Charges API

The Charges API allows you to deduct money from your merchant balance for internal adjustments, service fees, and platform fees. Unlike payouts or transfers, charges do not send money externally.

The Charge Object

{
  "id": "ch_abc123def456",
  "object": "charge",
  "amount": 10,
  "currency": "GHS",
  "description": "Monthly platform fee",
  "reference": "fee_jan_2024",
  "type": "platform_fee",
  "status": "succeeded",
  "balance_after": 490,
  "metadata": {},
  "livemode": true,
  "created": "2024-01-15T10:00:00Z"
}

Attributes

Attribute	Type	Description
`id`	string	Unique identifier
`object`	string	Always `"charge"`
`amount`	number	Amount in GHS
`currency`	string	Currency code (`GHS`)
`description`	string	Charge description
`reference`	string	Your custom reference
`type`	string	`service_fee`, `platform_fee`, `adjustment`, `other`
`status`	string	Always `succeeded` (charges are instant)
`balance_after`	number	Merchant balance after charge in GHS
`metadata`	object	Custom metadata
`livemode`	boolean	Whether this is a live mode charge
`created`	string	Creation timestamp

Create a Charge

POST /v1/charges

Request Body

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`amount`	number	Yes	Amount in GHS (must be positive)
`currency`	string	No	Currency (default: `GHS`)
`description`	string	Yes	Charge description (max 500 chars)
`reference`	string	No	Your reference (max 100 chars)
`type`	string	No	`service_fee` (default), `platform_fee`, `adjustment`, `other`
`metadata`	object	No	Custom metadata

Use the X-Idempotency-Key header to prevent duplicate charges.

curl -X POST https://api.shikacreators.com/v1/charges \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_test_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "amount": 10,
    "description": "Monthly platform fee",
    "type": "platform_fee",
    "reference": "fee_jan_2024"
  }'

const charge = await shikacreators.charges.create({
  amount: 10,
  description: 'Monthly platform fee',
  type: 'platform_fee',
  reference: 'fee_jan_2024'
})

charge = client.charges.create(
    amount=10,
    description='Monthly platform fee',
    type='platform_fee',
    reference='fee_jan_2024'
)

Retrieve a Charge

GET /v1/charges/:id

List Charges

GET /v1/charges

Query Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`limit`	integer	Number of results (1-100, default 10)
`starting_after`	string	Cursor for pagination

Charges

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