Catch the Stripe trials that end this week before they lapse

SKILL.md---
name: stripe-trials-ending
description: "Mondays: every Stripe trial ending in the next 7 days, which ones have a card on file, and how many trials converted last month. Use when the user asks for this, or when it runs on a schedule."
---

# Stripe trials ending this week

Mondays: every Stripe trial ending in the next 7 days, which ones have a card on file, and how many trials converted last month.

A trial that ends without a payment method simply stops, and nobody notices until the conversion rate comes in low at month end. The list of trials ending this week is the most useful sales list a self-serve company has, and Stripe already holds it.

Each Monday the agent pulls that list, marks the trials that will cancel or pause because no card is on file, and sets last month's trial-to-paid rate beside it, so outreach starts with the accounts that would otherwise lapse.

## Two ways to get the data

Use the API or MCP route when you have an MCP server, a CLI or an API token for the app. Otherwise, if you can drive a browser the user is signed in to (Claude in Chrome, a Playwright or Chrome DevTools MCP server), use the browser route. Say which one you used.

## Route A: API or MCP server

### What you need

- A Stripe connection that can read Subscriptions, Customers and Invoices: the Stripe MCP server, or a restricted key in `STRIPE_API_KEY`.

If something is missing, say what and stop; do not invent numbers.

### Steps

1. **List trials ending soon** (Stripe): Page through `GET /v1/subscriptions?status=trialing` (or `stripe subscriptions list --status trialing`) and keep those with `trial_end` in the next 7 days. Note the plan, the customer's email and the day the trial ends.
2. **Check for a payment method** (Stripe): A trial is set to convert if the subscription has a `default_payment_method` or the customer has `invoice_settings.default_payment_method`. Without one, `trial_settings.end_behavior.missing_payment_method` decides what happens: `cancel`, `pause` or `create_invoice`.
3. **Compute last month's conversion** (Stripe): Take subscriptions whose `trial_end` fell in last month (list with `status=all`) and count those with a paid invoice after the trial, via `GET /v1/invoices?subscription={id}&status=paid`. Conversion is converted divided by trials ended.
4. **Write the report**: The number of trials ending this week and how many have a card, the list by end date with the no-card trials marked, and last month's conversion against the month before.

## Route B: the browser

### What you need

- Signed in to the Stripe Dashboard with the Analyst role or higher, live mode on.

If something is missing, say what and stop; do not invent numbers.

### Steps

Start at https://dashboard.stripe.com/subscriptions. The user is signed in already; never type passwords or codes, and ask if a sign-in page appears.

1. **List the trials ending within 7 days**: Open `https://dashboard.stripe.com/subscriptions` in live mode and filter **Status** to **Trialing**. Use **Edit columns** to show the trial end date if the list does not already, sort by it and keep the rows that end in the next 7 days. **Export** the list when it is longer than a page.
2. **Check each one for a payment method**: Open each subscription. The **Payment method** section shows a card or bank account, or says none is on file. For subscriptions without one, the trial settings on the subscription page, or the free trial defaults under **Settings** > **Billing** > **Subscriptions and emails**, say whether the subscription cancels, pauses or gets an invoice at trial end.
3. **Read last month's conversion**: Go to `https://dashboard.stripe.com/billing`, open the **Trials** page and set the date range to last month. Read **Trial conversion rate** and **New trials**, then shift the range to the month before for the comparison.
4. **Write the report**: Trials ending this week and how many have a card, the list sorted by end date with the no-card trials marked and what happens to them, last month's conversion against the month before, and the no-card trials ending soonest as the people to contact first.

Note: The Dashboard's Trial conversion rate is a trailing 30-day figure read at the end of the selected range and counts item-level trial offers per item, so it may differ a little from counting subscriptions whose trial ended in the calendar month.

## The report

- **Trials ending** in the next 7 days, and how many have a card on file.
- **Last month's trial conversion** and the month before.
- The list: customer, plan, trial end date, card or no card, and what happens at the end.
- Who to contact first: the no-card trials that end soonest.

## Post it to Briefkin

When `BRIEFKIN_TOKEN` is set, or `~/.config/briefkin/env` exists (the installer from https://briefkin.dev/docs writes it), also send the result to the user's Briefkin board as one card. Keep the `item_key` the same on every run so the card updates in place, use a new `event_id` per run, and put today's real numbers in place of the example ones. If the request fails, say so once and carry on.

```bash
[ -n "${BRIEFKIN_TOKEN:-}" ] || . ~/.config/briefkin/env
curl -sS -X POST "${BRIEFKIN_URL:-https://briefkin.dev}/v1/events" \
  -H "authorization: Bearer $BRIEFKIN_TOKEN" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d @- <<'JSON'
{
  "v": 1,
  "event_id": "stripe-trials-ending/<date of this run, e.g. 2026-10-16>",
  "item_key": "stripe-trials-ending",
  "project": "Acme",
  "source": "Stripe trials ending this week skill",
  "kind": "metric",
  "title": "18 trials end this week, 7 without a card",
  "metric": {
    "label": "Trials ending this week",
    "value": 18,
    "better": "higher",
    "period_start": "<start of the period, ISO 8601>",
    "period_end": "<end of the period, ISO 8601>"
  },
  "glance": [
    {
      "type": "Grid",
      "props": {
        "columns": 3
      },
      "children": [
        {
          "type": "Stat",
          "props": {
            "label": "With a card",
            "value": 11
          }
        },
        {
          "type": "Stat",
          "props": {
            "label": "Without a card",
            "value": 7,
            "tone": "warn"
          }
        },
        {
          "type": "Stat",
          "props": {
            "label": "Converted last month",
            "value": 42,
            "unit": "%",
            "delta": 11
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "widget": [
    {
      "type": "Table",
      "props": {
        "columns": [
          "Customer",
          "Plan",
          "Trial ends",
          "Card"
        ],
        "rows": [
          [
            "Fernwood Labs",
            "Team",
            "Oct 17",
            "No"
          ],
          [
            "Northgate Clinic",
            "Starter",
            "Oct 17",
            "Yes"
          ],
          [
            "Quill & Co",
            "Team",
            "Oct 18",
            "No"
          ],
          [
            "Rivera Studio",
            "Starter",
            "Oct 19",
            "Yes"
          ],
          [
            "Bright Path Tutors",
            "Starter",
            "Oct 20",
            "No"
          ],
          [
            "Atlas Freight",
            "Business",
            "Oct 20",
            "Yes"
          ],
          [
            "Moss Analytics",
            "Team",
            "Oct 21",
            "No"
          ]
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "Text",
      "props": {
        "text": "Showing 7 of 18. The other 3 trials without a card end Oct 22 and 23.",
        "variant": "muted"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "Callout",
      "props": {
        "text": "Trials without a card cancel at trial end (missing_payment_method: cancel). Start with Fernwood Labs and Quill & Co.",
        "tone": "warn"
      }
    }
  ],
  "size": "md"
}
JSON
```

Widgets come from the Briefkin catalog (https://briefkin.dev/v1/catalog). Without a token, just give the user the report.

Set `period_start` and `period_end` to the window the number covers: the tile names it from them ("Last 7 days", "Today", "This month"). For a count right now (open items, a balance), send `"period_label": ""` so no period shows; for another name, send it as `period_label` (at most 24 characters).

## Run it on a schedule

Suggested: Mondays at 9:30 (`30 9 * * 1`). From cron, with the agent signed in on that machine:

```bash
30 9 * * 1 claude -p "Run the stripe-trials-ending skill"
# Codex: codex exec, Gemini CLI: gemini -p, Copilot CLI: copilot -p, OpenCode: opencode run
```

Or use the agent's own scheduler (Claude Code routines, Codex automations, Claude or ChatGPT scheduled tasks): https://briefkin.dev/skills/stripe-trials-ending#schedule

Source: https://briefkin.dev/skills/stripe-trials-ending