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Embedded Checkout Form Integration Guide

ecommercehosted-payments

Base URL
https://checkout-api.north.com

Embed a prebuilt payment form directly on your site. All sensitive payment data is sent directly from the hosted form to the payment processor, bypassing your server environment and reducing your PCI compliance requirements.

Quick Start


What You'll Build

Use this guide to embed a payment form on your checkout page. Your customer enters their payment details in the embedded form, completes the payment, and your application handles the result.


Checkout Flow

  1. Add the checkout.js script to your page.
  2. For each payment attempt, create a checkout session on your server.
  3. Mount the checkout form. Access the global checkout object exposed by the script. checkout.mount() will use the session token to render a secure payment form inside the specified DOM element on your page.
  4. Handle the payment response by configuring a webhook in the Embedded Checkout Designer.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you complete the following prerequisites. Your private keys and IDs can be obtained by navigating to your North Developer dashboard and selecting a checkout instance.

Get started quickly by downloading the provided sample code from a checkout instance on your dashboard, including the code for your customized form as well as the backend code required to send the form from your website. You'll need:


Step 1: Create a Checkout Session

From your server, create a checkout session by calling the Create Session API endpoint and passing your private API key in the header as a bearer token. This request returns a short-lived token that you'll pass to your client to render the checkout form. Sessions expire after 30 minutes.

The request body must include an amount, an array of products, or both. For example, if you're building an ecommerce store with a shopping cart, you may want to provide an array of products. If you're building an online donation page, you may only wish to provide the amount.

If both are provided, the calculated total amount of the products must match the provided amount value. Additionally, when the payment request is submitted, the amount in the request must match the amount in the session object.


API Endpoint


Request Headers

HeaderValue
Content-Typeapplication/json
AuthorizationBearer {YOUR_PRIVATE_API_KEY}

Request Body


Request Parameters

(*required if products array is provided)



Example cURL Request


Response

Step 2: Add the Checkout Script

Include the checkout.js script on your page. This script exposes the global checkout object that will be mounted in the next step to render the checkout form.

Add an id to the DOM element on your page where the form should render. You will pass this id as an argument to checkout.mount() in the next step.


Script Tag

Step 3: Render the Checkout Form

On your client, fetch the session token from your server and call checkout.mount() to initialize and render the checkout form on your page.


Mounting Example


Parameters

Step 4: Test the Integration

When a checkout is in Draft Mode, requests are automatically made in the Sandbox environment. When you're ready to go live, we'll certify your checkout and move to the Production environment, with no need to manually switch environments.

In Draft Mode, requests are sent in the payment processor's Sandbox environment, guaranteeing that your test requests receive real results from the processor, not mock responses, so that you can build accurate response handling into your application with confidence. To test various payment responses in Draft Mode, the transaction amount can be modified to a designated value that will trigger a specific response code. Read more about response code triggers.

UI/UX testing can also be done from the Checkout Designer using the integrated card testing tools, however these are mock payment requests that do not return real results from the payment processor.

Use the following test card numbers in the Sandbox environment:


Card NumberBrandResult
4111 1111 1111 1111VisaSuccessful transaction
3700 000000 00002AmexSuccessful transaction

Test Card Details:

  • Expiration: Any future date (e.g., "12/25")
  • CVV: Any 3 digits (e.g., "123") or 4 digits for Amex
  • ZIP: Any 5 digits (e.g., "12345")

Step 5: Handle Checkout Completion

While the user will be shown a receipt client-side, the processed payment data will be sent to the checkout's webhook to provide server-side confirmation that a payment was processed. Configure a webhook URL in the Checkout Designer to receive POST notifications.


Success Checklist

Before certification, verify your integration:

  • Checkout form renders correctly on your page
  • Test card transactions are approved successfully
  • Declined card transactions show proper error messages
  • Webhook receives transaction notifications
  • Success receipt displays to customer
  • Error states are handled gracefully
  • Mobile responsiveness works as expected



Webhook Request Data on Payment Complete

Payment data will be sent to the configured webhook at the /transaction path. Note that the domain must be under HTTPS.

your-webhook-url.com/transaction


Sample Approval

Sample Decline

Additional Notes


Protect Your API Keys

  • Never expose your private API key in client-side code
  • Store API keys in environment variables
  • Generate session tokens only on your server

Domain Restriction

In the Production environment, the domain where your checkout is hosted is limited to the domain set during checkout configuration. This prevents unauthorized use of your checkout configuration. This rule is not applied in Draft Mode.


Session Token Expiration

Session tokens expire after 30 minutes. Generate a new token for each checkout session rather than reusing tokens.


Responsive Design

The checkout form automatically adapts to different screen sizes. On desktop, it displays a two-column layout; on mobile, it stacks into a single column.


Secondary Transactions

After completing an initial sale, a transaction token is returned in the response that can be used for subsequent payment functionality, such as voids, refunds, and reversals. View the API Specification to learn more about these transaction types.

Next Steps

Now that you've added the Embedded Checkout Form to your website, you can:

  • Manage Your Checkouts - View and manage your checkout configurations in the dashboard.
  • Contact Support - Get help with your integration.
  • Certify and Go Live - Start the certification process with our support team. Once we confirm everything is working as expected, you'll be ready to start accepting payments in the Production environment.



Top of Page
// server.js
// This server creates checkout sessions by securely calling the Embedded Checkout API

const express = require('express');
const app = express();

// Enable JSON parsing for incoming request bodies
app.use(express.json());

// Endpoint that your client-side code will call to create a session
app.post('/api/create-checkout-session', async (req, res) => {
  try {
    // Call the Create Session API endpoint to create a new checkout session
    // This returns a short-lived token (30 min) for rendering the checkout form
    const response = await fetch('https://checkout-api.north.com/public/api/sessions', {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: {
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        // Authenticate with your private API key (stored in an environment variable)
        'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.CHECKOUT_PRIVATE_KEY}`
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        // Your checkout configuration ID from the Checkout Designer
        checkoutId: process.env.CHECKOUT_ID,
        // Your merchant profile identifier
        profileId: process.env.PROFILE_ID,
        // Product details passed from the client (name, price, quantity, logoUrl)
        products: req.body.products
      })
    });

    // Handle API errors by forwarding the error response to the client
    if (!response.ok) {
      const error = await response.json();
      return res.status(response.status).json(error);
    }

    // Return the session data (including token) to the client
    const session = await response.json();
    res.json(session);
  } catch (error) {
    // Log server-side errors for debugging
    console.error('Session creation error:', error);
    res.status(500).json({ error: 'Failed to create session' });
  }
});

// Start the server
app.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log('Server running on port 3000');
});
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