Lock the Files That Charge Customers

Description and use

Separating the public catalog from a charge stub prevents accidental real payments while enabling safe demos.

Ensuring that only authorized code paths handle real payments while keeping a safe, testable stub for development and demo purposes.

A clear separation between public catalog and charge logic prevents accidental real payments while allowing safe demos and development.

1. Create two separate Node services: one for the public catalog, one for the charge stub.
2. In the catalog service, expose a listSkus function that returns demo SKUs.
3. In the money-path module, implement verifyWebhook to check HMAC signatures and recordIntent to log charge intents.
4. In the server module, route GET /health for health checks, and POST /webhook to process incoming events using verifyWebhook and recordIntent.
5. Set the WEBHOOK_SECRET environment variable for signature verification.
6. Deploy the catalog service publicly; keep the charge stub service isolated for internal use.
7. Use the stub to record intents during demos, ensuring no real charges are made.
8. When ready for production, replace the stub with a real payment processor integration.
9. Test the entire flow locally before deployment.

Create a tiny Node service with two rooms. One room holds public catalog chrome only. The other room holds the charge stub.

The stub does not talk to a processor. It records intent and refuses extra cleverness.