> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.payglue.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Patreon

> Connect Patreon as a payment provider in PayGlue.

Patreon is a fully supported payment provider in PayGlue. When a patron joins, changes, or cancels their pledge, PayGlue automatically creates, updates, or revokes the matching Ghost member.

<Note>
  Patreon has no direct checkout link — patrons always join through your campaign page, not a PayGlue-generated URL. See [Buy Button](#buy-button) below for how this affects that feature.
</Note>

## Prerequisites

* A Patreon Creator account with an active campaign at [patreon.com/portal](https://www.patreon.com/portal/registration/register-clients)
* A Ghost blog connected in PayGlue ([Connect Ghost](/ghost/connect))

## Steps

<Steps>
  <Step title="Register a client on Patreon">
    In the [Patreon developer portal](https://www.patreon.com/portal/registration/register-clients), register a client for your campaign and generate a **Creator's Access Token**.

    > \[Screenshot — Patreon developer portal: register client page]
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter the Creator's Access Token in PayGlue">
    In your PayGlue dashboard, go to **Providers** and click **Connect Patreon**. Paste the Creator's Access Token into the **Access Token** field.

    > \[Screenshot — PayGlue dashboard: Patreon connection page with Access Token field]

    <Note>
      This token is also used to fetch your campaign's tiers, so they appear as a dropdown when you create a mapping — no manual tier entry required.
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Register a webhook on Patreon">
    Still in the developer portal, register a webhook pointing at the **Webhook URL** shown on the PayGlue Patreon connection page, and enable these triggers:

    * `members:pledge:create`
    * `members:pledge:update`
    * `members:pledge:delete`

    > \[Screenshot — Patreon developer portal: webhook trigger selection]
  </Step>

  <Step title="Copy the Webhook Secret into PayGlue">
    Patreon shows a **Webhook Secret** for the webhook you just created. Copy it into the **Webhook Secret** field on the PayGlue Patreon connection page, then click **Save credentials**.

    > \[Screenshot — PayGlue dashboard: Patreon connection page with Webhook Secret field]
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run a health check">
    Click **Run health check** to confirm the webhook secret is saved. Patreon has no API endpoint PayGlue can ping to confirm delivery — trigger a real pledge or a test webhook from Patreon's dashboard to confirm end-to-end delivery.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create a mapping">
    Open **Mappings** and select a Patreon tier from the dropdown (fetched automatically from your campaign). Choose which Ghost newsletter to subscribe the patron to and which welcome email to send, then save.

    From this point on, every pledge join, tier change, or cancellation triggers automatic Ghost access changes.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Test your setup">
    Send a test webhook from Patreon's developer portal, or have a real patron join. Then open **Analytics → Webhook Events** in your PayGlue dashboard — the event should appear with status **Processed** and the patron's email should appear as a new member in Ghost Admin.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Buy Button

Because Patreon has no checkout link to generate, the **Buy Button** editor does not offer "Link to a product" for Patreon. Instead, turn that option off and paste your campaign's join URL directly. Ghost access is still granted automatically through the tier-mapping webhook flow above — the button just links to your Patreon page instead of a PayGlue-hosted checkout.

## Supported events

Patreon sends the event type in the `X-Patreon-Event` header rather than the payload body:

| Patreon event                                                                          | PayGlue action                                |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| `members:pledge:create`, `members:create`                                              | Grant access for the patron's current tier(s) |
| `members:pledge:update`, `members:update` (patron status: active)                      | Grant access for the patron's current tier(s) |
| `members:pledge:update`, `members:update` (patron status: former/declined, or unknown) | Revoke all Patreon access for this member     |
| `members:pledge:delete`, `members:delete`                                              | Revoke all Patreon access for this member     |

<Note>
  On cancellation, Patreon's payload doesn't reliably include which tier the patron was on, so PayGlue revokes every active Patreon-sourced mapping for that member rather than guessing a single tier. If a patron holds several Patreon-mapped tiers, all of them are removed together.
</Note>

## Troubleshooting

**Connection stays "Not connected" after saving**

A Patreon connection needs both the Creator's Access Token and the Webhook Secret. If tiers don't appear in the mapping dropdown, the Access Token is likely missing the `campaigns.members[email]` scope — regenerate it from the developer portal with that scope enabled.

**Health check passes but no events arrive**

The health check only confirms the webhook secret is saved, not that Patreon is delivering webhooks. Send a test webhook from the Patreon developer portal, then check **Analytics → Webhook Events** in PayGlue.

**Ghost member is not created after a pledge**

Open the event in **Analytics → Webhook Events** and check the error message. A missing email in the payload usually means the Access Token lacks the member-email scope — see above.

**Buy Button shows a note instead of a checkout link**

This is expected — Patreon has no direct checkout URL. Turn off "Link to a product" and paste your campaign's join page URL instead.

***

## Webhook signature verification

Patreon signs each webhook with an HMAC-MD5 digest of the raw request body, keyed with your Webhook Secret, sent in the `X-Patreon-Signature` header. PayGlue recomputes this digest and rejects the request if it doesn't match. Keep your Webhook Secret private — anyone who has it can send PayGlue fake Patreon events for your tenant.