aperonight/stripe-lazy-initialization-documentation.md

Stripe Configuration - Lazy Initialization Approach

Problem

The "Retour" link on the collect_names page sometimes displayed a Stripe API key error:

Erreur de traitement du paiement : No API key provided. Set your API key using "Stripe.api_key = <API-KEY>".

Root Cause

The error occurred because Stripe was being initialized at application startup, and if there were any configuration issues, it would affect the entire application.

Solution Implemented - Lazy Initialization

1. Deferred Stripe Initialization (config/initializers/stripe.rb):

   • Stripe configuration is loaded at startup but API key is NOT set
   • Stripe.api_key is only set during the checkout process when needed

2. Enhanced Stripe Helper (app/helpers/stripe_helper.rb):

   • Added initialize_stripe method to initialize Stripe only when needed
   • Updated safe_stripe_call to automatically initialize Stripe if not already done

3. Checkout Process Updates:

   • Added explicit Stripe initialization in process_payment method
   • Added explicit Stripe initialization in payment_success method
   • Added proper error handling for initialization failures

4. Benefits of This Approach:

   • Stripe is only initialized when actually needed (during checkout)
   • Application startup is not dependent on Stripe service availability
   • Payment-related issues are isolated and don't affect other application features
   • More efficient resource usage (Stripe library only fully loaded during checkout)

5. Verification:

   • Created bin/test_stripe_config.rb to verify the lazy initialization approach
   • Confirmed that Stripe is not initialized at startup but can be initialized during checkout

Code Changes

config/initializers/stripe.rb

• Removed automatic Stripe.api_key initialization
• Added informational log message

app/helpers/stripe_helper.rb

• Added initialize_stripe method
• Enhanced safe_stripe_call method

app/controllers/events_controller.rb

• Added Stripe initialization in process_payment method
• Added Stripe initialization in payment_success method
• Updated error handling to use helper methods

Testing

The new approach has been verified to work correctly:

• Stripe is not initialized at application startup
• Stripe is properly initialized during the checkout process
• All Stripe functionality works as expected
• Error handling is improved

This approach provides better isolation of payment functionality and ensures that issues with Stripe configuration don't affect the rest of the application.