Core Concepts
Understanding how RevKeen's objects work together to power your billing
RevKeen uses a relationship-based object model where entities connect to enable powerful billing workflows. Understanding these relationships is key to using the platform effectively.
Object Hierarchy
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ MERCHANT │
│ (Your Business Account) │
└───────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────┬────────┘
│ │
▼ ▼
┌─────────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────────┐
│ PRODUCTS │ │ CUSTOMERS │
│ - Name, Description│ │ - Name, Email │
│ - Fulfillment Type │ │ - Payment Methods │
│ - Benefits │ │ - Addresses │
└─────────┬───────────┘ └──────────┬──────────┘
│ │
▼ │
┌─────────────────────┐ │
│ PRICES │ │
│ - One-time │ │
│ - Recurring │ │
│ - Pay-what-you-want│ │
└─────────┬───────────┘ │
│ │
▼ │
┌─────────────────────┐ │
│ CHECKOUT LINKS │◄──────────────────────────────┤
│ - Public URL │ │
│ - Customization │ │
│ - Analytics │ │
└─────────┬───────────┘ │
│ │
▼ ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ CHECKOUT SESSION │
│ (Customer completes payment) │
└─────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────┘
│ │
▼ ▼
┌─────────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────────┐
│ ORDERS │ │ SUBSCRIPTIONS │
│ (One-time purchase)│ │ (Recurring billing)│
│ - Order Line Items │ │ - Subscription Items│
│ - Fulfillment │ │ - Trial period │
└─────────┬───────────┘ └──────────┬──────────┘
│ │
└───────────────────┬───────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│ INVOICES │
│ - Invoice Line Items│
│ - Due date │
│ - Status lifecycle │
└─────────┬───────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│ PAYMENTS │
│ - Payment attempts │
│ - Refunds │
│ - Disputes │
└─────────────────────┘Core Objects
Product
A product represents something you sell—a physical item, digital download, or service. Products don't have prices directly; instead, you attach one or more Prices to a product.
Key Fields:
name- Display namedescription- Detailed descriptionfulfillment_type- physical | digital | none (service)is_active- Whether product is available for sale
Price
A price defines how much a product costs and how it's billed. A single product can have multiple prices (e.g., monthly and annual billing options).
Price Types:
- One-time - Single payment (e.g., $99)
- Recurring - Repeated billing (e.g., $29/month)
- Pay-what-you-want - Customer chooses amount
Checkout Link (Payment Link)
A checkout link is a shareable URL that customers can use to purchase your products. When a customer completes checkout, it creates either an Order (one-time) or Subscription (recurring).
Customer
A customer represents someone who has purchased from you or who you'll invoice. Customers can have multiple payment methods and addresses.
Invoice
An invoice is a request for payment. Invoices can be Manual (created by you for custom charges) or Automatic (generated by subscriptions).
Invoice Line Item Sources:
price- From a product priceorder_line_item- From an ordersubscription_item- From a subscriptionadjustment- Manual adjustment
Order
An order represents a one-time purchase. Orders track fulfillment status for physical and digital products.
Subscription
A subscription represents ongoing recurring billing. Subscriptions automatically generate invoices at each billing period.
Event
Events provide a complete audit trail of everything that happens in your account. Use events to track customer activity, payment history, and administrative actions.