Get started / Quickstart

Quickstart

Create a sandbox payment, complete it with a test card and confirm it succeeded. You need a terminal and about ten minutes.

Before you start

• A Ledgerline account. Sandbox access is available as soon as you sign up.
• Your sandbox secret key, from Dashboard → Developers → API keys.

1. Set your key

Save the key as an environment variable so it stays out of your shell history and your code.

export LEDGERLINE_KEY=sk_test_4f9a...

2. Create a payment

This creates a payment of ₦2,500.00 (250000 kobo) and returns a hosted checkout link.

curl https://sandbox.ledgerline.example/v2/payments \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LEDGERLINE_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: 6c1f6a0e-2f7b-4b51-9a7e-0d3c2b7e9f10" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "amount": 250000,
    "currency": "NGN",
    "reference": "order_1042",
    "customer": { "email": "ada@example.com" },
    "redirect_url": "https://yourshop.example/thanks"
  }'

{
  "id": "pay_7Hq2LmX9",
  "status": "pending",
  "amount": 250000,
  "currency": "NGN",
  "reference": "order_1042",
  "checkout_url": "https://checkout.sandbox.ledgerline.example/pay_7Hq2LmX9",
  "created_at": "2026-11-03T10:14:22Z"
}

3. Pay with a test card

Open the checkout_url and pay with one of these test cards. Use any future expiry date and any three-digit CVV.

4. Confirm the result

Retrieve the payment to check its status. In production, rely on webhooks instead of polling.

curl https://sandbox.ledgerline.example/v2/payments/pay_7Hq2LmX9 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LEDGERLINE_KEY"

The status is now succeeded. That's it: you've taken your first payment.

Next steps

• Set up webhooks so you hear about payments as they happen.
• Read the Payments API reference for every field and status.
• Check Data handling before you go live.

Last updated 3 November 2026