Quickstart

Everything below runs against the sandbox: simulated rails, no real money. When it works, the same calls run on production with a live key.

Create an account

Sign up at platform.chipper.ai. New workspaces open in Sandbox, with no approval step, so everything below works straight away.

Get a sandbox key

In the dashboard, go to Developers → API keys and create a key. Full access is the default; narrow the scopes later if you like. You’ll see sk_test_… once, so copy it now.

export CHIPPER_KEY=sk_test_...
export CHIPPER_API=https://sandbox-api.platform.chipper.ai

Fund your sandbox balance

Payouts debit a balance. In the dashboard, Add test funds on the Home or Balances page tops one up. Or from the API:

curl $CHIPPER_API/v1/simulations/fund-balance \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHIPPER_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"amount": 1000, "currency": "GHS", "externalReference": "qs-fund-1"}'

Look up what you can send to

The capabilities catalog is the vocabulary for everything else: every code in the API comes from it.

curl "$CHIPPER_API/v1/capabilities/GH" -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHIPPER_KEY"

You’ll find gh_mtn (MTN Mobile Money) with its fields, limits, and expected settlement time.

Validate the destination

Resolve the account holder’s name before moving money. It’s the cheapest mistake you’ll ever catch.

curl $CHIPPER_API/v1/validate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHIPPER_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"code": "gh_mtn", "accountNumber": "233559630374"}'

{ "validation": { "valid": true, "accountName": "AMA SERWAA" } }

Send the payout

curl $CHIPPER_API/v1/payouts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHIPPER_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "to": {
      "code": "gh_mtn",
      "accountNumber": "233559630374",
      "amount": 150,
      "currency": "GHS",
      "recipient": { "name": "Ama Serwaa" }
    },
    "narration": "Invoice 1042",
    "externalReference": "inv-1042"
  }'

The response is 201 with the payout in pending. Sandbox completes it within seconds. Poll GET /v1/payouts/{id}, or better:

Receive the webhook

Add an endpoint under Developers → Webhooks (or POST /v1/webhooks/endpoints) subscribed to payout.completed. You’ll get:

{
  "event": "payout.completed",
  "data": { "id": "pay_ghs_…", "status": "completed", "externalReference": "inv-1042", "…": "…" }
}

Verify the signature with any Standard Webhooks library, and you’re done.

Moving stablecoins instead? The Sandbox page walks through a Stellar testnet deposit and withdrawal with USDC and XLM.

Where to next

The rails

Mobile money, bank, stablecoins: how each actually moves money.

Accept payments

Charges, virtual accounts, and deposit addresses, and when to use which.

Payment links

Charge anyone with a URL and a hosted checkout.

Sandbox

Deterministic failures, simulations, and what’s mocked.

Getting started

Concepts

Guides

Where to next

The rails

Accept payments

Payment links

Sandbox

​Where to next

The rails

Accept payments

Payment links

Sandbox

Where to next