Customers API

Customers API Overview

The Square Customer Directory is a customer relationship management (CRM) tool that enables Square sellers to store customer information, analyze customer interactions and activity, and more. Customers are represented by customer profiles that contain contact and personal information (such as name, email address, phone number, and birthday) and supplemental information (such as the groups or segments the customer belongs to). Customer profiles are created using Square APIs and Square products and experiences, such as the Seller Dashboard and Square Point of Sale.

Supported operations
Customer components
Sorting and searching customer profiles
Retrieving a customer profile by ID
Instant profiles
Custom attributes
Customer profile versions and optimistic concurrency support
Customer profiles and cards on file
Customer profiles and cash transactions
Requirements and limitations
Migration notes
Related topics

You can use the Customers API to create and manage customer profiles individually for Square sellers, including membership in customer groups. The Customers API can also be used in combination with other Square APIs, Square products, and third-party tools to provide robust experiences for sellers and their customers. The lean and flexible interface makes it easy to integrate custom functionality into eCommerce and other experiences, typically across channels such as analytics, marketing, loyalty, and personalization.

The following are examples of some of the activities you can perform using the Customers API:

Keep customer records for a Square seller account.
Synchronize customer data with the Customer Directory by using webhooks and polling for changes.
Search for customers using supported query filters.
Integrate customer data with other Square services to facilitate the customer purchasing experience.

Applications typically collect customer information from their frontend client and call the Customers API from their backend server (for example, see Basic process flow). The developer must create the UI that collects customer information. Square does not provide a prebuilt form for this purpose.

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Supported operations

You can use Customer API endpoints to perform the following operations:

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Manage customer profiles

CreateCustomer. Create a customer profile in a seller account.
UpdateCustomer. Update a customer profile.
DeleteCustomer. Delete a customer profile from a seller account.

For more information, see Manage Customer Profiles.

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Retrieve customer profiles

RetrieveCustomer. Retrieve a customer using the customer ID.
ListCustomers. List the customer profiles in a seller account.

For more information, see Retrieve Customer Profiles.

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Search for customer profiles

SearchCustomers. Search for customer profiles in a seller account using one or more query filters.

For more information, see Search for Customer Profiles.

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Manage group membership

AddGroupToCustomer. Assign a group membership to a customer profile.
RemoveGroupFromCustomer. Remove a group membership from a customer profile.

For more information, see Manage customer group membership.

If you save customer contact information, you must obtain explicit permission from the customer. This means you should enable an option for the customer to agree explicitly to have their contact information stored on file. Storing customer contact information without explicit consent and any other form of abuse of customer information might result in your application being disabled without notice.

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Customer components

The Customers API works with the following primary data types:

Customer. Represents a single customer profile and contains contact and other personal information such as name, address, email, and phone number.
Address. A collection of strings representing a physical address.
CustomerGroup. Represents a group of customer profiles created explicitly.
CustomerSegment. Represents a group of customer profiles matching one or more predefined filter criteria.
CustomerPreferences. Represents a customer's preference for receiving marketing emails and contains a single field that can have a true or false value.

A Customer object requires at least one of the following attributes:

A first or last name.
The name of the company where the customer works.
An email address, which must have the @ symbol and a valid domain.
A phone number, which must meet validation criteria.

Customer objects might also contain other attributes, such as:

An address.
A note about the customer that the Customers API has read and write access to its text value. This is not the same as the rich Notes feature in the Seller Dashboard, which does not provide any API access.
A reference ID to associate the customer with an entity in another system.
A list of customer groups and a list of customer segments to which the customer belongs.

Customer objects can be associated with a collection of custom attributes that store properties and metadata that are not natively available on the object. For more information, see Custom attributes.

The CreateCustomer endpoint permits creating duplicate customer profiles. Before creating a new customer profile, you should call the SearchCustomers endpoint to search by phone number, email address, or reference ID to determine whether a profile for the customer already exists.

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Sorting and searching customer profiles

The Customers API provides two ways to return a list of customers:

ListCustomers returns an unfiltered list of customer profiles in sorted order.
SearchCustomers returns a filtered list of customer profiles in sorted order.

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Sorting

By default, customer profiles are sorted alphanumerically by concatenating the given_name and family_name fields. If neither field is set, the following fields are compared in the following order:

company_name
email_address
phone_number

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Searching

The SearchCustomers endpoint allows you to search for customer profiles using the following filters:

phone_number
email_address
creation_source
created_at
updated_at
reference_id
group_ids
segment_ids
custom_attribute

A search query can contain multiple query filters in any combination, which are combined as AND statements. For more information, see Search for Customer Profiles.

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Retrieving a customer profile by ID

The Customers API provides the RetrieveCustomer endpoint that you can use to retrieve a customer profile by its ID. The ID is stored in the id field in the corresponding Customer object.

When duplicate customer profiles are identified and merged, either manually by the seller or using automated detection, the existing profiles are merged into a single profile that is assigned a new ID.

If you specify the ID of a customer profile that was deleted in a merge operation, the Customers API returns the new customer profile. For example, suppose customers A and B are merged and a new customer C is created. If you call RetrieveCustomer using the ID of customer A or B, the Customers API returns customer C.

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Instant profiles

Instant profiles are customer profiles that are automatically created in a seller's Customer Directory following a payment. Future purchases made with the same card update the profile history with new payment details and other activities for your business.

If a customer is not assigned to a payment, Square attempts to infer the associated customer. First, Square checks the customer_id field in the corresponding order. If this field is not set, Square searches the Customer Directory for a matching profile using payment or related information (such as the billing and shipping address, email address, and payment source). If one cannot be found, Square attempts to create an instant profile. Note that this process is asynchronous and might take some time before customer_id is added to the payment.

If Square cannot find a matching customer profile and cannot create an instant profile, the customer_id field of the payment remains unset.

Some regions prevent the creation of instant profiles or allow sellers to disable this feature.

If the customer_id is not set for a payment made using a non-payment-card payment method (such as gift card, ACH, or Cash App), Square does not attempt to find or create a customer profile to populate the customer_id field.

Customer objects that represent instant profiles have the creation_source field set to INSTANT_PROFILE. While instant profiles can be merged with other customer profiles in the Seller Dashboard, merging does not retroactively link completed transactions to the newly created profile (that is, the customer_id field remains unchanged). To track merged customer profiles, subscribe to the customer.created webhook event.

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Custom attributes

Custom attributes can be used to extend the Customer data model by associating seller-specific or application-specific information with customer profiles. Custom attributes can store properties or metadata that help simplify integration, synchronization, and personalization workflows.

Working with custom attributes is different than working with native attributes that are accessed using the Customers API, such as given_name and email_address. For example, custom attributes are not returned in a RetrieveCustomer or ListCustomers response or managed using CreateCustomer or UpdateCustomer. In addition, the custom attribute definition must be created in the Square seller account before the corresponding value can be assigned to custom profiles in the seller's Customer Directory.

To create and manage custom attribute definitions and custom attributes, use the Customer Custom Attributes API. For more information, see Custom Attributes for Customers.

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Customer profile versions and optimistic concurrency support

Customer profiles contain a version attribute that represents the current version of the customer profile. When a customer profile is created, the version is set to 0.

Square increments the version each time the profile is updated, except for changes to customer segment membership, cards on file, or features that are available only in Square products. For example, the version increments after changes to contact information, group membership, or email preferences but not after changes to the notes or custom fields managed in the Seller Dashboard. The source of an update can be Square products, third-party applications, or an internal operation performed by Square.

You can use the version attribute to enable optimistic concurrency control. When you include version in an UpdateCustomer or DeleteCustomer request, the operation fails if the current version of the customer profile is newer than the version specified in the request. For more information, see Optimistic Concurrency.

Square also uses the version to filter events that trigger webhook notifications. If concurrent updates are made to the same customer profile, Square compares the version numbers and sends a notification for the latest version only. Similarly, if you process notifications in batches, you can use the version attribute of the Customer object in the notification to determine the latest version of an updated customer profile.

Customers API endpoints do not support actions against previous versions of the customer profile.

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Customer profiles and cards on file

Credit cards, debit cards, and gift cards can be associated with customer profiles. You can use the Cards API and Gift Cards API to save and manage cards on file for a customer. The customer_id field is used to map cards to a customer profile.

The CreateCustomerCard endpoint, DeleteCustomerCard endpoint, and Customer.cards field are deprecated. For more information, see Migrate to the Cards API and Gift Cards API.

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Customer profiles and cash transactions

POS applications attempt to implicitly link cash tenders to existing customer profiles based on the provided receipt email or phone number. Implicit links to customer profiles show up in POS applications and the Seller Dashboard.

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Requirements and limitations

OAuth permissions. Applications that use OAuth must have appropriate CUSTOMER_READ or CUSTOMER_WRITE access permissions to manage customer profiles. For more information, see Permissions Reference for the Customers API and OAuth API Overview.
Collecting and storing PII. You must obtain permission from customers before you store their information. You must protect personally identifiable information (PII) and other sensitive information, such as customer name, address, and phone number. Abuse of customer contact information might result in your application being disabled without notice. For more information, see Best Practices for Collecting Information.
Avoiding duplicate customer profiles. The CreateCustomer endpoint does not check for duplicate records during profile creation. To avoid creating duplicate profiles, use the SearchCustomers endpoint to search by phone number, email address, or reference ID to determine whether a profile of the customer already exists. For more information, see Search for Customer Profiles.
Searching the Customer Directory. The SearchCustomers endpoint does not support searching by name, location, or the employee who created the customer profile. For information about supported search query filters, such as email address and phone number, see Search for Customer Profiles.
Customer linking limitation. Orders made from Square Online stores might not include a customer_id when retrieved from the Orders API, so you should not rely on this field for your integration. Instead, consider using the customer_id field of the corresponding payment. For more information, see Customer assignments for orders and payments.
Incomplete order history for merged customer profiles. When a customer ID is changed as a result of a merge operation, searching for orders using the new customer ID does not currently return any orders made using a previous customer ID. For more information, see Customer assignments for orders and payments.
Accessing instant profiles that have no public information. Under certain conditions, Square might create instant profiles that do not have public information (such as a given name, family name, email address, phone number, or company name). For example, if a customer does not provide an email address or phone number at the time of purchase, Square creates a new Customer object to associate with the Payment object for the purchase. Square uses these Customer objects for activities such as tracking repeat purchases.
Such instant profiles that do not contain public information cannot be viewed or accessed from the Seller Dashboard. In addition, this type of instant profile is not returned in a ListCustomers or SearchCustomers response, even if the creation_source search query filter is set to INSTANT_PROFILE. However, if you have the customer ID, you can use it to call RetrieveCustomer, UpdateCustomer, or SearchOrders.
No support for bulk imports. The Customers API does not currently support a bulk create operation or other method that can be used to import a batch of customers (for example, from an external database). You must call CreateCustomer to add customers individually. If your application sends a high number of calls to Square APIs in a short period of time, you should make sure to handle potential rate limiting errors. For more information, see RATE_LIMIT_ERROR.

Customer tax IDs. For sellers in France, Ireland, Spain, and the United Kingdom, customer profiles can include a tax_ids field that contains the EU VAT identification number of the customer. The following excerpt shows an example customer profile that includes the tax_ids field:
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```
{
  "customer": {
    "id": "TNQC0TYTWMRSFFQ157KK4V7MVR",
    "created_at": "2020-03-23T20:21:54.859Z",
    "updated_at": "2021-07-14T18:25:21.342Z",
    ...
    "tax_ids": {
      "eu_vat": "IE3426675K"
    }
  }
}
```
Note the following considerations:
- If tax_ids is specified in CreateCustomer or UpdateCustomer requests in other countries, Square returns a 400 BAD_REQUEST error for Square version 2021-10-20 or later. For earlier versions, Square ignores this field.
- Square does not verify that the eu_vat identification number is a valid tax ID.
- Square does not automatically merge customer profiles that explicitly specify different eu_vat identification numbers.
- You can call RetrieveMerchant if you want to check the country of the seller account before attempting to set the tax_ids field.
Unsupported first-party features. The Customers API does not support all customer profile attributes or all features that are available in the Square products, such as the Seller Dashboard. For example:
- Email or text messages. Sellers can send email or text messages directly to a customer from the Seller Dashboard (in the production environment only). The Customers API cannot be used to send email or text messages.
- Notes with reminders. The rich notes that sellers can create in the Seller Dashboard are not included in the Customer object. However, the API does provide an optional note field that displays on the Personal Information card in the Seller Dashboard.
- Private customer feedback. The private feedback that customers can provide from an emailed receipt is not included in the Customer object. For more information about this feature, see Private customer feedback you can work with.
- Marketing campaign email preferences. The email_unsubscribed preference indicates whether the customer has unsubscribed from marketing campaign emails. A value of true means that the customer has opted out of email marketing from the current Square seller or from all Square sellers. This value is read-only from the Customers API. For information about how customers can set their preferences, see How Customers Can Unsubscribe From Square Marketing Emails.
App Marketplace requirements. If you intend to list your application on the Square App Marketplace, see the related Customers API Requirements.
Activate Square account for payment processing. Before you can use Square APIs to process payments, your Square account must be fully activated and enabled for payment processing. If you have not enabled payment processing on your account (or if you are not sure), visit squareup.com/activation.

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Migration notes

The following migration notes apply to the Customers API.

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Sparse updates and null updates for the address field in UpdateCustomer requests

The UpdateCustomer endpoint now supports sparse updates for the address field. With sparse updates, only fields that are added or changed are required in the request. In addition, removing the address field now requires the null update method. Earlier Square versions continue to require the complete address field for updates and accept an empty object ({}) to clear the field.

Starting in version: 2022-11-16

The following example requests are based on the Square version:

Square version 2022-11-16 and later:

The following example request includes three address fields. These fields are updated if they are already defined or added if they are not already defined.

Update Customer

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curl https://connect.squareupsandbox.com/v2/customers/{{CUSTOMER_ID}} \
  -X PUT \
  -H 'Square-Version: 2023-05-17' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "address": {
      "address_line_1": "1313 Main St",
      "address_line_2": "Apt 2B",
      "postal_code": "01119"
    },
    "version": 0
  }'

The following example request updates the address.address_line_1 field and removes the address.address_line_2 field using the recommended null update method. For null update operations, the X-Clear-Null header must be present and set to true.

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curl https://connect.squareupsandbox.com/v2/customers/{CUSTOMER_ID} \
-X PUT \
-H 'Square-Version: 2022-11-16' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'X-Clear-Null: true' \
-d '{
  "address": {
    "address_line_1": "505 Gardenia Lane",
    "address_line_2": null
  },
  "version": 1
}'

The following example request removes the address field from the customer profile. For null update operations, the X-Clear-Null header must be present and set to true.

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curl https://connect.squareupsandbox.com/v2/customers/{CUSTOMER_ID} \
-X PUT \
-H 'Square-Version: 2022-11-16' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'X-Clear-Null: true' \
-d '{
  "address": null,
  "version": 2
}'

String-type fields can be cleared using the null update method (recommended) or by setting the value to an empty string.

However, specifying "address": {} has no effect and does not clear the field.

Square version 2022-10-19 and earlier:

The following example request includes the complete address. This operation is an atomic update that replaces the entire address.

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curl https://connect.squareupsandbox.com/v2/customers/{CUSTOMER_ID} \
-X PUT \
-H 'Square-Version: 2022-10-19' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
  "address": {
    "address_line_1": "1313 Main St",
    "address_line_2": "Apt 2B",     
    "locality": "Springfield",
    "administrative_district_level_1": "MA",
    "postal_code": "01119"
  },
  "version": 0
}'

The following example request specifies an empty object to remove the address field from the customer profile:

curl https://connect.squareupsandbox.com/v2/customers/{CUSTOMER_ID} \
-X PUT \
-H 'Square-Version: 2022-10-19' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
  "address": {},
  "version": 1
}'

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CreateCustomer and UpdateCustomers requests with invalid phone numbers are rejected

CreateCustomer and UpdateCustomer requests that contain an invalid phone number now return a 400 INVALID_PHONE_NUMBER error. Valid phone numbers can optionally include a country code with the leading + sign and supported special characters. For more information, see Customer phone numbers. Earlier Square versions continue to accept any phone number that contains between 9–16 digits, even if they are invalid.

This change ensures that phone numbers added to the Customer Directory can be indexed for search operations. Existing phone numbers are not affected.

Starting in version: 2022-10-19

Square performs additional validation on the phone number provided in the request. For invalid phone numbers, Square returns the 400 INVALID_PHONE_NUMBER error.

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{
  "errors": [
    {
      "code": "INVALID_PHONE_NUMBER",
      "detail": "Expected phone_number to be a valid phone number",
      "field": "phone_number",
      "category": "INVALID_REQUEST_ERROR"
    }
  ]
}

Starting in version 2022-10-19, the 400 INVALID_PHONE_NUMBER error is always returned in the initial response. In earlier versions, the phone number is validated only after all other errors in the request have been resolved.

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Birthday uses YYYY-MM-DD or MM-DD format

For CreateCustomer and UpdateCustomer requests, the optional birthday value is now specified using a YYYY-MM-DD or MM-DD format. In addition, all birthday values in responses are now returned in YYYY-MM-DD format, including existing birthdays that were previously returned as timestamps. Earlier Square versions continue to accept YYYY-MM-DD or a timestamp (without time zone or time precision) in the request and return the timestamp in the response.

Starting in version: 2022-10-19

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Example birthday formats in requests

The following table shows example birthday values for a CreateCustomer or UpdateCustomer request:

Request	Square version 2022-10-19 and later	Square version 2022-09-21 and earlier
Birth year specified: `CreateCustomer` or `UpdateCustomer`	`2001-04-20`	`2001-04-20` or `2001-04-20T00:00:00-00:00`
Birth year not specified: `CreateCustomer` or `UpdateCustomer`	`0000-04-20` or `04-20`	`0000-04-20` or `0000-04-20T00:00:00-00:00`

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Example birthday formats in responses

The following table shows example birthday values for a Customer object in a response:

Response	Square version 2022-10-19 and later	Square version 2022-09-21 and earlier
Birth year specified: `CreateCustomer`, `UpdateCustomer`, `RetrieveCustomer`, `ListCustomers`, or `SearchCustomers`	`2001-04-20`	`2001-04-20T00:00:00-00:00`
Birth year not specified: `CreateCustomer`, `UpdateCustomer`, `RetrieveCustomer`, `ListCustomers`, or `SearchCustomers`	`0000-04-20`	`0000-04-20T00:00:00-00:00`

The following example responses for a request with an invalid birthday format are based on the Square version:

Square version 2022-10-19 and later: 400 INVALID_TIME

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{
  "errors": [
    {
      "code": "INVALID_TIME",
      "detail": "Expected birthday to be a valid date formatted as `YYYY-MM-DD` or `MM-DD`.",
      "field": "birthday",
      "category": "INVALID_REQUEST_ERROR"
    }
  ]
}

Square version 2022-09-21 and earlier: 400 INVALID_VALUE

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{
  "errors": [
    {
      "code": "INVALID_VALUE",
      "detail": "This provided date `January 7` is not valid.",
      "field": "birthday",
      "category": "INVALID_REQUEST_ERROR"
    }
  ]
}

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Maximum length for string fields in CreateCustomer and UpdateCustomer requests

All string-type fields in a CreateCustomer and UpdateCustomer request (except note) now have a maximum length constraint. Earlier Square versions enforce limits only for email_address (maximum 254 characters) and phone_number (maximum 16 digits).

Starting in version: 2022-10-19

The following table shows newly affected fields and the maximum number of characters allowed:

Field	Maximum length
`given_name`	300
`family_name`	300
`company_name`	500
`nickname`	100
`reference_id`	100
`address.first_name`	300
`address.last_name`	300
`address.address_line_1`	500
`address.address_line_2`	500
`address.address_line_3`	500
`address.administrative_district_level_1`	200
`address.administrative_district_level_2`	200
`address.administrative_district_level_3`	200
`address.locality`	300
`address.sublocality`	200
`address.sublocality_2`	200
`address.sublocality_3`	200
`address.postal_code`	12

The following example responses for a request that exceeds the new maximum length limit are based on the Square version:

Square version 2022-10-19 and later: 400 VALUE_TOO_LONG

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{
  "errors": [
    {
      "code": "VALUE_TOO_LONG",
      "detail": "Expected reference_id to contain a string of max length 100",
      "field": "reference_id",
      "category": "INVALID_REQUEST_ERROR"
    }
  ]
}

Square version 2022-09-21 and earlier: 200 OK

Starting in version 2022-10-19, Square returns a VALUE_TOO_LONG error if the email_address limit is exceeded (instead of the INVALID_EMAIL_ADDRESS and INVALID_VALUE errors returned in earlier versions).

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CreateCustomer and SearchCustomers requests with unrecognized fields are rejected

Starting in version: 2022-03-16

Calls to the CreateCustomer or SearchCustomers endpoint that contain an unrecognized field now return a BAD_REQUEST error. An unrecognized field is any field in the request body that is not supported for the request. For earlier Square versions, the Customers API continues to ignore unrecognized fields.

The following are example responses based on the Square version:

Square version 2022-03-16 and later: 400 BAD_REQUEST

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{
  "errors": [
    {
      "code": "BAD_REQUEST",
      "detail": "The field named '{field_name}' is unrecognized (line 4, character 9)",
      "field": "{field_name}",
      "category": "INVALID_REQUEST_ERROR"
    }
  ]
}

Square version 2022-02-16 and earlier: 200 OK (unrecognized fields are ignored)

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CreateCustomer and UpdateCustomer requests with an invalid phone number or email address return specific error codes

Starting in version: 2022-03-16

Calls to the CreateCustomer or UpdateCustomer endpoint that specify an invalid phone number or email address return an INVALID_PHONE_NUMBER or INVALID_EMAIL_ADDRESS error code with a corresponding detail field. For earlier Square versions, the Customers API continues to return an INVALID_VALUE code.

The following are example responses based on the Square version:

Square version 2022-03-16 and later:

400 INVALID_PHONE_NUMBER

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{
  "errors": [
    {
      "code": "INVALID_PHONE_NUMBER",
      "detail": "Expected phone_number to be a valid phone number",
      "field": "phone_number",
      "category": "INVALID_REQUEST_ERROR"
    }
  ]
}

400 INVALID_EMAIL_ADDRESS

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{
  "errors": [
    {
    "code": "INVALID_EMAIL_ADDRESS",
    "detail": "Expected email_address to be a valid email address",
    "field": "email_address",
    "category": "INVALID_REQUEST_ERROR"
    }
  ]
}

Square version 2022-02-16 and earlier:

400 INVALID_VALUE for phone_number

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{
  "errors": [
    {
      "code": "INVALID_VALUE",
      "detail": "Provided value for `phone_number` is invalid.",
      "field": "phone_number",
      "category": "INVALID_REQUEST_ERROR"
    }
  ]
}

400 INVALID_VALUE for email_address

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{
  "errors": [
    {
      "code": "INVALID_VALUE",
      "detail": "Provided value for `email_address` is invalid.",
      "field": "email_address",
      "category": "INVALID_REQUEST_ERROR"
    }
  ]
}

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UpdateCustomer returns an error for empty requests

Starting in version: 2021-10-20

Calls to the UpdateCustomer endpoint that do not specify any customer fields return a 400 BAD_REQUEST status code and error. For earlier Square versions, the Customers API continues to return a 200 OK status along with the customer profile.

The following are example responses based on the Square version:

Square version 2021-10-20 and later: 400 BAD_REQUEST

{
  "errors": [
    {
      "code": "BAD_REQUEST",
      "detail": "At least one field must be set to update a customer.",
      "category": "INVALID_REQUEST_ERROR"
    }
  ]
}

Square version 2021-09-15 and earlier: 200 OK

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{
  "customer": {
    "id": "62Y0FBFDQ0ZHDCGKBYP7FZK474",
    "created_at": "2020-11-12T03:51:06.371Z",
    "updated_at": "2021-08-29T00:03:37Z",
    "given_name": "Amelia",
    "family_name": "Earhart",
    "email_address": "[email protected]",
    ...
  }
}

In Square version 2021-09-15 and earlier, the updated_at timestamp is updated in response to this request. However, the version of the customer profile is not updated.

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Deprecated CreateCustomerCard endpoint

Deprecated in version: 2021-06-16
Retired in version: TBD

The CreateCustomerCard endpoint is deprecated. You should use one of the following endpoints instead:

To save a credit or debit card on file for a customer, call CreateCard in the Cards API and specify the customer_id field. This endpoint returns a Card object. For more information, see Create a Card on File and a Payment.
Starting in Square version 2022-05-12, you can also call CreateTerminalAction to save a card on file when using the Terminal API. Specify the SAVE_CARD action type and save_card_options with the customer_id field. The card on file can then be managed using the Cards API. For more information, see Save a Card on File with the Terminal API.
To save a gift card on file for a customer, call LinkCustomerToGiftCard in the Gift Cards API and specify the customer_id field. This endpoint returns a GiftCard object. For more information, see Manage gift cards on file.

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Deprecated DeleteCustomerCard endpoint

Deprecated in version: 2021-06-16
Retired in version: TBD

The DeleteCustomerCard endpoint is deprecated. You should use one of the following endpoints instead:

To disable a credit or debit card on file for a customer, call DisableCard in the Cards API. This endpoint returns a Card object. For more information, see Disable a card.
To unlink a gift card on file from a customer, call UnlinkCustomerFromGiftCard in the Gift Cards API and specify the customer_id field. This endpoint returns a GiftCard object. For more information, see Manage gift cards on file.

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Deprecated Customer.cards field

Deprecated in version: 2021-06-16
Retired in version: TBD

The cards field on the Customer object is deprecated. You should use one of the following endpoints instead:

To get the credit or debit cards on file for a customer, call ListCards in the Cards API and specify the customer_id query parameter. This endpoint returns a list of Card objects. For more information, see List cards saved for a customer.
To get the gift cards on file for a customer, call ListGiftCards in the Gift Cards API and specify the customer_id query parameter. This endpoint returns a list of GiftCard objects. For more information, see Manage gift cards on file.

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Related topics

If you need more assistance, contact Developer Support or ask for help in the Developer Forums.

Docs

Customers API Overview

On this page

Note

Link to section Supported operations

Link to section Manage customer profiles

Link to section Retrieve customer profiles

Link to section Search for customer profiles

Link to section Manage group membership

Important

Link to section Customer components

Note

Link to section Sorting and searching customer profiles

Link to section Sorting

Link to section Searching

Link to section Retrieving a customer profile by ID

Link to section Instant profiles

Note

Link to section Custom attributes

Link to section Customer profile versions and optimistic concurrency support

Link to section Customer profiles and cards on file

Note

Link to section Customer profiles and cash transactions

Link to section Requirements and limitations

Link to section Migration notes

Link to section Sparse updates and null updates for the address field in UpdateCustomer requests

Note

Link to section CreateCustomer and UpdateCustomers requests with invalid phone numbers are rejected

Note

Link to section Birthday uses YYYY-MM-DD or MM-DD format

Link to section Example birthday formats in requests

Link to section Example birthday formats in responses

Link to section Maximum length for string fields in CreateCustomer and UpdateCustomer requests

Note

Link to section CreateCustomer and SearchCustomers requests with unrecognized fields are rejected

Link to section CreateCustomer and UpdateCustomer requests with an invalid phone number or email address return specific error codes

Link to section UpdateCustomer returns an error for empty requests

Note

Link to section Deprecated CreateCustomerCard endpoint

Link to section Deprecated DeleteCustomerCard endpoint

Link to section Deprecated Customer.cards field

Link to section Related topics

On this page

Link to section
Supported operations

Link to section
Manage customer profiles

Link to section
Retrieve customer profiles

Link to section
Search for customer profiles

Link to section
Manage group membership

Link to section
Customer components

Link to section
Sorting and searching customer profiles

Link to section
Sorting

Link to section
Searching

Link to section
Retrieving a customer profile by ID

Link to section
Instant profiles

Link to section
Custom attributes

Link to section
Customer profile versions and optimistic concurrency support

Link to section
Customer profiles and cards on file

Link to section
Customer profiles and cash transactions

Link to section
Requirements and limitations

Link to section
Migration notes

Link to section
Sparse updates and null updates for the address field in UpdateCustomer requests

Link to section
CreateCustomer and UpdateCustomers requests with invalid phone numbers are rejected

Link to section
Birthday uses YYYY-MM-DD or MM-DD format

Link to section
Example birthday formats in requests

Link to section
Example birthday formats in responses

Link to section
Maximum length for string fields in CreateCustomer and UpdateCustomer requests

Link to section
CreateCustomer and SearchCustomers requests with unrecognized fields are rejected

Link to section
CreateCustomer and UpdateCustomer requests with an invalid phone number or email address return specific error codes

Link to section
UpdateCustomer returns an error for empty requests

Link to section
Deprecated CreateCustomerCard endpoint

Link to section
Deprecated DeleteCustomerCard endpoint

Link to section
Deprecated Customer.cards field

Link to section
Related topics