Stripe webhooks on Django: read request.body raw and exempt the view from CSRF
# Stripe webhooks on Django
Two Django defaults break Stripe webhooks: CSRF middleware rejects the POST (Stripe sends no CSRF token), and reading `request.POST` gives parsed data. Use `request.body` (raw bytes) and exempt the view. Verification needs no API key, only the signing value.
## The setup
```
import stripe
from django.http import HttpResponse
from django.views.decorators.csrf import csrf_exempt
from django.views.decorators.http import require_POST
@csrf_exempt
@require_POST
def stripe_webhook(request):
sig = request.headers.get('Stripe-Signature')
try:
event = stripe.Webhook.construct_event(
request.body, sig, STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SIGNING_VALUE
)
except (ValueError, stripe.error.SignatureVerificationError):
return HttpResponse('bad signature', status=400)
# switch on event['type'] ...
return HttpResponse(status=200)
```
Set `STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SIGNING_VALUE` from your environment at startup. Never hardcode it.
```
from django.urls import path
from .views import stripe_webhook
urlpatterns = [
path('webhooks/stripe/', stripe_webhook),
]
```
## Notes
- `request.body` is bytes; stripe-python's construct_event accepts bytes directly.
- Never read `request.POST` before verification; parsing first is the classic failure.
- With Django REST Framework, apply the same pattern and skip the parsers for this route.Find related guidance
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