Client Registration & WHMCS Flow

Before customers can purchase Web Hosting plans or provision cPanel accounts, they must be registered in StackConsole CMP and assigned an active rate card containing Web Hosting packages.

This guide details both Standard Self-Registration and WHMCS Trusted Registration, comparing their verification workflows and providing the formal API specification for integrating external billing platforms like WHMCS.

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1. Assigning Web Hosting Plans to Customers

CMP Admin Path: Admin → Clients → [Select Account] → Rate Cards

To make Web Hosting plans available to a specific client:

1. Navigate to Admin → Clients and open the customer profile.
2. Select the Rate Cards / Packages tab.
3. Assign the rate card containing your active Web Hosting plans, or apply a custom customer rate card.
4. Currency Check: Verify that the customer's account currency matches the currency configured in the Web Hosting rate card.
5. Billing Mode: Ensure the customer is configured with a valid payment mode (Prepaid or Postpaid with sufficient credit headroom) rather than "Pool-only" allocation.

Admin Hosting Inventory

Administrators can inspect all active Web Hosting services across all clients by navigating to the read-only reporting path:
/admin/clients/overview/web-hosting

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2. Registration Workflow Comparison

StackConsole CMP supports two distinct customer onboarding flows:

1. Normal Self-Registration: Standard gradual onboarding where the user registers directly in CMP and completes individual verification checkpoints.
2. WHMCS Trusted Registration: Provider-driven registration initiated by an external billing platform (WHMCS) via API. Because the customer identity is already validated in WHMCS, CMP completes onboarding and verification steps automatically.

Comparison Table

Registration Item	Normal CMP Registration	WHMCS API Registration
Initiated By	End customer via signup page	External WHMCS billing platform via API
Email Verification	Requires email OTP verification	Automatically marked verified (No OTP required)
Mobile Verification	Requires SMS OTP (when enforced)	Automatically marked verified (No OTP required)
Billing Address	Completed manually during onboarding	Populated automatically from WHMCS profile
Personal Address	Completed manually by customer	Populated automatically from WHMCS profile
Initial Account Status	Pending	Active
Final Account State	Progresses through onboarding steps	Onboarding Complete
Payment Mode	Configured based on tenant defaults	Assigned as Prepaid
Default Project	Created automatically	Created automatically
Rate Card	Default global customer rate card	Assigned via API payload or default
KYC Check	May be required prior to activation	Skipped / not part of activation path
Terms of Service	Explicit click-through modal	Handled automatically per tenant settings
System Link	None	whmcs_client_id reference stored in profile

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3. The WHMCS Registration Experience

When a customer registers or purchases through WHMCS:

1. Profile Transfer: WHMCS transfers customer demographic information (name, company, email, phone, country, currency, address) to CMP.
2. Auto-Verification: CMP marks both email and phone as verified. The customer does not need to complete OTP challenges.
3. Account Activation: The account is created with status: Active and state: Onboarding Complete under the Prepaid billing model.
4. Immediate Access: The customer can immediately log in to the portal and order Web Hosting at /app/web-hosting/create.

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4. WHMCS Registration API Reference

External billing systems use the following REST API endpoint to register and synchronize customer accounts with StackConsole CMP.

Endpoint

POST {{base_url}}/api/whmcs/users

Headers

Header	Value	Description
Content-Type	application/json	Request payload format
Accept	application/json	Expected response format
Authorization	Bearer {{billing_provider_settings.api_secret}}	Secret token configured in CMP for WHMCS integration

Request Payload Example

{
  "whmcs_client_id": "1184",
  "whmcs_user_id": "5678",
  "firstname": "John",
  "lastname": "Doe",
  "currency_code": "DZD",
  "country": "DZ",
  "status": "Active",
  "rate_card_slug": "premium-customer"
}

Payload Field Reference

Field	Type	Required	Description
whmcs_client_id	string / integer	Yes	Unique customer identifier in WHMCS. Stored in CMP for synchronization.
whmcs_user_id	string / integer	Yes	Specific WHMCS user account ID.
firstname	string	Yes	Customer first name.
lastname	string	Yes	Customer last name.
currency_code	string	Yes	3-letter ISO currency code (e.g., USD, EUR, DZD). Must match an active CMP currency.
country	string	Yes	2-letter ISO country code (e.g., DZ, US, FR).
status	string	Yes	Customer status in WHMCS (Active, Suspended).
rate_card_slug	string	Optional	Slug identifier of the CMP rate card to assign. If omitted, CMP assigns the default rate card.

Expected Success Response

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "User registered successfully from WHMCS",
  "data": {
    "user_id": "9a3e2b1c-4d5e-6f7a-8b9c-0d1e2f3a4b5c",
    "whmcs_client_id": "1184",
    "email": "john.doe@example.com",
    "status": "Active",
    "account_state": "Onboarding Complete",
    "payment_mode": "Prepaid",
    "rate_card": "premium-customer"
  }
}

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5. Security & Verification Notes

• API Secret Protection: The Bearer token (api_secret) grants administrative customer-creation privileges. Store it securely within WHMCS server configuration files and rotate it periodically.
• Idempotency: If a registration request is received with an existing whmcs_client_id, CMP updates the existing customer record rather than creating a duplicate profile.
• Audit Trail: Every customer created via WHMCS generates an audit log entry in CMP with source PROVIDER.WHMCS.REGISTER.

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Next Steps

Now that clients are onboarded and assigned rate cards, review:

• Customer Provisioning Workflow
• Hosting Account Management