Creator codes

How they work#

Kickrail turns each affiliate's code into a real Stripe promotion code on your Stripe account, attached to a coupon you choose. When a customer redeems it in Stripe Checkout, the checkout session (and every invoice after it) carries that promotion code, and Kickrail credits the affiliate who owns it. It works even if the customer never visited your site through a link.

Set it up#

1. In Stripe, create the coupon you want codes to give, for example 20% off for 3 months. Copy its id.
2. In Kickrail, open Campaigns, edit the campaign and paste the coupon id into Stripe coupon.
3. Give each affiliate on that campaign a code from their page under Affiliates (or with code on the affiliates API). Kickrail creates the promotion code in Stripe right away.
4. Make sure your checkout accepts codes: allow_promotion_codes: true on Checkout sessions you create, or "Allow promotion codes" on a Payment Link.

stripe.checkout.sessions.create({
  mode: "subscription",
  line_items: [{ price: "price_pro_month", quantity: 1 }],
  allow_promotion_codes: true,          // customers can type JANE20
  client_reference_id: req.cookies.kr_ref, // and links still work too
  success_url: "https://yourapp.com/welcome",
});

An affiliate's portal shows each code and whether it is redeemable at checkout. In the API, the affiliate object has code_redeemable_at_checkout and a codes list.

Codes without a coupon#

If the campaign has no Stripe coupon, the code is still saved and still credits the affiliate, but only when your own signup form collects it. Pass it as code to POST /v1/referrals. Stripe won't accept it at checkout.

Rules#

• Codes are 3 to 20 letters and digits, unique within the program.
• An affiliate can have more than one code; all of them credit the same affiliate.
• If someone was already referred by a link, a code from a different affiliate does not take them: the first referral wins. Under last-touch attribution the code moves them, until their first payment.
• Changing a code creates a new Stripe promotion code and the old one stops crediting the affiliate. Stripe keeps the old one active, so archive it there if it shouldn't give a discount any more.