Manual License Key Fulfillment Integration Guide

• A product with a License Key entitlement set to manual fulfillment.
• A webhook listener that detects when a customer is waiting for a key.
• A fulfillment call that delivers the key and notifies the customer automatically.

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How It Works

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Prerequisites

• A Dodo Payments merchant account.
• Your API key (DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY) and webhook secret key from the dashboard. See the API key generation guide.
• A backend endpoint that can receive webhooks.

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Step 1 — Create a License Key Entitlement in Manual Mode

• Dashboard
• API

1

Open Entitlements

Go to Entitlements in your dashboard and click + to create a new entitlement.

2

Choose License Key

Select License Key as the integration and give it a Name. The form exposes these fields:

• Fulfillment Mode — Automatic by default. This is the setting that enables manual fulfillment; you change it in the next step.
• License Length — how long each issued key stays valid, or No expiration.
• Activations Limit — maximum activations per key, or Unlimited.
• Activation Message — optional customer-facing message shown when they activate the key.

3

Set Fulfillment Mode to Manual

Open the Fulfillment Mode dropdown and change it from Automatic to Manual. This is the setting that drives this entire guide — without it, keys are generated and emailed automatically and no pending grant is created. With Manual selected, each purchase creates a pending grant for you to fulfill. Click Create Entitlement to save.

Create the entitlement with integration_config.fulfillment_mode set to manual.

Node.js

Python

cURL

import DodoPayments from 'dodopayments';

const client = new DodoPayments({
  bearerToken: process.env.DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY,
  environment: 'test_mode', // defaults to 'live_mode'
});

const entitlement = await client.entitlements.create({
  name: 'Pro License (Manual)',
  integration_type: 'license_key',
  integration_config: {
    fulfillment_mode: 'manual',
    activations_limit: 5,
    duration_count: 1,
    duration_interval: 'Year',
  },
});

console.log(entitlement.id); // ent_...

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Step 2 — Attach the Entitlement to a Product

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Step 3 — Detect Pending Grants

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Listen for the webhook

import { Webhook } from 'standardwebhooks';

const webhook = new Webhook(process.env.DODO_WEBHOOK_KEY!);

export async function POST(request: Request) {
  const rawBody = await request.text();
  const headers = {
    'webhook-id': request.headers.get('webhook-id') || '',
    'webhook-signature': request.headers.get('webhook-signature') || '',
    'webhook-timestamp': request.headers.get('webhook-timestamp') || '',
  };

  await webhook.verify(rawBody, headers);
  const event = JSON.parse(rawBody);

  // A customer bought a manual-mode license key and is waiting for it.
  if (
    event.type === 'entitlement_grant.created' &&
    event.data.integration_type === 'license_key' &&
    event.data.status === 'pending'
  ) {
    await queueLicenseKeyFulfillment({
      grantId: event.data.id,
      customerId: event.data.customer_id,
    });
  }

  return new Response('ok');
}

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Or poll the List Grants API

const pending = await client.entitlements.grants.list('ent_license_key_id', {
  integration_type: 'license_key',
  status: 'pending',
});

for (const grant of pending.items) {
  console.log(`Grant ${grant.id} for customer ${grant.customer_id} needs a key`);
}

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Step 4 — Deliver the Key

async function fulfill(grantId: string, key: string) {
  const res = await fetch(
    `https://test.dodopayments.com/grants/${grantId}/license-key`,
    {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: {
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY}`,
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        key,
        // Optional — fall back to the entitlement config when omitted
        activations_limit: 5,
        expires_at: '2027-05-01T00:00:00Z',
      }),
    },
  );

  if (!res.ok) {
    // See the status code table below for handling
    throw new Error(`Fulfillment failed: ${res.status}`);
  }

  return res.json(); // updated grant, now status: "delivered"
}

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Request fields

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Step 5 — Handle Errors and Retries

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Verify the Flow

1. Buy the product in test mode (see the checkout guides).
2. Confirm your webhook received entitlement_grant.created with status: "pending" and integration_type: "license_key", or that the grant appears in the List Grants response with those filters.
3. Call the fulfill endpoint with a test key.
4. Confirm the response shows status: "delivered" with a populated license_key, the customer receives the key email, and entitlement_grant.delivered fires.

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Related API Reference