Using Chargebee actions in action flows

Before you can include external actions in your action flows, you must connect the action builder to the external system.


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Summary: ◀▼
You can connect action flows to Chargebee to automate customer and subscription management tasks like creating, updating, and looking up customers and subscriptions. Actions also include pausing, resuming, canceling subscriptions, retrieving invoices, and creating credit notes. Use a dedicated service account for connections and manage API keys securely to maintain control and security in your automated workflows.


By connecting the action builder to external systems, such as Chargebee,
admins can integrate Zendesk with external systems in automated workflows, improving
collaboration and maintaining a seamless experience across multiple platforms.
Note: The steps associated with external systems in action flows are
referred to collectively as external actions.

This article contains the following topics:
Connecting Chargebee to action builder
Using Chargebee actions in action flows




Connecting Chargebee to action builder

Before you can include external actions in your action flows, you must connect the
action builder to the external system.
When connecting to external systems for use in action flows, the following best practices are recommended:
All external actions performed by an action flow are attributed to the user who connected the
external system. Therefore, it's a best practice to use a dedicated service
account rather than personal credentials when connecting to each external
system.
All integrations request access to necessary scopes. However, it's important that you review and validate the scopes before authorizing the connection to the external system.
When managing credentials for API key-based tools, such as OpenAI, it's best to store keys in a secure vault or credential manager.



To connect action builder to Chargebee
In Admin Center, click
Apps and integrations in the sidebar, then select Actions > Action
flows.

Create or edit an action flow.
Open the step sidebar.
Under External actions, click Chargebee.
Click Connect.
Follow the Chargebee prompts to authenticate and complete the connection.
The Chargebee connection requires an API key for authentication.
You'll need to provide:

Chargebee Site Name: Your Chargebee subdomain (for example, "acme"
for acme.chargebee.com)
API key: Found in your Chargebee dashboard under Settings >
Configure Chargebee > API Keys.


Note: All external actions performed by an action
flow are attributed to the user who connected the external system.
Therefore, it is a best practice to use a dedicated service account
rather than personal credentials when connecting to each external
system.



After you've connected to the system, you'll see an indicator that it's connected and
details about the instance you're connected to, as well as the actions available for
Chargebee.



Using Chargebee actions in action flows

The following Chargebee actions are available:
Create customer
Update customer
Lookup customer
Create
subscription
Update
subscription
Lookup
subscription
Pause subscription
Resume
subscription
Cancel
subscription
Retrieve invoice
Create credit note




Creating a customer

Use the Create customer action to create a new customer record in
Chargebee.
This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs
Required: Email Optional:
First name, Last
name, Company,
Phone



Output
Customer details including id, email, first_name,
last_name, created_at, and object type.








Updating a customer

Use the Update customer action to update an existing customer's
information.
This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs
Required: Customer ID Optional:
Email, First name,
Last name,
Company,
Phone
Only the Customer ID is
required. Provide only the fields you want to update.
Existing values for fields you don't specify will remain
unchanged.



Output
Customer details including id, email, first_name,
last_name, and updated_at timestamp.








Looking up a customer

Use the Lookup customer action to find a customer by customer ID or email
address.
This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs
Optional: Email, Customer
ID Provide either Email or Customer ID to
look up a customer. If both are provided, Customer ID
takes precedence. At least one field is
required.



Output
Customer details including id, email, first_name,
last_name, company, phone, created_at, updated_at,
auto_collection, taxability, locale, deleted status,
vat_number, net_term_days, and allow_direct_debit.








Creating a subscription

Use the Create subscription action to create a new recurring subscription
for a customer.
This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs
Required: Customer ID,
Plan The Plan field allows you to
select from your available Chargebee pricing
plans.
Optional: Plan quantity,
Trial end date, Start
date
Plan quantity defaults to 1 if
not specified. Trial end date and Start date should be
in YYYY-MM-DD format.



Output
Subscription details including id, customer_id, plan_id,
status, current_term_start, current_term_end, created_at,
activated_at, started_at, next_billing_at, trial_start,
trial_end, billing_period, billing_period_unit,
currency_code, auto_collection, and mrr (monthly recurring
revenue).








Updating a subscription

Use the Update subscription action to change a subscription's plan or
quantity.
This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs
Required: Subscription ID,
Plan Optional: Plan
quantity, Proration,
End of term
Proration
determines whether a prorated invoice is generated
immediately for the price difference. End of term
determines whether the change takes effect immediately
or at the end of the current billing period. Both
default to false (immediate change with no
proration).



Output
Subscription details including id, customer_id, plan_id,
status, and updated_at timestamp.








Looking up a subscription

Use the Lookup subscription action to find a subscription by subscription
ID or customer ID.
This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs
Optional: Customer ID,
Subscription ID Provide either
Customer ID or Subscription ID to look up a
subscription. If both are provided, Subscription ID
takes precedence. At least one field is
required.



Output
Subscription details including id, customer_id, plan_id,
status, current_term_start, current_term_end, created_at,
activated_at, started_at, updated_at, next_billing_at,
trial_start, trial_end, cancelled_at, cancel_reason,
billing_period, billing_period_unit, currency_code,
auto_collection, mrr, due_invoices_count, and total_dues.








Pausing a subscription

Use the Pause subscription action to temporarily pause a subscription.
This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs
Required: Subscription ID Optional:
Pause option, Resume
date
Pause option determines whether
to pause immediately or at the end of the current
billing term. Resume date should be in YYYY-MM-DD format
and specifies when the subscription should automatically
resume.



Output
Subscription details including id, status, pause_date,
and resume_date timestamps.








Resuming a subscription

Use the Resume subscription action to resume a paused subscription.
This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs
Required: Subscription ID Optional:
Resume option, Resume
date
Resume option determines whether
to resume immediately or on a specific date. If Resume
option is "Specific date", you must provide a Resume
date in YYYY-MM-DD format.



Output
Subscription details including id, status, and
resume_date timestamp.








Canceling a subscription

Use the Cancel subscription action to cancel a subscription.
This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs
Required: Subscription ID Optional:
Cancel at end of term,
Cancellation reason,
Comment
Cancel at end of term
determines whether to cancel immediately or at the end
of the billing term (defaults to true). Cancellation
reason includes options such as Not paid, No card,
Fraud, Free account, and Other. Use Comment to provide
additional context about the cancellation.



Output
Subscription details including id, status, cancelled_at,
and scheduled_cancellation_date timestamps.








Retrieving an invoice

Use the Retrieve invoice action to get detailed information about a
specific invoice.
This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs

Required: Invoice ID
The Invoice ID field dynamically populates with available
invoices from your Chargebee account.



Output
Invoice details including id, customer_id,
subscription_id, status, total, amount_paid, amount_due,
currency_code, date, due_date, and pdf_url. The pdf_url
provides a direct link to download the invoice
PDF.









Creating a credit note

Use the Create credit note action to issue a refund or adjustment credit
note against an invoice.
This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs
Required: Invoice ID,
Type, Total (in
cents), Reason code Optional:
Comment
Type can be
Refundable (for refunds) or Adjustment (for account
adjustments). Total is in cents (e.g., 1000 = $10.00).
For refundable credit notes, total must not exceed the
refundable amount on the invoice. For adjustment credit
notes, total must not exceed the amount due. Reason code
must match a reason code configured in your Chargebee
account.



Output
Credit note details including id, customer_id,
reference_invoice_id, type, status, total, currency_code,
date, and reason_code.








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