Getting started

Chargebee provides an HTTP-based API that follows the principles of REST. The HTTP rules followed allow simple HTTP clients like cURL to be used as well. The URLs are resource-oriented, the request format is form-encoded, and the responses are in JSON.

Depending on the type of operation, the endpoints use one of two HTTP methods:

GET: Used for all read-only operations such as retrieving a resource or listing a group of resources.
POST: Used for all write operations. Such operations modify the state of a resource.

A history of changes to the API is provided in the API Changelog.

Note

Sometimes, while working with Chargebee APIs, you may see undocumented attributes returned in the response. Such attributes should be ignored.

Early Access Program

Some features in the API are part of the Early Access Program and are labeled "EAP," "Beta," or "Early Access." Please review the terms and conditions that apply to these features before using them.

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

https://{site}.chargebee.com/api/v2/subscriptions

The Python client library provide a corresponding class representation of the resource. For example, subscriptions are represented by

    chargebee.Subscription

Request

All operations specific to that resource are exposed as class methods in the corresponding resource class. The methods accepts the input params as hash. You could also pass the environment configuration specific to that request as an additional parameter.

Response

The response is in JSON format. Currently Chargebee does not support any other response format. The Result class wraps the response sent by the server. It has methods that allow you to fetch the specific resource from the result. The ListResult class is used to wrap list responses.

Note: Sometimes, while working with Chargebee APIs, you may see undocumented attributes returned in the response. Such attributes should be ignored.

Sample Codes


import chargebee
import json
chargebee.configure("{site_api_key}","{site}")
result = chargebee.Subscription.create_with_items("__test__8asz8Ru9WhHOJO",{
    "subscription_items" : [
        {
            "item_price_id" : "day-pass-USD",
            "unit_price" : 100
        },
        {
            "item_price_id" : "basic-USD",
            "billing_cycles" : 2,
            "quantity" : 1
        }]
    })
subscription = result.subscription
customer = result.customer
card = result.card
invoice = result.invoice
unbilled_charges = result.unbilled_charges

copy


import chargebee
import json
chargebee.configure("{site_api_key}","{site}")
result = chargebee.Subscription.create_with_items("__test__8asz8Ru9WhHOJO",{
    "subscription_items" : [
        {
            "item_price_id" : "day-pass-USD",
            "unit_price" : 100
        },
        {
            "item_price_id" : "basic-USD",
            "billing_cycles" : 2,
            "quantity" : 1
        }]
    })
subscription = result.subscription
customer = result.customer
card = result.card
invoice = result.invoice
unbilled_charges = result.unbilled_charges

Sample Result [ JSON ]

{
    "customer": {
        "allow_direct_debit": false,
        "auto_collection": "off",
        "card_status": "no_card",
        "created_at": 1612890916,
        "deleted": false,
        "excess_payments": 0,
        "first_name": "John",
        "id": "__test__8asukSOXdulGOV",
        "last_name": "Doe",
        "net_term_days": 0,
        "object": "customer",
        "pii_cleared": "active",
        "preferred_currency_code": "USD",
        "promotional_credits": 0,
        "refundable_credits": 0,
        "resource_version": 1612890916000,
        "taxability": "taxable",
        "unbilled_charges": 0,
        "updated_at": 1612890916
    },
    "invoice": {
        "adjustment_credit_notes": [],
        "amount_adjusted": 0,
        "amount_due": 1100,
        "amount_paid": 0,
        "amount_to_collect": 1100,
        "applied_credits": [],
        "base_currency_code": "USD",
        "billing_address": {
            "first_name": "John",
            "last_name": "Doe",
            "object": "billing_address",
            "validation_status": "not_validated"
        },
        "credits_applied": 0,
        "currency_code": "USD",
        "customer_id": "__test__8asukSOXdulGOV",
        "date": 1612890916,
        "deleted": false,
        "due_date": 1612890916,
        "dunning_attempts": [],
        "exchange_rate": 1,
        "first_invoice": true,
        "has_advance_charges": false,
        "id": "__demo_inv__10",
        "is_gifted": false,
        "issued_credit_notes": [],
        "line_items": [
            {
                "amount": 1000,
                "customer_id": "__test__8asukSOXdulGOV",
                "date_from": 1612890916,
                "date_to": 1615310116,
                "description": "basic USD",
                "discount_amount": 0,
                "entity_id": "basic-USD",
                "entity_type": "plan_item_price",
                "id": "li___test__8asukSOXdutkOa",
                "is_taxed": false,
                "item_level_discount_amount": 0,
                "object": "line_item",
                "pricing_model": "per_unit",
                "quantity": 1,
                "subscription_id": "__test__8asukSOXduqmOY",
                "tax_amount": 0,
                "tax_exempt_reason": "tax_not_configured",
                "unit_amount": 1000
            },
            {..}
        ],
        "linked_orders": [],
        "linked_payments": [],
        "net_term_days": 0,
        "new_sales_amount": 1100,
        "object": "invoice",
        "price_type": "tax_exclusive",
        "recurring": true,
        "resource_version": 1612890917000,
        "round_off_amount": 0,
        "status": "payment_due",
        "sub_total": 1100,
        "subscription_id": "__test__8asukSOXduqmOY",
        "tax": 0,
        "term_finalized": true,
        "total": 1100,
        "updated_at": 1612890917,
        "write_off_amount": 0
    },
    "subscription": {
        "activated_at": 1612890916,
        "billing_period": 1,
        "billing_period_unit": "month",
        "created_at": 1612890916,
        "currency_code": "USD",
        "current_term_end": 1615310116,
        "current_term_start": 1612890916,
        "customer_id": "__test__8asukSOXdulGOV",
        "deleted": false,
        "due_invoices_count": 1,
        "due_since": 1612890916,
        "has_scheduled_changes": false,
        "id": "__test__8asukSOXduqmOY",
        "mrr": 0,
        "next_billing_at": 1615310116,
        "object": "subscription",
        "remaining_billing_cycles": 1,
        "resource_version": 1612890917000,
        "started_at": 1612890916,
        "status": "active",
        "subscription_items": [
            {
                "amount": 1000,
                "billing_cycles": 1,
                "free_quantity": 0,
                "item_price_id": "basic-USD",
                "item_type": "plan",
                "object": "subscription_item",
                "quantity": 1,
                "unit_price": 1000
            },
            {..}
        ],
        "total_dues": 1100,
        "updated_at": 1612890917
    }
}

Client libraries

Chargebee provides the following open-source client libraries as a wrapper around the HTTP API:

To view this API reference tailored to the programming language of your choice, select the language in the “Library” dropdown above. Reach out to us at Chargebee Support if you’d like to request any other language bindings.

Python client library

Note

Select the programming language of your choice from the “Library” dropdown at the top of the page.

Installing Python Library

The library can be installed as

    pip install 'chargebee>=2,<3'

easy_install --upgrade 'chargebee>=2,<3'

Source Code

The source code for the client library is available as a public repository at github. The code is provided with MIT license. So in case you need any modifications please feel free to do so. If you think it would be useful for other users please do let us know.

Library version

Newer versions of client library are released whenever there are new additions to the API. The version numbering format is major-version.minor-version(s). All minor releases are backward compatible. Please check the change notes for more details.
The latest version details for API V2 are:
Version: 2.26.0
Released On: 2023-05-16

Code samples

The sample code snippets provided for the endpoints in this documentation are ready-to-test. Once you log in and select a test site using the dropdown that appears at the top, the code samples in this documentation automatically include your API key and site data.

API testing

Chargebee provides the Time Machine feature to help you test your integration. Once you've set up your billing configuration on the test site, you can simulate events on a hypothetical time frame to ensure everything works as expected. Ensure that you rigorously test your configuration before going live.

Additional developer resources

Check out our collection of sample applications and related tutorials for integrating with Chargebee.