Firebase & Stripe: Test Keys Creating Live Sessions?

Hey everyone, I've been wrestling with a frustrating issue in my project and could really use some help. I'm building a straightforward order form, and I've hit a snag with my Firebase Cloud Function and Stripe integration. The core problem? My function keeps creating Stripe 'live' sessions even when I'm explicitly using my 'test' API keys. This is obviously a huge problem because I don't want real charges happening while I'm testing! I've checked and double-checked my code, my keys, and everything I can think of, but I'm still stumped. So, let's dive into the details and see if we can get this sorted.

The Setup: Firebase, React, and Stripe

Alright, let's paint a picture of the tech stack. On the front end, it's a simple React app. Users fill out an order form, and when they click 'submit,' a function in my Firebase Cloud Functions backend gets triggered. This function's main job is to communicate with Stripe to create a payment session. Here's where things get tricky.

Firebase Cloud Functions are great for this kind of thing because they let you run backend code in response to events, like a user clicking a button. They're serverless, which means you don't have to worry about managing servers, and Firebase handles the scaling for you. For this particular project, I'm using the stripe Node.js library within my Firebase Function. This library simplifies a lot of the Stripe API calls.

Stripe, if you don't know, is a popular payment processing platform. It allows you to accept payments online. They provide a super handy API that lets you create payment sessions, handle redirects, and manage subscriptions. A crucial part of using Stripe is having separate test and live API keys. Test keys are for, well, testing – playing around, making sure everything works as expected, without touching any real money. Live keys, on the other hand, are for production, when you're ready to take actual payments.

So, the idea is simple: my React frontend sends order details to the Firebase Cloud Function. The function uses the stripe library to create a Stripe Checkout Session. The function then returns the URL for that session back to the front end, and the user gets redirected to the Stripe payment page. Once the payment is complete, Stripe sends a webhook to my function to confirm the payment, and the function updates the order in my Firebase database.

I've meticulously followed the Stripe documentation, ensuring my test keys are in the right place and my code is set up correctly. I've tested the process multiple times, and each time, the function generates a live session. This means when I simulate a payment, it will show up in my live Stripe account, which is definitely not what I want! The whole point of a test environment is to prevent any accidental charges.

Digging into the Code: Where Could the Bug Be?

Let's get down to the nitty-gritty and look at the code. Here's a simplified version of the relevant parts of my Firebase Cloud Function:

const functions = require('firebase-functions');
const stripe = require('stripe')('sk_test_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'); // Replace with your test key

exports.createStripeSession = functions.https.onCall(async (data, context) => {
 try {
 const session = await stripe.checkout.sessions.create({
 mode: 'payment',
 payment_method_types: ['card'],
 success_url: 'https://your-website.com/success',
 cancel_url: 'https://your-website.com/cancel',
 line_items: [
 {
 price_data: {
 currency: 'usd',
 product_data: {
 name: 'Example Product',
 },
 unit_amount: 1000, // $10.00
 quantity: 1,
 },
 },
 ],
 });

 return { sessionId: session.id };
 } catch (error) {
 console.error('Stripe session creation error:', error);
 throw new functions.https.HttpsError('internal', 'Failed to create Stripe session.');
 }
});

In this snippet, you can see that I'm initializing the Stripe object with my test secret key. I've replaced the actual key with 'sk_test_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx' for security reasons, but the point is that this is where you specify which key to use. This key dictates whether the session is created in test or live mode. I've triple-checked that the key I'm using here is the correct test key from my Stripe dashboard. It's not a typo; I swear!

The rest of the code creates a checkout session with a payment mode, the payment methods, the success and cancel URLs, and a list of line items. Everything looks pretty standard. If you’ve worked with Stripe before, this code should look familiar. The success and cancel URLs are important because they redirect the user back to your site after the payment process is completed or canceled. Line items define what the customer is paying for.

Even with this seemingly correct setup, every time I run this, it goes live. I've tested the endpoint using different methods (direct function calls, various front-end implementations), but the results remain consistent. It's like the function is ignoring my test key and defaulting to the live environment, or perhaps there's something else that's triggering the live session. I am not sure what is triggering it!

Troubleshooting Steps I've Tried

I've spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out where I'm going wrong. Here's a rundown of the troubleshooting steps I've already taken, just so you know I'm not completely clueless:

• Double-checked API Keys: This is the obvious first step. I went back to the Stripe dashboard and verified that the secret key I'm using in my Firebase Function is, in fact, the test key. I even generated a new test key just in case. No luck.
• Environment Variables: I thought maybe the key was being set somewhere else. I checked to see if Firebase Cloud Functions supports environment variables, and they do. I haven't configured any environment variables that would override the key, but I confirmed that there aren't any variables that might be interfering.
• Firebase Function Logs: I put console.log statements everywhere, logging the API key, the session parameters, and any error messages. The logs confirm that my function is, indeed, using the correct test key when the Stripe object is initialized. The logs didn't reveal anything that's obviously incorrect.
• Stripe Dashboard: I carefully reviewed my Stripe dashboard. I checked the