estimate resource is completely revamped in V2. More details here.

Event Resource:

The following event types are renamed in API V2:

• subscription_trial_ending is renamed to subscription_trial_end_reminder.
• subscription_cancelling is renamed to subscription_cancellation_reminder.
• invoice_created is renamed to pending_invoice_created.
• card_expiring is renamed to card_expiry_reminder.

Transitioning Webhooks from V1 to V2

As part of the upgradation process, you need to move your webhooks too, from V1 to V2.

To transition webhooks to API version V2:

1. Designate a different URL endpoint (different from that of your V1 based webhook URL) for processing the API V2 based events.
2. Follow these step during your deployment process:
   1. Just before starting the deployment, create a webhook for the new URL. Specify its API Version as 'V2'.
   2. Immediately remove the V1 based webhook.
   3. Deploy the API V2 client library in your webhook server(s). During this deployment time, few webhook notifications (till your webhook servers are completely up) may fail. However, Chargebee will do automatic retries, so the missed events will get processed once your webhook servers are up.

If you require assistance for transitioning your webhooks to API version V2, reach out to support@chargebee.com.

You could use cURL to test Chargebee API easily from command line.

curl https://{site}.chargebee.com/api/v1 -u {site_api_key}:

Chargebee uses HTTP BASIC Auth for authenticating the API calls. The user name is your "API key" and the password is empty. The API key could be got from 'Your API Keys' page under integration tab in the web client console.

Note: The API keys are different for your test site and your live site.

Authentication in cURL

For curl you could specify the API key using the -u option

curl {api url} -u {api key}:

Since the password is not present, nothing is specified after the colon(:)

Chargebee follows the REST model of exposing resources as urls. For example, subscriptions are exposed as

Request

The HTTP method (like GET,POST) determines the operation type on the resource. Query parameters allow you to provide additional options to the GET requests. POST parameters provide the data to write operations like creation, modification of resource(s).

By default curl uses GET method. Use -X option to specify a specific HTTP method to use. For passing parameters, use -d option. ( Note: cURL automatically uses to POST method if any parameter is sent via -d option ).

Response

The response is in JSON format. Currently Chargebee does not support any other response format.

curl  https://{site}.chargebee.com/api/v1/subscriptions \
     -u {site_api_key}: \
     -d customer[email]="john@user.com" \
     -d customer[first_name]="John" \
     -d customer[last_name]="Doe" \
     -d customer[phone]="+1-949-999-9999" \
     -d plan_id="basic" \
     -d billing_address[first_name]="John" \
     -d billing_address[last_name]="Doe" \
     -d billing_address[line1]="PO Box 9999" \
     -d billing_address[city]="Walnut" \
     -d billing_address[state]="California" \
     -d billing_address[zip]="91789" \
     -d billing_address[country]="US"

curl  https://{site}.chargebee.com/api/v1/subscriptions \
     -u {site_api_key}: \
     -d customer[email]="john@user.com" \
     -d customer[first_name]="John" \
     -d customer[last_name]="Doe" \
     -d customer[phone]="+1-949-999-9999" \
     -d plan_id="basic" \
     -d billing_address[first_name]="John" \
     -d billing_address[last_name]="Doe" \
     -d billing_address[line1]="PO Box 9999" \
     -d billing_address[city]="Walnut" \
     -d billing_address[state]="California" \
     -d billing_address[zip]="91789" \
     -d billing_address[country]="US"

Sample Response [ JSON ]

Some of the resources have a corresponding details page in the Chargebee's admin console. In some cases you might want to construct the admin console url for easy access from your app (or from exported xls sheets). As the admin console urls are based on internal ids you need to construct the url in the below given format.

Here is an example of a constructed url for a subscription with id 123xyz

• Accessing the constructed url in a browser will redirect it to the details page.
• The login page will be shown if the user has not yet logged-in into Chargebee's admin console.
• Not all resources will have the corresponding details page. To know if it is supported, please look at the cURL documentation under the retrieve operation for that resource.
• Do not store the redirected internal id based url as it may change.

Chargebee supports billing in 100+ currencies.

Take a look at the list of supported currencies here.

Handling Currency Units

While specifying amount in any currency, you need to provide the amount in the smallest unit of that currency. For example, to specify an amount of $1.50, you would set amount=150 (i.e. 150 cents).

For zero decimal currencies (currencies that do not have decimal units), however, you need to provide the amount in the regular denomination. For example, to specify an amount of ¥15, you would set amount=15 (i.e. 15 yens).

Chargebee currently supports below zero-decimal currencies:

• KRW - South Korean Won
• JPY - Japanese Yen
• XAF - Central African CFA Franc
• XOF - West African CFA Franc

Multicurrency Support

With our Multicurrency support, you will be able to process transactions in additional currencies apart from your site's Base currency.

Once Multicurrency support is enabled, the API methods listed below will throw an error as currency_code is required for these methods to work and the same is not supported in the V1 version. So upgrade to our latest version (V2) to be able to pass currency_code input parameter to these methods in Multicurrency mode.

• Customer related methods
• Add account credits to a customer
• Deduct account credits from a customer
• Set account credits for a customer
• Invoice related methods
• Create an invoice
• Create invoice for charge
• Product Configuration related methods
• Create a plan
• Update a plan
• Create an addon
• Update an addon
• Create a coupon

Chargebee supports configuring multiple gateway accounts for a gateway type (eg: you can configure multiple Authorize.net accounts to process multiple currencies).

If you have multiple gateway accounts for a gateway type, the API methods listed below will throw an error as gateway_account_id is required for these methods to work and the same is not supported in the V1 version. So upgrade to our latest version (V2) to be able to pass gateway_account_id input parameter to these methods.

• Customer related methods
• Create a customer
• Update payment method for a customer
• Card related methods
• Update card for a customer
• Switch gateway
• Subscription related methods
• Create a subscription
• Update a subscription
• Hosted page related methods
• Checkout new subscription
• Checkout existing subscription
• Update payment method

Chargebee supports multiple payment methods/sources for a customer. So a customer can have a Card and a Paypal Account linked to them, or they can have multiple cards. Moreover, you can mark one of them as Primary and one as Backup payment source.

The purpose of a Backup payment source is that if a charge made via the Primary payment source fails, then the backup payment source will be automatically used for processing the transaction.

Updating a payment source:

1. To update the Primary payment source for a customer:
• Use any of the create payment source APIs with 'replace_primary_payment_source' set to 'true'. This will update the payment source and make it the Primary payment source for the customer.
2. To update alternate payment sources:
• Delete the payment source that you want to update
• Create a payment source for the customer using any of the create payment source APIs

An optional parameter, payment_source_id, is available in the following APIs:

• Subscription APIs

If you want to attach a particular payment source to a specific subscription, then pass the parameter in the following APIs:

• Create subscription for customer
• Import subscription for customer
• Override Billing Profile
• Invoice APIs

Pass this parameter in the following APIs to collect the payment using a specific payment source:

• Create an invoice
• Create invoice for charge
• Create invoice for addon
• Collect payment for an invoice

HTTP status code is used to indicate success or failure of an API call. The body of the response contains the details of the error in JSON format.

Sample error response:

Below is the sample error that is returned for 'create subscription' api call when the plan referred in the plan_id parameter is not present. The returned http status code will be 404.

Http Status Codes

The standard http status codes used are

• 2XX The response code in this range implies the API call has succeeded.
• 3XX This range is not used currently.
• 4XX response codes indicate failure due to wrong input (i.e, client) side. As the usable list of http codes in the 4xx range is limited we predominantly use the 400 ( BAD REQUEST ) error code for client side errors.
• 5XX response codes indicate API request was valid but failed due to bugs on the Chargebee server side.

Error Attributes

Note: There would be additional deprecated attributes (like error_code) which are present to support older versions of the libraries.

Error handling recommendations

Chargebee will return the first encountered error when validating the API call. Hence we strongly recommend you to validate the user input on your side before calling Chargebee's API. Otherwise you will have to show the mistakes one at a time for the user to correct it before proceeding to the next.

There are cases where you have to depend on Chargebee's validation for handling errors like coupon code validation or VAT validations. In such cases check for the specific param and api_error_code combination to show proper error message to your users.

The following are the list of codes grouped based on type.

Note: 'New' codes might get added (though additions are very rare). If you are handling for specific codes also ensure that there is a default block for handling unknown(/new) error codes.

These errors may occur when trying to store the payment method details(such as card, paypal, ACH etc) or when trying to collect a payment. These errors should be handled and appropriate message should be shown to the user. The type attribute in the error response is sent as payment.

The following errors are caused due to invalid request. In most cases the errors should occur only during the development phase. The type attribute in the error response is sent as invalid_request.

These errors are returned when the request was valid but the requested operation could not be completed. These errors should occur very rarely. You generally need not handle them specifically other than showing a generic error message to your users. The type attribute in the error response is sent as operation_failed.

Most of these errors occur due to improper API environment setup in your server or changes to the site's configuration. The type attribute is not sent in the error response.

Sometimes you would want to disable emails or webhooks for the events that are generated for a particular api call. Typically you would need this when you are migrating customers from your system to Chargebee via api. One option would be to disable all the emails(/webhooks) for all events during the import process. But then you would still want to send emails for new customers who are signing up.
Chargebee supports custom http headers on each api request that allow you to control the actions that are triggered on the events generated by that particular api call.

• To skip all actions to be done on the events pass the header chargebee-event-actions with value all-disabled
• To skip only emails pass the header chargebee-event-email with value all-disabled
• Similarly to skip only webhooks pass chargebee-event-webhook with value all-disabled

        curl  https://mysite.chargebee.com/api/v1/customers \
     -H chargebee-event-actions:all-disabled \
     -u myapikey: \
     -d customer[email]="john@user.com" \
    

Passing user details like IP address, email address and Device information from your website to Chargebee is always useful. IP address information is routed to the payment gateway (where it will be validated against active fraud detection filters), used for EU tax validation, referral integration and event reports. Email addresses and Device information, even more ubiquitous, are used for identification. Chargebee supports http headers to send user details.

Use the following headers to send user details across:

• For the IP address of the customer where the request originated - chargebee-request-origin-ip; where an example is 192.168.1.2.
• For details of the customer - chargebee-request-origin-user; where an example is user@example.com.
• For the device from which the customer has made the request - chargebee-request-origin-device; where an example is Android.

 curl  https://mysite.chargebee.com/api/v1/customers \
     -H chargebee-request-origin-ip:192.168.1.2\
     -H chargebee-request-origin-user:user@example.com\
     -H chargebee-request-origin-device:Android\
     -u myapikey: \
     -d customer[email]="john@user.com" \

Chargebee provides the option of creating custom fields for the Customer and Subscription objects. You can use this option to track additional information about a customer or their subscription. Once the custom fields are created, they can be added to the hosted checkout pages and invoices. They can be accessed through the web interface, and via the API. More on Custom Fields here.

Custom Fields for Customers

Use the option to create custom fields for the Customer object if you need to collect customer-specific information, such as date of birth, age, or gender.

Custom Fields for Subscriptions

Use the option to create custom fields for the Subscription object when the information you need is subscription-specific, and your customers have multiple subscriptions. E.g. Domain URLs, phone numbers, Tracking ID, Shipping Date, t-shirt size, etc.

If you would want to store additional/custom data at a resource's level, you can make use of Meta Data.

For example, if you're a data service provider and would want to store certain features of a particular plan such as "Usage Limit", "Speed within limit", etc., you can have it stored in the Meta data of the Plan.

Meta Data can be passed during the Add/Update operations, for the following resources:

• Subscriptions
• Customers
• Plans
• Addons
• Coupons

Meta Data can only be stored in the JSON format. You can also use nested JSON objects.

Considering the same example as above, if you'd want to store the additional features of a particular data plan here's how the JSON would look:

• Tiered Pricing : If you're looking to set up a tiered pricing model using Chargebee, click here.
• Volume Pricing : If you're looking to set up a volume-based pricing model, click here.