Payment Retries - Upstash Documentation

This example demonstrates a payment retry process using Upstash Workflow. The following example handles retrying a payment, sending emails, and suspending accounts.

Use Case#

Our workflow will:

Attempt to process a payment
Retry the payment if it fails with a 24-hour delay
If the payment succeeds:
- Unsuspend the user's account if it was suspended
- Send an invoice email
If the payment fails after 3 retries:
- Suspend the user's account

Code Example#

import { serve } from "@upstash/workflow/nextjs";type ChargeUserPayload = {  email: string;};export const { POST } = serve<ChargeUserPayload>(async (context) => {  const { email } = context.requestPayload;  for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {    // attempt to charge the user    const result = await context.run("charge customer", async () => {      try {        return await chargeCustomer(i + 1),      } catch (e) {        console.error(e);        return      }    });    if (!result) {      // Wait for a day      await context.sleep("wait for retry", 24 * 60 * 60);    } else {      // Unsuspend User      const isSuspended = await context.run("check suspension", async () => {        return await checkSuspension(email);      });      if (isSuspended) {        await context.run("unsuspend user", async () => {          await unsuspendUser(email);        });      }      // send invoice email      await context.run("send invoice email", async () => {        await sendEmail(          email,          `Payment successful. Invoice: ${result.invoiceId}, Total cost: $${result.totalCost}`        );      });      // by returning, we end the workflow run      return;    }  }  // suspend user if the user isn't suspended  const isSuspended = await context.run("check suspension", async () => {    return await checkSuspension(email);  });  if (!isSuspended) {    await context.run("suspend user", async () => {      await suspendUser(email);    });    await context.run("send suspended email", async () => {      await sendEmail(        email,        "Your account has been suspended due to payment failure. Please update your payment method."      );    });  }});async function sendEmail(email: string, content: string) {  // Implement the logic to send an email  console.log("Sending email to", email, "with content:", content);}async function checkSuspension(email: string) {  // Implement the logic to check if the user is suspended  console.log("Checking suspension status for", email);  return true;}async function suspendUser(email: string) {  // Implement the logic to suspend the user  console.log("Suspending the user", email);}async function unsuspendUser(email: string) {  // Implement the logic to unsuspend the user  console.log("Unsuspending the user", email);}async function chargeCustomer(attempt: number) {  // Implement the logic to charge the customer  console.log("Charging the customer");  if (attempt <= 2) {    throw new Error("Payment failed");  }  return {    invoiceId: "INV123",    totalCost: 100,  } as const;}

Code Breakdown#

1. Charge Customer#

We attempt to charge the customer:

const result = await context.run("charge customer", async () => {  try {    return await chargeCustomer(i + 1),  } catch (e) {    console.error(e);    return  }});

Note

If we haven't put a try-catch block here, the workflow would have retried the step. However, because we want to run custom logic when the payment fails, we catch the error here.

2. Retry Payment#

We try to charge the customer 3 times with a 24-hour delay between each attempt:

for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {  // attempt to charge the customer  if (!result) {    // Wait for a day    await context.sleep("wait for retry", 24 * 60 * 60);  } else {    // Payment succeeded    // Unsuspend user, send invoice email    // end the workflow:    return;  }}

3. If Payment Succeeds#

3.1. Unsuspend User#

We check if the user is suspended and unsuspend them if they are:

const isSuspended = await context.run("check suspension", async () => {  return await checkSuspension(email);});if (isSuspended) {  await context.run("unsuspend user", async () => {    await unsuspendUser(email);  });}

3.2. Send Invoice Email#

We send an invoice we got from the payment step to the user:

await context.run("send invoice email", async () => {  await sendEmail(    email,    `Payment successful. Invoice: ${result.invoiceId}, Total cost: $${result.totalCost}`  );});

Tip

One of the biggest advantages of using Upstash Workflow is that you have access to the result of the previous steps. This allows you to pass data between steps without having to store it in a database.

4. If Payment Fails After 3 Retries#

4.1. Suspend User#

If the payment fails after 3 retries, we suspend the user and send them an email to notify them:

const isSuspended = await context.run("check suspension", async () => {  return await checkSuspension(email);});if (!isSuspended) {  await context.run("suspend user", async () => {    await suspendUser(email);  });  await context.run("send suspended email", async () => {    await sendEmail(      context.requestPayload.email,      "Your account has been suspended due to payment failure. Please update your payment method."    );  });}