Terminal.skills
Use Cases/Build a Checkout Flow with Stripe

Build a Checkout Flow with Stripe

Build a production checkout flow — cart management, Stripe payment intents, 3D Secure handling, order confirmation, webhook-driven fulfillment, and failed payment recovery.

#redis#caching#database#pub-sub#queues
Works with:claude-codeopenai-codexgemini-clicursor
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The Problem

Nadia runs a 20-person e-commerce startup. Their checkout is a single "Buy Now" button that redirects to Stripe Checkout. It works, but they can't customize the flow, offer coupons, show order summaries, or handle cart abandonment. 35% of users abandon at checkout because the redirect feels jarring. They lose $15K/month in failed payments that are never retried. They need an embedded checkout with cart management, real-time price calculation, coupon support, and webhook-driven order processing.

Step 1: Build the Cart and Checkout API

typescript
// src/checkout/cart.ts — Server-side cart with pricing, coupons, and Stripe integration
import Stripe from "stripe";
import { pool } from "../db";
import { Redis } from "ioredis";
import { z } from "zod";

const stripe = new Stripe(process.env.STRIPE_SECRET_KEY!);
const redis = new Redis(process.env.REDIS_URL!);

interface CartItem {
  productId: string;
  name: string;
  price: number;           // in cents
  quantity: number;
  imageUrl: string;
}

interface Cart {
  id: string;
  userId: string | null;
  items: CartItem[];
  couponCode: string | null;
  discount: number;        // in cents
  subtotal: number;
  tax: number;
  total: number;
  currency: string;
}

const AddItemSchema = z.object({
  productId: z.string(),
  quantity: z.number().int().min(1).max(99),
});

// Get or create cart
export async function getCart(cartId: string): Promise<Cart> {
  const data = await redis.get(`cart:${cartId}`);
  if (data) return JSON.parse(data);

  return {
    id: cartId,
    userId: null,
    items: [],
    couponCode: null,
    discount: 0,
    subtotal: 0,
    tax: 0,
    total: 0,
    currency: "usd",
  };
}

// Add item to cart
export async function addToCart(cartId: string, productId: string, quantity: number): Promise<Cart> {
  const cart = await getCart(cartId);

  // Fetch product from DB
  const { rows: [product] } = await pool.query(
    "SELECT id, name, price_cents, image_url, stock FROM products WHERE id = $1 AND active = true",
    [productId]
  );
  if (!product) throw new Error("Product not found");
  if (product.stock < quantity) throw new Error(`Only ${product.stock} in stock`);

  // Update or add item
  const existing = cart.items.find((i) => i.productId === productId);
  if (existing) {
    existing.quantity = Math.min(existing.quantity + quantity, product.stock);
  } else {
    cart.items.push({
      productId: product.id,
      name: product.name,
      price: product.price_cents,
      quantity,
      imageUrl: product.image_url,
    });
  }

  return recalculateAndSave(cart);
}

// Apply coupon
export async function applyCoupon(cartId: string, code: string): Promise<Cart> {
  const cart = await getCart(cartId);

  const { rows: [coupon] } = await pool.query(
    `SELECT * FROM coupons
     WHERE code = $1 AND active = true
     AND (expires_at IS NULL OR expires_at > NOW())
     AND (max_uses IS NULL OR uses < max_uses)`,
    [code.toUpperCase()]
  );

  if (!coupon) throw new Error("Invalid or expired coupon");

  cart.couponCode = code.toUpperCase();

  if (coupon.type === "percentage") {
    cart.discount = Math.round(cart.subtotal * (coupon.value / 100));
  } else {
    cart.discount = Math.min(coupon.value, cart.subtotal); // don't exceed subtotal
  }

  return recalculateAndSave(cart);
}

// Create Stripe Payment Intent
export async function createPaymentIntent(cartId: string, userId: string): Promise<{
  clientSecret: string;
  paymentIntentId: string;
}> {
  const cart = await getCart(cartId);
  if (cart.items.length === 0) throw new Error("Cart is empty");

  // Get or create Stripe customer
  let { rows: [userRow] } = await pool.query(
    "SELECT stripe_customer_id FROM users WHERE id = $1",
    [userId]
  );

  let customerId = userRow?.stripe_customer_id;
  if (!customerId) {
    const { rows: [user] } = await pool.query("SELECT email, name FROM users WHERE id = $1", [userId]);
    const customer = await stripe.customers.create({ email: user.email, name: user.name });
    customerId = customer.id;
    await pool.query("UPDATE users SET stripe_customer_id = $1 WHERE id = $2", [customerId, userId]);
  }

  // Create payment intent
  const paymentIntent = await stripe.paymentIntents.create({
    amount: cart.total,
    currency: cart.currency,
    customer: customerId,
    metadata: {
      cartId,
      userId,
      couponCode: cart.couponCode || "",
      itemCount: String(cart.items.length),
    },
    automatic_payment_methods: { enabled: true },
  });

  // Store mapping for webhook processing
  await redis.setex(`pi:${paymentIntent.id}`, 3600, JSON.stringify({
    cartId, userId, items: cart.items, total: cart.total,
  }));

  return {
    clientSecret: paymentIntent.client_secret!,
    paymentIntentId: paymentIntent.id,
  };
}

// Webhook handler — processes successful payments
export async function handleStripeWebhook(event: Stripe.Event): Promise<void> {
  switch (event.type) {
    case "payment_intent.succeeded": {
      const pi = event.data.object as Stripe.PaymentIntent;
      const orderData = await redis.get(`pi:${pi.id}`);
      if (!orderData) return;

      const { cartId, userId, items, total } = JSON.parse(orderData);

      // Create order
      const { rows: [order] } = await pool.query(
        `INSERT INTO orders (user_id, items, subtotal, discount, tax, total, stripe_payment_intent_id, status, created_at)
         VALUES ($1, $2, $3, $4, $5, $6, $7, 'confirmed', NOW())
         RETURNING id`,
        [userId, JSON.stringify(items), total, 0, 0, total, pi.id]
      );

      // Decrement stock
      for (const item of items) {
        await pool.query(
          "UPDATE products SET stock = stock - $1 WHERE id = $2",
          [item.quantity, item.productId]
        );
      }

      // Clear cart
      await redis.del(`cart:${cartId}`);

      // Increment coupon usage
      if (pi.metadata.couponCode) {
        await pool.query("UPDATE coupons SET uses = uses + 1 WHERE code = $1", [pi.metadata.couponCode]);
      }

      // Send confirmation email (via queue)
      await redis.rpush("email:queue", JSON.stringify({
        type: "order_confirmation",
        userId,
        orderId: order.id,
      }));

      break;
    }

    case "payment_intent.payment_failed": {
      const pi = event.data.object as Stripe.PaymentIntent;
      // Queue recovery email
      await redis.rpush("email:queue", JSON.stringify({
        type: "payment_failed",
        userId: pi.metadata.userId,
        paymentIntentId: pi.id,
        retryUrl: `${process.env.APP_URL}/checkout/retry/${pi.id}`,
      }));
      break;
    }
  }
}

function recalculateAndSave(cart: Cart): Promise<Cart> {
  cart.subtotal = cart.items.reduce((sum, i) => sum + i.price * i.quantity, 0);
  cart.tax = Math.round(cart.subtotal * 0.08);    // 8% tax
  cart.total = cart.subtotal - cart.discount + cart.tax;
  return redis.setex(`cart:${cart.id}`, 86400 * 7, JSON.stringify(cart)).then(() => cart);
}

Results

  • Checkout abandonment: 35% → 18% — embedded checkout feels native; no jarring redirect; order summary and coupon field visible on one page
  • Failed payment recovery: $0 → $8K/month recovered — webhook catches payment_failed, sends retry email with direct link; 53% of failed payments succeed on retry
  • Coupon system drives $12K/month extra revenue — 15% discount codes for first-time buyers convert at 2.3x the baseline rate
  • 3D Secure handled automatically — Stripe's automatic_payment_methods handles SCA compliance; European customers authenticate seamlessly
  • Order processing is reliable — webhook-driven fulfillment means orders are never lost even if the user's browser crashes after payment