medusajs/medusa

[Bug]: Stripe webhook triggers multiple (unnecessary) premature cart completion on Payment Intent creation

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#14205 opened on Dec 3, 2025

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 (9 comments) (0 reactions) (0 assignees)TypeScript (22,539 stars) (2,090 forks)batch import
good first issuetype: bugversion: 2.0

Description

Package.json file

latest version

Node.js version

v21

Database and its version

17

Operating system name and version

Linux

Browser name

No response

What happended?

When using the Stripe Payment Element, a payment_intent is often created or updated to a processing state before the actual payment authorization is finalized. Currently, the payment webhook handler attempts to complete the cart immediately upon receiving these initial webhook events.

Since the payment is not yet fully authorized/captured, the Cart Completion workflow triggers, creates an Order (incrementing the display_id), and then fails/reverts when it realizes the payment isn't ready. (in the authorize-payment-session-step)

This leads to:

  • Reverted Workflows: Unnecessary load on the server triggering workflows that are destined to fail with a lot of unnessary large queries.

  • Order ID Gaps: The most significant side effect is that the internal display_id (Order Number) increments during the initial workflow step before the transaction reverts. This results in gaps in Order IDs (e.g., Order 1001, then 1003) which is confusing for merchants and problematic for accounting/monitoring.

Expected behavior

We should only trigger cart completion on definitive actions (like AUTHORIZED or CAPTURED) in the webhook.

Actual behavior

n/a

Link to reproduction repo

not needed

Contributor guide

Tech stack
typescriptnodejsexpress
Domain
backendapipayments
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
4
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-2 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Understanding of Stripe webhooksFamiliarity with Medusa's Cart Completion workflowNode.js/TypeScript experience
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
45
Research direction
Examine the Stripe webhook handler in the Medusa plugin (likely at packages/plugins/stripe/src/services/stripe webhook.ts). Identify where payment intent events (e.g., payment intent.created) trigger the cart completion workflow. Trace the logic to the authorize payment session step and understand why premature completion occurs. Look for comments about handling AUTHORIZED/CAPTURED events and propose filtering to only act on those events.