Default Architecture And Skill Boundaries

Pack: stripe Parent skill: Stripe Integration Defaults And Routing Source: stripe/stripe-integration-defaults-and-routing/references/default-architecture-and-boundaries.md Use this pack as the opinionated implementation layer.

Use Stripe’s own MCP and agent tooling for:

live account inspection
object creation in a real Stripe account
product lookup across current docs and support content
API upgrade assistance tied to the Stripe platform

Use this pack for app-side implementation choices:

how to model products and prices in the app
whether to start with hosted Checkout or a more custom flow
how to structure webhook ownership and billing state
when to default to the customer portal
what local test loop to use during development

Default architecture:

Stripe owns payment collection, invoicing, and billing object state.
Your server owns creation of sessions, subscriptions, portal sessions, and webhook processing.
Your app database stores the minimum internal projection needed for authorization, UI, and reporting.
Webhooks reconcile Stripe state back into the app.
Customer self-serve billing goes through the portal unless there is a strong product reason not to.

Good first path for most SaaS apps:

dashboard-managed products and prices
hosted Checkout for signup or upgrade
server-created Checkout Sessions
webhook-driven entitlement or access sync
customer portal for plan changes and billing management
Stripe CLI for local webhook forwarding