Patreon members

Give your Patreon members access to an invite-only script by tier, with an API client and a webhook of your own.

If you run a Patreon page, your members can get your invite-only script automatically, by tier. They get access while Patreon counts them as entitled to the tier and lose it when Patreon stops. You use your own API client and webhook: ChartDeck runs no Patreon app, and it takes no cut of your pledges.

#What you need

• A Patreon creator page (a campaign) with at least one tier.
• Access to the Patreon developer portal with your creator account.

#Set it up

1. Open the Patreon developer portal at https://www.patreon.com/portal/registration/register-clients and choose Create Client. Fill in:
   • App Name: for example ChartDeck access.
   • Description: for example Gives my members access to my ChartDeck scripts.
   • App Category: any that fits, such as Other.
   • Redirect URIs: https://chartdeck.trade/ (ChartDeck does not sign anyone in through this client, but the form needs one).
   • Client API Version: 2.
2. Open the client and copy four values: Client ID, Client Secret, Creator's Access Token and Creator's Refresh Token.
3. In ChartDeck, open Account → Selling & access → Integrations, choose Patreon, and paste the four values. ChartDeck checks them with one read of your campaign. If your account has more than one campaign, it asks which one. The connection shows as Waiting for the webhook, with a webhook URL of its own.
4. Open https://www.patreon.com/portal/registration/register-webhooks, add a webhook with the URL from ChartDeck, and turn on these triggers:
   • members:create, members:update, members:delete
   • members:pledge:create, members:pledge:update, members:pledge:delete
5. Patreon shows the webhook's secret. In ChartDeck, press Update credentials on the connection and paste it. You only need to paste the secret: the client and tokens you saved stay. The connection turns Active.
6. Map one or more tiers to one or more invite-only scripts. Choose how long access lasts:
   • While a member (the usual choice): access lasts while Patreon counts them as entitled to the tier, plus any grace days you set after that ends.
   • Fixed term: each time someone becomes entitled to the tier they get 1 month, 3 months, 1 year or lifetime, and losing the tier changes nothing.

ChartDeck keeps every value encrypted and only ever shows their last 4 characters. To change them, use Update credentials. The webhook URL stays the same.

#Token renewal

The creator's access token expires after about a month. When Patreon refuses it, ChartDeck uses the refresh token to get a new pair, stores it encrypted, and carries on. You do not have to do anything. If the refresh token stops working too (for example after you reset the client), the connection shows an error: paste a fresh Creator's Access Token and Refresh Token from the portal under Update credentials.

#Which members count

ChartDeck follows Patreon's own answer: the tiers a member is currently entitled to.

A free tier counts like any other tier if you map it.

#How members get access

Patreon does not tell ChartDeck who your members are on ChartDeck. A member is matched in one of two ways:

• They already claimed access from you. A claim counts for your connection only: later pledges of the same Patreon account on your connection are matched straight away. (A claim made with another seller does not count for you, and yours does not count for them.)
• A claim email. When a member is entitled to a mapped tier and has not claimed access from you yet, ChartDeck emails the address Patreon has for them. The email holds a one-time claim code, valid for 30 days. They sign in to ChartDeck (or create a free account), open the link or enter the code under Account → Connections, see what they are claiming, and their access starts after they press Claim. Nothing else is linked to their ChartDeck account. Claim emails go out only once your connection has received at least one correctly signed webhook from Patreon, only after ChartDeck has checked the membership with Patreon using your key (the email goes to the address Patreon holds), and only when your ChartDeck account is at least a week old, has a published script, and is on a paid plan or already has a few confirmed members. ChartDeck limits how many it sends a day, with a smaller number for new sellers.

ChartDeck never checks whether an email address has a ChartDeck account. You do not learn whether a member has one until they claim their access.

#What updates access

• The webhook: access changes within seconds of a pledge or member change. Each delivery is signed by Patreon and checked by ChartDeck. A wrong signature is refused, and a repeated delivery is applied once.
• A re-check every 15 minutes: ChartDeck reads your member list (1,000 per request) and fixes anything a missed webhook left behind, including a canceled pledge whose paid period has ended. Sync on the connection runs it straight away.
• Disconnecting the integration ends all the access it gave. Access you gave in other ways (grants, invites, purchases) is never touched.

#Privacy

ChartDeck stores the member's Patreon user id with their access on your connection, and nothing else from Patreon. An email address from Patreon is used once to send the claim email and is not stored (only a keyed fingerprint of it, so the email is not sent twice). You see how many members have access through the connection and its event log. You do not see their ChartDeck email address.