Use Stripe's payment infrastructure to let an agent complete a merchant checkout

In-depth guide

Steps

1. Store a Stripe Customer object representing the human principal behind the agent; attach a payment method (card or bank account) to this Customer — the agent acts on behalf of the customer, not as a principal in its own right.
2. When the agent identifies a checkout to complete, create a PaymentIntent server-side (in your backend, not from the agent process) with the amount, currency, customer ID, and confirm=false; this keeps the raw payment method out of the agent's context.
3. Pass the PaymentIntent client_secret to the agent only if the agent needs to confirm it; for fully automated flows, confirm the PaymentIntent server-side after validating the purchase intent against your spend policy.
4. Set statement_descriptor and metadata fields on the PaymentIntent with the agent session ID and purchase context — this is essential for reconciliation and dispute response.
5. Check the PaymentIntent status after confirmation: requires_action means 3DS or another challenge is needed and a human must intervene; succeeded means the payment completed; requires_payment_method means the card was declined.
6. Emit a structured event to your audit log on each status transition; never consider a purchase complete until the PaymentIntent status is 'succeeded' — not just 'processing'.