Sandbox CreateSubscription is immediately DEACTIVATED before START_SUBSCRIPTION

Questions
1

Title

Sandbox CreateSubscription is immediately DEACTIVATED before START_SUBSCRIPTION

Body

Hello Square Developer Support,

I am developing a subscription service using the Square API and am testing the integration in the Sandbox environment.

I am experiencing an issue where a subscription created directly via the CreateSubscription API is immediately DEACTIVATED within approximately 10–30 seconds.

What happens

CreateSubscription returns a Subscription ID successfully.

However, the subscription never reaches START_SUBSCRIPTION.

The event sequence is:

  • BILLING_ANCHOR_DATE_CHANGED

  • DEACTIVATE_SUBSCRIPTION

There is no START_SUBSCRIPTION event.

The DEACTIVATE_SUBSCRIPTION event also contains no info.code or info.detail, so I cannot determine the reason for the deactivation.

No Invoice or Payment is created.

Testing performed

I tested multiple combinations:

  • Raw card nonce + new Plan Variation

  • Raw card nonce + different Customer + new Plan Variation

  • Web Payments SDK tokenized Visa card + new Plan Variation

  • Web Payments SDK tokenized Visa card + existing Plan Variation

  • Web Payments SDK tokenized Mastercard + new Plan Variation

All direct CreateSubscription tests failed in the same way.

The cards were successfully created using the Cards API, and the Web Payments SDK card.tokenize(verificationDetails) completed successfully.

I also confirmed that creating a Card on File does not itself create a Payment.

Successful comparison

A subscription created through a Square Payment Link in the same Sandbox environment works correctly.

The successful subscription:

  • reaches START_SUBSCRIPTION

  • remains ACTIVE

  • creates an Invoice

  • Invoice is PAID

The direct CreateSubscription subscriptions do not reach START_SUBSCRIPTION and are DEACTIVATED before any Invoice or Payment is created.

Environment

Sandbox

Location ID:
LHCYSVYAJS4NH

Successful Payment Link Subscription:
2f2a712c-91c8-4fe0-8212-fd21b0fc778e

Failed direct CreateSubscription Subscription:
9c2dc213-5570-4e09-9ed9-b87db698ee17

The same behavior was reproduced with different customers, card brands, and Plan Variations.

Questions

  1. Is this a known Sandbox limitation or issue with direct CreateSubscription?

  2. Is there any requirement for CreateSubscription that is automatically handled by Square Checkout / Payment Link?

  3. Is creating a Card on File during a free trial and later creating a Subscription using that card officially supported?

  4. Is there a specific reason why the subscription can be DEACTIVATED without an info.code or info.detail?

  5. Could this behavior occur in Production, or is it specific to Sandbox?

  6. What would be the recommended Square API implementation for this business flow?

Our intended business flow is:

Free trial → save customer’s payment method during the trial → trial ends → create the subscription → prorate the remaining days of the current month → continue with monthly billing.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

3

Unfortunately subscriptions are not fully supported in sandbox.