Manual License Key Fulfillment Integration Guide

• A product with a License Key entitlement set to manual fulfillment.
• A webhook listener that detects when a customer is waiting for a key.
• A fulfillment call that delivers the key and notifies the customer automatically.

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How It Works

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Prerequisites

• A Dodo Payments merchant account.
• An API key, created under Developer → API Keys and stored in DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY, and the webhook signing secret from Developer → Webhooks, stored in DODO_PAYMENTS_WEBHOOK_KEY. See the API key generation guide.
• A backend endpoint that can receive webhooks.

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Step 1 — Create a License Key Entitlement in Manual Mode

• Dashboard
• API

1

Open Entitlements

Go to Entitlements in the dashboard and click + to create an entitlement.

2

Choose License Key

Select License Keys and enter a Name. The form has these fields:

• Fulfillment Mode: Automatic by default. This is the setting that enables manual fulfillment, and you change it in the next step.
• License Length: how long each issued key stays valid, or No expiration.
• Activations Limit: the maximum number of activations per key, or Unlimited.
• Activation Message: an optional customer-facing message shown when the customer activates the key, and included in the license key email.

3

Set Fulfillment Mode to Manual

Open the Fulfillment Mode dropdown and change it from Automatic to Manual. The rest of this guide depends on this setting: without it, Dodo Payments generates and emails keys automatically and creates no pending grant. With Manual selected, each purchase creates a Pending grant for you to fulfill. Click Create Entitlement to save.

Create the entitlement with integration_config.fulfillment_mode set to manual.

Node.js

Python

cURL

import DodoPayments from 'dodopayments';

const client = new DodoPayments({
  bearerToken: process.env.DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY,
  environment: 'test_mode', // defaults to 'live_mode'
});

const entitlement = await client.entitlements.create({
  name: 'Pro License (Manual)',
  integration_type: 'license_key',
  integration_config: {
    fulfillment_mode: 'manual',
    activations_limit: 5,
    duration_count: 1,
    duration_interval: 'Year',
  },
});

console.log(entitlement.id); // ent_...

See all 19 lines

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Step 2 — Attach the Entitlement to a Product

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Step 3 — Detect Pending Grants

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Listen for the Webhook

import { Webhook } from 'standardwebhooks';

const webhook = new Webhook(process.env.DODO_PAYMENTS_WEBHOOK_KEY!);

export async function POST(request: Request) {
  const rawBody = await request.text();
  const headers = {
    'webhook-id': request.headers.get('webhook-id') || '',
    'webhook-signature': request.headers.get('webhook-signature') || '',
    'webhook-timestamp': request.headers.get('webhook-timestamp') || '',
  };

  await webhook.verify(rawBody, headers);
  const event = JSON.parse(rawBody);

  // A customer bought a manual-mode license key and is waiting for it.
  if (
    event.type === 'entitlement_grant.created' &&
    event.data.integration_type === 'license_key' &&
    event.data.status === 'Pending'
  ) {
    // queueLicenseKeyFulfillment is your own job queue, not part of the SDK.
    await queueLicenseKeyFulfillment({
      grantId: event.data.id,
      customerId: event.data.customer_id,
    });
  }

  return new Response('ok');
}

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Or Poll the List Grants API

// Uses the client from Step 1.
const pending = await client.entitlements.grants.list('ent_license_key_id', {
  status: 'Pending',
});

for (const grant of pending.items) {
  console.log(`Grant ${grant.id} for customer ${grant.customer_id} needs a key`);
}

curl -G https://test.dodopayments.com/entitlements/ent_license_key_id/grants \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "status=Pending"

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Step 4 — Deliver the Key

async function fulfill(grantId: string, key: string) {
  const res = await fetch(
    `https://test.dodopayments.com/grants/${grantId}/license-key`,
    {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: {
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY}`,
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        key,
        // Optional — fall back to the entitlement config when omitted
        activations_limit: 5,
        expires_at: '2027-05-01T00:00:00Z',
      }),
    },
  );

  if (!res.ok) {
    // See the status code table below for handling
    throw new Error(`Fulfillment failed: ${res.status}`);
  }

  return res.json(); // updated grant, now status: "Delivered"
}

curl -X POST https://test.dodopayments.com/grants/entg_8VbC6JDZ/license-key \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "key": "PRO-AAAA-BBBB-CCCC-DDDD",
    "activations_limit": 5,
    "expires_at": "2027-05-01T00:00:00Z"
  }'

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Request Fields

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Step 5 — Handle Errors and Retries

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Verify the Flow

1. Buy the product in test mode. See the checkout guides.
2. Confirm that your webhook received entitlement_grant.created with status: "Pending" and integration_type: "license_key", or that the grant appears in the List Grants response filtered by status=Pending.
3. Call the fulfill endpoint with a test key.
4. Confirm that the response shows status: "Delivered" with a populated license_key, that the customer receives the key email, and that entitlement_grant.delivered fires.

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Related API Reference