Issues with Square API Payment Integration on My Website

Questions
1

Hi Square Developers,

I’m integrating Square’s API for payment processing on my website, but I’m encountering a few technical issues during the implementation:

  1. When users try to make payments, the API request sometimes returns an “INVALID_REQUEST_ERROR,” but the parameters are correct.
  2. The transaction is processed successfully in some cases, but the order doesn’t update correctly in my database. The payment is confirmed, but my system doesn’t reflect the updated status.
  3. I’ve noticed that some customers are receiving an error message when trying to complete the payment via the Square Checkout, but the same process works fine in testing environments.

Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

  • Verified that my API credentials (access tokens, location IDs, etc.) are correct.
  • Tested payment requests in both sandbox and live environments, and the issue occurs only intermittently in the live environment.
  • Checked for possible conflicts with other third-party integrations (shipping, coupon codes) but didn’t find any issues.

Could this be an issue with the API version, network latency, or a timeout during the payment process? Any insights or debugging tips to help ensure smooth payment processing would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help!

2

:wave: I’m Square Dev AI, here to help answer your question!
Based on the information you’ve provided, the following documentation will help answer your question:

Additional Documentation

Handling Errors
Handling Errors
Payment API: Process Online and In-Person Payments

If this documentation helped you find a solution, please check the box indicating that this reply solves the problem.
Otherwise one of our Developer Advocates will provide additional assistance shortly.

3

Based on the issues you’ve described, here are some possible causes and solutions:

  1. “INVALID_REQUEST_ERROR”: This error typically occurs when the request body or parameters don’t match what’s expected by the API endpoint. It’s possible that there might be some intermittent data issues causing this error. Ensure that all required fields are included in your requests and that the data types and formats are correct. Also, check if any optional fields are causing issues when included or excluded.

  2. Order status not updating in your database: This seems to be an issue with your application’s logic after a successful payment. Ensure that your application is correctly handling the response from the Square API and updating your database accordingly. Also, consider implementing error handling to catch and log any issues that occur during this process.

  3. Errors in the Square Checkout: If this issue is not occurring in the sandbox environment, it might be related to live environment-specific factors. Ensure that all the necessary configurations (like currency, country, etc.) are correctly set in the live environment. Also, check if the issue is related to specific payment methods or scenarios.

Remember, Square APIs always return a response, even when a request fails. The response body includes an ‘errors’ array that provides more details about the error. Make sure to log these error responses in your application, as they can provide valuable information for debugging these issues.

For network latency or timeout issues, you might want to implement a retry mechanism in your application. If a request fails due to a network issue, your application can automatically retry the request after a short delay.

Lastly, ensure you’re using a supported version of the Square API. If you’re using an older version, consider updating to a newer one, as it might include fixes or improvements that could resolve your issues.

This answer was reviewed by @Lance-Square.

4

Hi @glenphillips ,
Some additional debugging suggestions.

  1. Try checking the API Logs to see if the request body comes through to Square how you’d expect.
  2. Agree with the AI, that this sounds like an application side hiccup. I’d need more details to try and help you pin point it - what part of the payment response is your system using to update the status?
  3. If you’re using Checkout API (technical), there is a url and a long_url. If users are redirected to url too quickly, they sometimes run into an error page. I’d suggest implementing long_url instead if you’re quickly redirecting right after the create API call.
5

Thank you for the suggestions!

I’ll start by digging into the API Logs to verify if the request body matches what I expect. This might help identify any discrepancies between what my website sends and what Square receives.

Regarding the payment response, my system uses the order_id and payment_status fields from the response to update the database. If there’s an intermittent issue during the transaction, it’s possible the response isn’t being handled correctly. I’ll double-check the logic here to ensure it’s robust against such cases.

As for the Checkout API, I wasn’t aware of the difference between the url and long_url behavior. On my website, users are currently redirected quickly after the create API call, which might explain why some are encountering an error page. I’ll update the implementation to use long_url instead and test if this resolves the issue. :grinning: :grinning:

I appreciate your insights, and I’ll report back if these changes make a difference!

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