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A PaymentIntent tracks one payment from creation through completion. Create it with an amount and currency, then confirm it with a payment method. Use one PaymentIntent per order. Each confirmation creates a Charge. If a card is declined, confirm the same PaymentIntent again with a different payment method instead of creating a new one.

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Endpoints

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Returned objects

  • A PaymentIntent (pi_…) contains the amount, currency, and overall payment status.
  • A Charge (ch_…) represents one confirmation attempt. It includes the outcome, authorization details, decline details, and settlement status.
  • A Refund (rf_…) represents money returned from a completed Charge.
A secret-key retrieval includes Charge history. A publishable-key retrieval requires the client_secret and returns only the browser-safe data needed to continue checkout.

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Browser card collection

When a publishable key retrieves a PaymentIntent, the response can include a tokenization object. Use its tokenization_key to initialize Ionic Hosted Card Fields in the browser. The key can create a one-time payment token; it cannot submit a charge. The key is returned with the PaymentIntent so the browser can initialize card fields after retrieving that intent with a publishable key and its client_secret. The browser does not need access to a secret API key or a separate account-configuration endpoint. Adapter selection is handled by the Ionic browser SDK and requires no integration logic. The API does not include this object in secret-key responses, list responses, capture or cancel responses, or webhooks.

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Statuses

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Retry and fulfillment rules

  • Send an Idempotency-Key on create, confirm, capture, and cancel requests so retries do not duplicate an operation.
  • A 402 decline embeds the current PaymentIntent; inspect its status before deciding whether to collect another payment method.
  • If you cancel while the status is processing, the status can remain processing until the current attempt finishes. Wait for a webhook or retrieve the PaymentIntent again before retrying.
  • Fulfill an order only after the API response or a verified webhook reports a successful payment. A browser redirect alone is not confirmation.