Stripe Projects — Service Provisioning
Provision third-party services (databases, auth, hosting, analytics, caching, AI, observability) and retrieve API keys/tokens using the Stripe Projects CLI plugin.
Workflow
Step 1: Ensure Stripe CLI + Projects Plugin
Check if the Stripe CLI is available:
which stripe && stripe --versionIf not installed or below version 1.40.0:
- macOS (Homebrew):
brew install stripe/stripe-cli/stripe(orbrew upgrade stripe/stripe-cli/stripe) - Other platforms: Direct the user to https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-cli/install for up-to-date instructions.
Then ensure the Projects plugin is installed:
stripe plugin install projectsStep 2: Search the Catalog
Confirm the requested provider/service exists:
stripe projects search <query> --jsonIf result_count is 0, inform the user the service was not found and stop.
If the user’s request is vague (for example, “I need a database”), browse the catalog to suggest options:
stripe projects catalog --jsonStep 3: Initialize a Project
Check if a project is already initialized:
stripe projects status --jsonIf not initialized:
stripe projects init --yes(don’t use ‘–json’ for this command)
If the CLI output indicates a browser was opened for authentication, stop and clearly tell the user to complete sign-in in their browser. Don’t run further commands until they confirm they’re done.
Important: stripe projects init installs the stripe-projects-cli skill locally at .claude/skills/stripe-projects-cli. This skill contains the full post-init command reference.
Step 4: Hand Off to stripe-projects-cli
Verify the skill was installed:
test -f .claude/skills/stripe-projects-cli/SKILL.md && echo "OK" || echo "MISSING"If MISSING: re-run stripe projects init --yes — the skill is bundled with the Projects plugin and installed during init.
If OK: use the locally-installed stripe-projects-cli skill (invoke using the Skill tool with name stripe-projects-cli) to continue the workflow — adding services, managing credentials, and configuring the project.
Step 5: Summarize and Suggest
After a successful service addition, provide output in this format:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Provider | <provider name> |
| Service | <service type> |
| Tier | <tier> |
| Env vars | <variable names only — never values> |
Then suggest 3–5 complementary services from different categories in the catalog (for example, if user added a database, suggest auth, hosting, or observability). Only reference services that actually appear in stripe projects catalog --json output — never fabricate commands or provider names.
CLI as Source of Truth
The CLI manages all state under .projects/ and generates .env files. Don’t hand-edit these files. If you need to inspect project state, use the appropriate CLI command:
| Task | Command |
|---|---|
| View provisioned services | stripe projects status --json |
| List env var names | stripe projects env --json |
| Check project health | stripe projects status --json |
| Browse available services | stripe projects catalog --json |
Only inspect .projects/ or .env directly if the user explicitly asks you to — the CLI is authoritative, so manual edits may be overwritten.
Error Handling
| Error code | Cause | Recovery |
|---|---|---|
PROVIDER_NOT_LINKED | Provider requires OAuth linking | Run stripe projects link <provider> — this may open a browser |
UNKNOWN_ERROR | Unexpected failure | Show the full error message to the user and suggest running with --debug for diagnostics |
| Service not in catalog | Query returned 0 results | Inform user; suggest stripe projects catalog --json to browse alternatives |
| CLI not found | Stripe CLI not installed | Install using Homebrew (macOS) or follow https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-cli/install |
