Say you've built checkout for a scheduling app called Shift Board and tested it on your laptop. As you prepare to take your first live payment, check where the payment provider sends events and which account the deployed API uses. You can fix a wrong event address or replace a test key, while the account owner may have an approval to finish before the business can take live payments.
Put those tasks in the launch plan early so you can keep building and testing while the account owner handles the steps that need their approval.
Start with one path through the app
Shift Board has a Next.js frontend, an API, and Postgres. Its first customer is a manager who signs in, creates a team, buys a monthly plan, and posts a shift. Use that sequence to plan the setup for the manager's first day.
Write down the four actions in order. Include the public address and login settings the manager needs to sign in. Record which payment environment holds the offer and how a purchase gets linked to the new team. For the final step, explain how the API checks that the team can post a shift.
The plan shows where one step depends on another. For example, the developer can write the payment handler before the final domain is ready. Mark delivery as a separate check because the provider needs a reachable event address before anyone can verify that it can call the handler.
Give each item an owner and a clear result. “Event route ready” should mean a trusted test event reached the deployed API and changed the intended team record. That description tells the next person what remains to be checked.
Name the work that needs the account owner
Some tasks can be done through a provider's API or CLI. Others need business details, a review of terms, or a decision from the account owner. Check the actual flow you plan to use before assigning those tasks to an agent.
For a direct Stripe setup, hosted Checkout and its Session API provide a normal small-team starting point. You can write and test a subscription flow while the owner handles live-account requirements. You don't need to delay every code task until the live account is ready. Stripe subscription setup, Checkout API
Make each blocked item precise. “Waiting for payments” gives the team little to do. “The owner must confirm that the live account can accept our chosen payment type” identifies both the person and the question.
Record the time you expect to spend waiting for approval separately from the work someone can do today. Treat the schedule as an estimate for this app. A claim about how long teams generally take would need repeated, measured runs.
Check settings in pairs
When a setting points to the wrong environment, each part of the app can look healthy on its own. Shift Board's staging frontend might load normally while sending purchases to the live API. The test payment key might be correct while the secret used to verify events belongs to a different endpoint.
Use a private table to record the pairs and how you will check them.
| Pair | What a useful check shows |
|---|---|
| Website and API | A signed-in request reaches the intended release |
| API and database | A synthetic team is saved and read from the expected database |
| Checkout and workspace | The stored payment belongs to the team that started it |
| Event destination and handler | A trusted event updates that team's access |
| Support reference and logs | An operator can find the failed request |
Keep secret names and locations in this table. Store the actual values in the proper server settings. This lets people review the wiring without copying credentials into a document or agent prompt. Stripe key practices
Deploy a thin path while setup is still small
Let a test manager create a team and save one shift before you add every product feature. Then add the paid gate and repeat the task. You'll expose missing settings and wrong addresses while there are fewer moving parts to inspect.
Suppose the test payment succeeds but the manager still can't post. First check whether the event reached the API. If it did, check the workspace linked to the payment and the stored access change. This follows the failed link and avoids rewriting a payment form that already did its job.
Repeat a valid payment notice too. It should leave the same access result. Stripe documents repeated and out-of-order delivery, so the first successful notice covers only part of the handler's job. Stripe webhook behavior
Record the release reference, safe test IDs, and results beside each check. Leave unrun checks open so a teammate who joins late can see what still needs to happen before launch.
Apply the map to Forte
On Forte, create a Sandbox Project and connect the repository through the GitHub App. Deploy Shift Board's API as a Service, then test its HTTPS address after the build and health check succeed. Deploy the frontend through the Website flow that fits the app. Forte deployment guide
Use the Subscriptions API for the monthly plan and a payment trigger for the Service that grants access. If the first charge includes a setup fee, use the Checkout API. Your app still chooses the offer and enforces team roles. Forte subscriptions, Forte Checkout
Live payments require approved compliance registration. On Forte, enabling email, SMS, or password login also needs approval, with the documented email or SMS setup for those channels. Google OAuth is exempt from that registration gate. Add those needs to the map if they affect sign-in.
Use a separate live Project because Sandbox mode is fixed at project creation. Review all the setting pairs again there. If you choose Forte Postgres, include its Open Beta limits and restore route in the review. Keep the feature maturity page and project mode guide beside the plan while you finish the remaining links.