VisionScaper uses one Stripe key on the server. That key powers extra AI credit sales, plan billing, and the Stripe Connect payments your contractors use to get paid by their customers. This article shows where to get it and where to paste it.

Note: Follow Stripe’s current screens. Stripe changes its dashboard from time to time. The steps below were checked against Stripe’s documentation on 2026-10-15. Nothing here was tested on a live account.

• A Stripe account with your business details finished.
• Someone who can receive Stripe’s email or text verification code.
• Admin access to WordPress.

1. Sign in to the Stripe Dashboard.
2. Decide the mode. Stripe has a test environment (called a sandbox) and live mode. Test keys start with sk_test_. Live keys start with sk_live_. Use test first, then switch. See “Stripe test mode and live mode”.
3. Open the API keys page in the Dashboard (dashboard.stripe.com/apikeys).
4. Click Create secret key.
5. Enter the verification code Stripe sends you by email or text. If the box does not continue by itself, click Continue.
6. Type a name in Key name, for example “VisionScaper website”. Click Create.
7. Click the key value to copy it. Stripe says you cannot see a secret key again later in live mode, so paste it somewhere safe right away.
8. In the Add a note box, write where you saved it. Click Done.
9. In WordPress, go to Settings → VisionScaper. Find the section Selling extra AI credits.
10. Paste the key into the field Stripe secret key.
11. Click the save button at the bottom of the page.

If the Stripe key is blank, a contractor who opens Settings → Get paid online sees that online payments are not set up on the website yet. A notice also appears in the admin when billing is on but Stripe is not connected.

• Stripe prefers restricted keys (rk_...) for new integrations because you choose exactly what they can do. VisionScaper’s field is named “Stripe secret key”. Whether a restricted key has enough permission for every VisionScaper feature is not verified in code, so start with a standard secret key unless Stripe or your developer tells you otherwise.
• Never email the key or paste it in chat.
• Use a name that tells you what the key is for, so you can remove it later.

• “Payments are unavailable right now” on the site. The key may be wrong, expired, or from the wrong mode. Create a new key and paste it again.
• You lost the key. Create another and expire the old one (see “Replace or rotate a Stripe key”).
• The Create button asks for a code you do not get. Check the email address and phone number on your Stripe profile.

• Stripe, API keys: https://docs.stripe.com/keys (read 2026-10-15)
• Stripe, key best practices: https://docs.stripe.com/keys-best-practices (linked from the page above; not opened separately)
• VisionScaper field names: Settings → VisionScaper, section “Selling extra AI credits” (read from the plugin code).

• Get your Stripe webhook signing secret
• Set up Stripe Connect for contractor payments
• Stripe test mode and live mode
• Replace or rotate a Stripe key