# Read the raw rail ledger

Crossdeck stores a mirror of every subscription. But how do you know the mirror is right? The Rail Ledger goes to the source — it queries Apple's and Stripe's own APIs live and shows their answer next to what Crossdeck holds.

Source: https://cross-deck.com/university/rail-ledger/
Verified Crossdeck University lesson — prose plus real, runnable code.

## Don't trust the mirror — check it against the source

Everywhere else in the dashboard, you're reading Crossdeck's stored record of a subscription — fast, but one step removed from the rail. The honest question for any system that mirrors money is: does the mirror actually match the source of truth? The Rail Ledger exists to answer exactly that, on demand. It doesn't read Crossdeck's copy — it calls the rail's own authoritative API, live, and puts the answer right next to what Crossdeck stored.

## Two columns: what the rail says, what Crossdeck stored

Open Developers → Workbench → Rail Ledger and filter by transaction, customer, or status. Each row queries the rail directly — Apple's or Stripe's API — and renders two columns side by side: the rail's live answer, and Crossdeck's stored record. If they agree, you've just proven your books match the bank. If they ever diverge, you see exactly where, in the same view.

## Read-only, without exception — fact, never a verdict

Two design rules make the Rail Ledger safe to reach for any time:

The Rail Ledger covers both active rails today — Apple and Stripe — and it's an operator surface under Developers, not something your customers ever see.

## Verifiable money, not a black box

Most platforms ask you to trust that their numbers match the payment processor. Crossdeck hands you the tool to check — straight from Apple's or Stripe's own API, beside its stored record, on any transaction you like. That's the difference between a dashboard you hope is right and one you can prove is.

rail · stored — match
 A Stripe subscription queried live: the rail's answer and Crossdeck's record, two columns, identical. Proven, not assumed.