How SetupIntents work
Learn how SetupIntents work within the payment flow.
Asynchronous payment flows can be complex to manage because they depend on customer interactions that happen outside your application. PaymentIntents and SetupIntents simplify management by tracking the status of the flow.
When the SetupIntent is created, it has a status of requires_1 until a payment method is attached.
After the customer provides their payment method information, the SetupIntent is ready to be confirmed.
In most integrations, this state is skipped because payment method information is submitted at the same time that the SetupIntent is confirmed.
If the setup requires additional actions, such as authenticating with 3D Secure, the SetupIntent has a status of requires_1.
After required actions are handled, the SetupIntent moves to processing. Although some payment methods (for example, cards) can process quickly, other payment methods can take up to several days to process.
A SetupIntent with a status of succeeded means that the setup is successful.
You can now attach this payment method to a Customer object and use this payment method for future payments.
If the setup fails, SetupIntent’s status returns to requires_.
You can cancel a SetupIntent at any point before it is processing or succeeded.
1 Versions of the API before 2019-02-11 show requires_ instead of requires_ and requires_ instead of requires_.