Stripe.StripeException: Invalid response object from API

[trevonmckay]

Describe the bug

I'm using Stripe.net 47.4.0 and many of my operations are failing with the error "Invalid response object from API" but I can see that the request was successfully fulfilled on Stripe. I first use case I was able to work around using the following snippet but now trying to expand to other areas I need a real fix

string sessionSecret;
try
{
    Session session = sessionService.Create(sessionCreateOptions);
    sessionSecret = session.ClientSecret;
}
catch (StripeException stripeException)
{
    if (stripeException.Message.StartsWith("Invalid response object from API:")
        && JsonDocument.Parse(stripeException.StripeResponse.Content).RootElement.TryGetProperty("client_secret", out JsonElement clientSecretElement)
        && clientSecretElement.GetString() is string clientSecretValue)
    {
        sessionSecret = clientSecretValue;
    }
    else
    {
        throw;
    }
}

private async Task<IEnumerable<PaymentIntent>> GetMatchingStripePaymentIntents(IEnumerable<string> requestIds)
{
    if (requestIds.Count() > 10)
    {
        throw new InvalidOperationException("The number of search filters exceeds maximum limit of 10");
    }

    string searchQueryText = string.Join(" OR ", requestIds.Select(requestId => $"metadata[\"verificationRequestId\"]:\"{requestId}\""));

    PaymentIntentService paymentIntentService = new(_stripeClient);
    PaymentIntentSearchOptions searchOptions = new()
    {
        Query = searchQueryText,
    };

    List<PaymentIntent> paymentIntents = new();
    StripeSearchResult<PaymentIntent> searchResult;
    do
    {
        searchResult = await paymentIntentService.SearchAsync(searchOptions);
        paymentIntents.AddRange(searchResult.Where(e => e.Status != "canceled"));
    } while (searchResult.HasMore);

    return paymentIntents;
}

This snippet results in the exception below
Exception: Stripe.StripeException: Invalid response object from API:

Response body

 {
  "object": "search_result",
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "pi_3R4HvCPKt2B4A0jv0Suwf9NN",
      "object": "payment_intent",
      "amount": 14900,
      "amount_capturable": 14900,
      "amount_details": {
        "tip": {}
      },
      "amount_received": 0,
      "application": null,
      "application_fee_amount": null,
      "automatic_payment_methods": null,
      "canceled_at": null,
      "cancellation_reason": null,
      "capture_method": "manual",
      "client_secret": "...",
      "confirmation_method": "automatic",
      "created": 1742372658,
      "currency": "usd",
      "customer": null,
      "description": "...",
      "invoice": null,
      "last_payment_error": null,
      "latest_charge": "ch_3R4HvCPKt2B4A0jv0LIr4IHa",
      "livemode": false,
      "metadata": {
        "$ref": "...",
        "userId": "c33a3176-df7e-4468-9c73-85dbf2d59a67",
        "verificationRequestId": "0195ad70-1935-7695-8c32-9c6e0c423986"
      },
      "next_action": null,
      "on_behalf_of": null,
      "payment_method": "pm_1R4HvBPKt2B4A0jvcEEVJkoT",
      "payment_method_configuration_details": null,
      "payment_method_options": {
        "card": {
          "installments": null,
          "mandate_options": null,
          "network": null,
          "request_three_d_secure": "automatic"
        }
      },
      "payment_method_types": [
        "card"
      ],
      "processing": null,
      "receipt_email": "...",
      "review": null,
      "setup_future_usage": null,
      "shipping": null,
      "source": null,
      "statement_descriptor": null,
      "statement_descriptor_suffix": "VERIFY",
      "status": "requires_capture",
      "transfer_data": null,
      "transfer_group": null
    },
    {
      "id": "pi_3R4HSMPKt2B4A0jv1Zqw8woQ",
      "object": "payment_intent",
      "amount": 14900,
      "amount_capturable": 14900,
      "amount_details": {
        "tip": {}
      },
      "amount_received": 0,
      "application": null,
      "application_fee_amount": null,
      "automatic_payment_methods": null,
      "canceled_at": null,
      "cancellation_reason": null,
      "capture_method": "manual",
      "client_secret": "...",
      "confirmation_method": "automatic",
      "created": 1742370870,
      "currency": "usd",
      "customer": null,
      "description": "OneCredential Verification - Von Estates",
      "invoice": null,
      "last_payment_error": null,
      "latest_charge": "ch_3R4HSMPKt2B4A0jv1NqUVxaM",
      "livemode": false,
      "metadata": {
        "$ref": "...",
        "organizationId": "01958c73-1288-79c2-962d-bf5a6222c0b3",
        "userId": "c33a3176-df7e-4468-9c73-85dbf2d59a67",
        "verificationRequestId": "0195ad56-994a-7f4a-ab80-57845e5eaf92"
      },
      "next_action": null,
      "on_behalf_of": null,
      "payment_method": "pm_1R4HSMPKt2B4A0jvbmSiiMX2",
      "payment_method_configuration_details": null,
      "payment_method_options": {
        "card": {
          "installments": null,
          "mandate_options": null,
          "network": null,
          "request_three_d_secure": "automatic"
        }
      },
      "payment_method_types": [
        "card"
      ],
      "processing": null,
      "receipt_email": "...",
      "review": null,
      "setup_future_usage": null,
      "shipping": null,
      "source": null,
      "statement_descriptor": null,
      "statement_descriptor_suffix": "VERIFY",
      "status": "requires_capture",
      "transfer_data": null,
      "transfer_group": null
    },
    {
      "id": "pi_3R4HPePKt2B4A0jv1ECb3u9j",
      "object": "payment_intent",
      "amount": 14900,
      "amount_capturable": 14900,
      "amount_details": {
        "tip": {}
      },
      "amount_received": 0,
      "application": null,
      "application_fee_amount": null,
      "automatic_payment_methods": null,
      "canceled_at": null,
      "cancellation_reason": null,
      "capture_method": "manual",
      "client_secret": "...",
      "confirmation_method": "automatic",
      "created": 1742370702,
      "currency": "usd",
      "customer": null,
      "description": "...",
      "invoice": null,
      "last_payment_error": null,
      "latest_charge": "ch_3R4HPePKt2B4A0jv1iIdCvCq",
      "livemode": false,
      "metadata": {
        "$ref": "...",
        "organizationId": "01958c73-1288-79c2-962d-bf5a6222c0b3",
        "userId": "c33a3176-df7e-4468-9c73-85dbf2d59a67",
        "verificationRequestId": "0195ad56-994a-7f4a-ab80-57845e5eaf92"
      },
      "next_action": null,
      "on_behalf_of": null,
      "payment_method": "pm_1R4HPePKt2B4A0jvw9WM2wJO",
      "payment_method_configuration_details": null,
      "payment_method_options": {
        "card": {
          "installments": null,
          "mandate_options": null,
          "network": null,
          "request_three_d_secure": "automatic"
        }
      },
      "payment_method_types": [
        "card"
      ],
      "processing": null,
      "receipt_email": "...",
      "review": null,
      "setup_future_usage": null,
      "shipping": null,
      "source": null,
      "statement_descriptor": null,
      "statement_descriptor_suffix": "VERIFY",
      "status": "requires_capture",
      "transfer_data": null,
      "transfer_group": null
    }
  ],
  "has_more": false,
  "next_page": null,
  "url": "/v1/payment_intents/search"
}

To Reproduce

private async Task<IEnumerable<PaymentIntent>> GetMatchingStripePaymentIntents(IEnumerable<string> requestIds)
{
    if (requestIds.Count() > 10)
    {
        throw new InvalidOperationException("The number of search filters exceeds maximum limit of 10");
    }

    string searchQueryText = string.Join(" OR ", requestIds.Select(requestId => $"metadata[\"verificationRequestId\"]:\"{requestId}\""));

    PaymentIntentService paymentIntentService = new(_stripeClient);
    PaymentIntentSearchOptions searchOptions = new()
    {
        Query = searchQueryText,
    };

    List<PaymentIntent> paymentIntents = new();
    StripeSearchResult<PaymentIntent> searchResult;
    do
    {
        searchResult = await paymentIntentService.SearchAsync(searchOptions);
        paymentIntents.AddRange(searchResult.Where(e => e.Status != "canceled"));
    } while (searchResult.HasMore);

    return paymentIntents;
}

Expected behavior

I'm expecting to have a StripeSearchResult<PaymentIntent> object returned.

Code snippets

OS

Windows 11

.NET version

net9.0

Library version

stripe-dotnet 47.4.0

API version

2025-02-24.acacia

Additional context

No response

[jar-stripe]

Hi @trevonmckay , thanks for writing and sorry for the trouble! I am investigating this now. Can you tell me a bit about the "$ref" metadata key, i.e. is that something you/your integration adds, and what does it store? Also, can you take a look at the return from sessionService.Create(sessionCreateOptions); that results in an error and check to see if it has metadata with a key $ref?

Thanks!

[trevonmckay]

Hey @jar-stripe, yes, the "$ref" metadata key is used internally to reference the resource Id that is connected to the checkout and/or subscription. That key is also included in the return from sessionService.Create(sessionCreateOptions);

[jar-stripe]

Gotcha. I think that may be what's failing here; "$ref" is interpreted by Newtonsoft Json.NET when deserializing the API response. I'll look into how to work around that here.

Just to confirm, did you/your team pick that key name? Or is that a key you saw returned in a response object that you could use to hold the resource id? "$ref" can also be inserted by Newtonsoft on serialization, and I want to confirm our behavior here.

Thanks!

[jar-stripe]

Quick update: #3090 contains what I believe is the fix for the Invalid response object from API errors you were getting. I was able to confirm the issue on my end and test for it, but I hesitate to declare full success until we see it working in your environment. How severe is this issue for you, and ideally what is your deadline or ideal time for it to be fixed? And, are you able to upgrade to Stripe.net v48 to get the fix?

Thanks again for your patience while I work through this with you!

[trevonmckay]

@jar-stripe it's a name that we picked. Since we developed a workaround, I would say the severity is now Low. Yes, we can upgrade to v48 and let you know. I'll have an update by 4/8 at the latest. Thanks for the quick turnaround.

[ramya-stripe]

Thank you for working with us on this @trevonmckay

Closing this out, but don't hesitate to drop a comment if upgrading to v48 still does not help

[ramya-stripe]

Version 48.0.1 should have the fix