Stripe Identity

# Fix list: Stripe Identity

From Anchor Terminal's listing at https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stripe-identity, the October 2026 research run, assessed 14 October 2026. Grade BB, 77.7 out of 100.

This is everything the published grade says the listing lacks, the biggest possible gain to the total first. It comes from the reason given for each score, the checklist each category was scored against (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist), the provenance checks, the deductions, what we couldn't check and what the review panel asked for. A fix counts at the next check, once it's public.

For a coding agent working on Stripe Identity: work through the items below in the product, its docs and its public pages. Each category gives the reason for its score, with the points each checklist item earned, and the checklist itself, so the gap is the items that earned less than their points. Change the product, not the wording, and keep a note of what you changed and where it's published.

## 1. Reliability, 62 out of 100, up to 7.6 more on the total

Why it scored 62: Read with the hosted lines and scored on the Identity endpoints of the Stripe API. status.stripe.com describes itself as real-time and historical data (20), but it renders only in JavaScript. Our reader got "Loading..." and /api/v2/incidents.json returned 404, so the last 90 days are unread and we couldn't tell whether Identity has its own component (5). Rate limits published, 100 requests a second in live mode and 25 in a sandbox, 25 a second per endpoint unless noted (15). Every 429 carries a `Stripe-Rate-Limited-Reason` header, the docs prescribe exponential backoff with jitter, and the Identity guide recommends an idempotency key when creating a VerificationSession (15). No SLA found (0). Identity is generally available for businesses in GB, JP and the US and in self-serve public beta in 30 other countries (7 of 10).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-reliability):

Hosted APIs, MCP servers, models and platforms.

- 20, a public status page with component history (Statuspage, Instatus, BetterStack or the vendor's own).
- 0 to 30, the incident record for the last 90 days on that page. 30 for a clean record or trivial incidents only, 20 for minor incidents only, 10 for one major outage (an hour or more of a core API down, or errors across the board), 0 for several. 5 when there's no history we could read, and the note says so.
- 15, rate limits documented with numbers.
- 15, documented 429 or overload handling (Retry-After, backoff guidance), and idempotency keys or safe-retry guidance where writes are involved.
- 10, an SLA published for any paid tier.
- 10, the surface agents use is generally available, not beta or preview.

Local packages, SDKs, frameworks and stdio MCP servers.

- 20, installs from an official package with supported runtimes stated.
- 25, a public CI and test suite, passing on the default branch.
- 0 to 25, open crash or regression issues relative to activity (25 for few and handled, 0 for many, old and unanswered).
- 15, semver discipline and breaking changes called out in a changelog.
- 15, version 1.0 or later, or declared stable.

Protocols are read from their reference implementations, the public facilitators or servers, spec stability and test vectors.

## 2. Payments & pricing, 40 out of 100, up to 7.5 more on the total

Why it scored 40: No x402, MPP or L402 on the Identity endpoints (0). The product page publishes £1.25 per document and selfie verification and 35p per ID number lookup, charged when a user completes verification. Our network was served the United Kingdom page and the US dollar prices weren't read (20). The first 50 verifications are free, and a Stripe account needs no card (20). A person signs up and activates Identity through an application in the Dashboard (0).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-payments):

The published rubric, also on the [x402 page](https://www.anchorterminal.com/x402/).

- 40, a machine payment protocol (x402, MPP or L402) on the tool's own endpoints. 10 to 30 when it covers only some endpoints or only goes through a third party, and the note says which.
- 20, per-call or per-unit pricing published without a login. 10 for public plan-only pricing, 0 for "contact sales" or prices behind a login.
- 20, a free tier or trial that doesn't need a card.
- 20, autonomous onboarding, meaning an agent can get access without a person signing up in a browser (keyless use, x402, a programmatic key API).

Payment platforms and agent wallets rarely charge for their own API over a machine protocol, so the first line has steps for them, and the highest one that applies counts. 40 when x402, MPP or L402 runs on all their own endpoints, 30 when it runs on part of their own API, 25 when their merchants can accept one, 20 for running a facilitator, 15 for paying as a buyer, and 0 when the only protocol is their own. Merchant acceptance sits above a facilitator because the platform's own customers can charge agents through it, while a facilitator settles for sellers who wire up the protocol themselves. The counter-argument (a facilitator does more for the protocol as a whole) has a point. Each note says which step applied.

Open-source software you run yourself is scored on its hosted or paid option if it has one. A free, self-hosted package with nothing to buy gets 20, 20 and 20 for the last three lines, and 0 to 40 for the first only if it ships a payment protocol.

## 3. Security & auth, 86 out of 100, up to 2.5 more on the total

Why it scored 86: Secret keys, restricted keys with chosen permissions and IP-restricted keys. Date of birth and ID number need a restricted key, which reads them only for 48 hours after a verification unless the key is IP-restricted (30). Least privilege through restricted keys and Dashboard roles. `redact` permanently removes personal data from the session, its reports, events and request logs, with no confirmation step (16 of 20). Responses carry text read from identity documents, with no injection guidance in the Identity docs (5 of 15). Dashboard request logs and Identity session history (15). security.txt valid until 31 December 2026 with a HackerOne bug bounty, and Stripe's SOC 2 Type II and PCI reports per its security page (20).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-security):

- 0 to 30, the credential model. 30 for OAuth 2.1 with scopes, or scoped and revocable keys with rotation. 20 for plain revocable API keys. 10 for one all-powerful key. 10 off when a secret can travel in a URL query string as a documented option.
- 0 to 20, read-only or least-privilege modes, and confirmation or approval for destructive actions.
- 0 to 15, prompt-injection posture where the tool returns untrusted content (documented mitigations or guidance). A tool that returns no untrusted content gets 10.
- 0 to 15, audit logs or per-call visibility for the operator.
- 0 to 20, a security programme. security.txt or a disclosure policy, a bug bounty, SOC 2 or ISO 27001, advisories handled in public.

Models are read for retention, whether API data trains models (and whether that's off by default), zero-retention options and certifications. Frameworks for telemetry defaults, approval hooks, guardrails and sandboxing.

## 4. Maintenance & community, 85 out of 100, up to 1.3 more on the total

Why it scored 85: Graded on the surface agents use, the Stripe API and its SDKs. API version 2026-09-30.endive and stripe-node 23.0.0 on 1 October 2026 (30). stripe-node 22.6.1, 22.6.2 and 23.0.0 since 1 September (20). The most recent Identity-specific changelog entry is 24 June 2026 (a validated value for redaction status), so the product itself changes less often than the platform. Public changelog and support (12 of 15). Official SDKs current (15). SDKs are regenerated from the spec with CI on pull requests (8 of 10).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-maintenance):

- 0 to 30, time since the last release, or the last published model or API change for a closed service. 30 within 30 days, 20 within 90, 10 within 180, 0 older.
- 20, at least three releases or dated changelog entries in the last 90 days.
- 0 to 25, responsiveness. Issues and pull requests answered on GitHub (the open issues and how recent the replies are). For closed services, a public changelog and a support or community channel that answers, 0 to 15.
- 15, presence in the official MCP registry under a verified namespace (MCP servers), or current official SDKs (APIs and models).
- 10, package health, current dependencies and CI.

Models are read for deprecation notice periods and model churn rather than release counts.

## 5. Transparency & trust, 85 out of 100, up to 1.3 more on the total

Made of editorial 72, provenance 98.

Why it scored 85: Closed service under published Stripe Identity Terms, last updated 2 October 2026, which limit use to compliance, fraud prevention and safety and forbid credit, housing, employment or insurance decisions. The OpenAPI spec is MIT (18 of 30). The privacy policy (updated 28 April 2026) says Stripe may use biometric data to improve verification only with the individual's consent. The Identity docs say Stripe keeps a copy of verification data after redaction until the user asks Stripe support to delete it, and give no retention period (20 of 30). Dated API versions with breaking changes labelled and an upgrade guide (16 of 20). The service provider list, updated 27 September 2026, names each provider and purpose (18 of 20).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-transparency):

- 0 to 30, source availability and licence clarity. 30 for open source under an OSI licence, 15 for closed with clear terms, 0 for unclear terms.
- 0 to 30, data handling and retention statements that agree with each other (privacy policy, DPA, retention periods, subprocessors).
- 0 to 20, a deprecation policy or notices with dates.
- 0 to 20, telemetry disclosed with an opt-out (local software), or subprocessors and data locations disclosed (hosted).

The other half of Transparency and trust is the provenance score, computed from checked facts (below). The category score is the mean of the two.

Provenance checks not met in full (half of this category, computed from checked facts):

- Privacy policy: read, states 8 of the 8 things a reader expects, and has 1 clause that costs points (8 of 10)

## 6. Agent ergonomics, 93 out of 100, up to 1.1 more on the total

Why it scored 93: Sensitive fields come back only when expanded (`verified_outputs`, `verified_outputs.dob`, `last_verification_report`), so the default response is small (20 of 25). List endpoints take `limit`, cursor pagination and filters by `client_reference_id`, `created`, `status` and related customer (20). Errors carry a type, code, message and parameter (20). Idempotency keys on every POST, with Stripe's `idempotency_error` on mismatched reuse (20). Official SDKs in seven or more languages. The verification itself must be completed by the end user in Stripe's hosted flow or a mobile SDK, so an agent can create and read sessions but can't finish one (13 of 15).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-ergonomics):

- 0 to 25, context cost. For MCP, the number and size of the tool definitions (25 for ten or fewer compact tools, 15 for 11 to 30, 5 for more than 30, plus up to 10 back for toolsets, dynamic loading or read-only subsets). For APIs, whether responses can be sized (field selection, limits, summaries).
- 20, pagination, filtering and output-size controls.
- 20, actionable, documented error responses, codes and messages an agent can recover from.
- 20, idempotency or safe retries, and for MCP the `readOnlyHint` and `destructiveHint` annotations.
- 15, sensible defaults, few required parameters, and official SDKs in at least two languages.

Models are read for tool use, structured output, prompt caching, context length, batch and SDKs. Frameworks for how much code and how many defaults a tool-calling agent with MCP needs.

## 7. Schema & documentation, 94 out of 100, up to 1 more on the total

Why it scored 94: Stripe's public OpenAPI 3 spec (stripe/openapi, MIT, version 2026-09-30.endive) covers the six Identity operations under /v1/identity (25). llms.txt and every docs page as Markdown (10). The Identity guides say when to use each check, which fields need a restricted key and what not to store in metadata. The reference descriptions are short (15 of 20). Typed parameters with enums for `type`, `status` and check options, no free-form blobs apart from `metadata` (14 of 15). Request examples in curl and every SDK, and documented error types (15). Dated API versions and a public changelog that labels each change breaking or non-breaking by product (15).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-schema):

APIs and MCP servers.

- 25, a machine-readable contract (a public OpenAPI file or similar; for MCP, typed JSON Schema inputs on every tool).
- 10, llms.txt or Markdown docs served for agents.
- 0 to 20, descriptions that say what a tool is for, when to use it and when not to, read from the tool definitions in the source or the API reference.
- 0 to 15, typed inputs with enums, constraints and required fields, and no free-form JSON blobs.
- 0 to 15, examples and documented error responses.
- 15, versioning and a public changelog.

Models are read from the API reference, the OpenAPI file, llms.txt, the structured-output and tool-use docs and the model cards. Frameworks from docs a model can follow, typed interfaces, examples and the API reference.

## What we couldn't check

What we couldn't read counted as absent. Publishing it on a page a plain HTTP fetch can read (not only in a browser) lets the next check count it.

- unchecked: status.stripe.com incident history for the last 90 days, and whether Identity has its own component. The page renders only in JavaScript and /api/v2/incidents.json returned 404
- unchecked: US dollar prices. stripe.com served the United Kingdom page (£1.25, 35p) to our network, including at /en-us/identity
- unchecked: the Billing for Stripe Identity support article, which needs JavaScript
- Phone, email and address checks are invite only and weren't graded
- Stripe's general MCP server (com.stripe/mcp) can reach these endpoints through its generic API tools. It is graded separately as stripe-mcp

## Weaknesses

- Document, selfie and US SSN checks only. No sanctions or watchlist screening and no business verification
- Generally available only for businesses in GB, JP and the US, and a public beta in 30 other countries
- Use for credit, housing, employment or insurance decisions, and resale of results, are forbidden by the terms
- status.stripe.com renders only in JavaScript, so the incident history couldn't be read
- Stripe keeps a copy of verification data after redaction until the end user asks Stripe support to delete it

## What costs an agent a turn today

The notes we give agents before they call it. Each one is a workaround an agent shouldn't need.

- Send an Idempotency-Key based on your user reference when creating a VerificationSession, so a retry doesn't make a second session
- Send the end user the session URL or client secret. The person completes the check, the agent can't. Links expire after 48 hours
- Use a restricted key for `verified_outputs.dob` and `id_number`. Without an IP restriction it reads them only for 48 hours
- Wait for `identity.verification_session.verified` or `requires_input` webhooks instead of polling
- Treat `redact` as irreversible, and don't put personal data in metadata

## When it's done

Send what changed and where it's published as a dispute (https://www.anchorterminal.com/builders/#disputes, or `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/contact` with `"kind": "dispute"`). Disputes are answered in public, and the listing is checked again by the same checklist. Paying for an audit or a listing claim changes nothing here.