Server side payment token flow Diagram demonstrating the required interaction between the client, our servers, and your server.

Install and configure

Install the Braintree node package:

bash 
npm install braintree

In your code, configure the environment and API credentials:

Node.js 
const braintree = require("braintree");

const gateway = new braintree.BraintreeGateway({
  environment: braintree.Environment.Sandbox,
  merchantId: "useYourMerchantId",
  publicKey: "useYourPublicKey",
  privateKey: "useYourPrivateKey"
});
This code snippet creates a gateway instance using the latest version of the Node SDK. Learn more.

note

See the Braintree Node Version Changelog.

Generate a client token

Your server is responsible for generating a client token, which contains all authorization and configuration information your client needs to initialize the client SDK to communicate with Braintree. Including a customerId when generating the client token lets returning customers select from previously used payment method options, improving user experience over multiple checkouts.

gateway.clientToken.generate({
  customerId: aCustomerId
}, (err, response) => {
  // pass clientToken to your front-end
  const clientToken = response.clientToken
});

If the customer can't be found, it will return a validation error.

Set Up Your Client covers the client side of the exchange.

Send a client token to your client

Here is an example of how your server would generate and expose a client token:

app.get("/client_token", (req, res) => {
  gateway.clientToken.generate({}, (err, response) => {
    res.send(response.clientToken);
  });
});

How the token is used by the client may vary. In JavaScript integrations the client token is often included in the generated HTML/JS, while in mobile apps the client token must be requested. These methods are discussed in the client token setup section.

Receive a payment method nonce from your client

Once your client successfully obtains a customer payment method, it receives a payment_method_nonce representing customer payment authorization, which it then sends to your server.

Your server implementation is then responsible for receiving the payment_method_nonce and using it appropriately.

Node.js 
app.post("/checkout", (req, res) => {
  const nonceFromTheClient = req.body.payment_method_nonce;
  // Use payment method nonce here
});

Create a transaction

You can create a transaction using an amount and the nonceFromTheClient you received in the previous step.

Collect device data from the client and include the deviceDataFromTheClient in the transaction.

gateway.transaction.sale({
  amount: "10.00",
  paymentMethodNonce: nonceFromTheClient,
  deviceData: deviceDataFromTheClient,
  options: {
    submitForSettlement: true
  }
}, (err, result) => {
});

The sale call returns a Transaction Result Object which contains the transaction and information about the request.

Test your integration

See our Testing page for values you can use for nonceFromTheClient in your sandbox account. These nonces can be passed as strings through server-side calls to generate payment methods in the desired state. To verify your integration, you can check in the sandbox Control Panel, where transactions will immediately appear on success.

important

Always develop and test your code against your sandbox account before processing live transactions against a production account.

Transition to production

At this point, you should be able to accept a payment method nonce and create a transaction in our sandbox. When you're ready to start charging real money, transition over to our production environment. We'll explain that process next.

Further reading

Next Page: Go Live →