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Stripe Dispute Workflow Implementation

This document implements the dispute automation plan with a production-ready checklist you can execute in Stripe Dashboard Workflows and your internal webhook service.

1) Workflow Scope

Automate these Stripe events first:

• charge.dispute.created (primary intake trigger)
• radar.early_fraud_warning.created (optional pre-dispute prevention)
• charge.dispute.closed (outcome sync)

Expected outcomes per event:

• Notify risk/ops immediately
• Create internal task/ticket
• Trigger internal webhook for evidence assembly
• Route to manual review when policy or data checks fail

2) Prerequisites

Before enabling automation:

• Stripe Workflows is enabled on the target account.
• Destinations are ready:
  • Email recipients
  • Slack channel/webhook
  • Internal dispute webhook endpoint
• Policy thresholds are documented:
  • Amount threshold(s)
  • Dispute reason/category rules
  • Card network rules
  • Region-specific fee handling rules

3) Create the Workflow (Dashboard)

1. Go to Stripe Dashboard → Workflows → New workflow.
2. Name: Dispute Intake - High Priority.
3. Environment: confirm Sandbox first, then Production.

4) Trigger Configuration

Primary trigger:

• Event: charge.dispute.created

Additional workflows (recommended):

• radar.early_fraud_warning.created for low-value auto-refund policy
• charge.dispute.closed for closing internal tasks and metrics updates

5) Condition Logic

Apply branching logic in this order:

1. Amount threshold
   • Example: dispute.amount >= 100000 (in minor currency units).
2. Dispute reason/category
   • Include/exclude targeted reasons.
3. Optional metadata/risk filters
   • Merchant segment, customer risk tag, country/network markers.
4. Fallback condition
   • If required data is missing, route to manual review branch.

6) Actions by Branch

A) Standard auto-processing branch

• Send immediate Slack/email alert with:
  • dispute.id
  • charge
  • amount
  • reason
  • evidence_details.due_by
• Create internal task/ticket with:
  • Owner/team
  • Priority from amount + due date
  • Required evidence checklist
• Trigger internal webhook for evidence assembly.

B) Escalation branch (deadline risk or high value)

• Send high-priority escalation alert.
• Increase ticket priority.
• Notify backup/on-call channel.

C) Manual intervention branch

• Trigger when:
  • data is incomplete
  • policy check fails
  • API/upload action fails
• Open task with explicit failure reason and next action.

7) Safety Controls (Required)

Implement these controls in the internal webhook handler:

• Verify Stripe webhook signatures.
• Idempotency keyed by dispute.id.
• Retry transient failures (exponential backoff).
• Dead-letter queue for hard failures.
• Per-dispute processing lock to prevent duplicates.
• Deadline guardrails using evidence_details.due_by.

8) Internal Webhook Contract

Recommended payload sent from workflow action:

{
  "event_type": "charge.dispute.created",
  "dispute_id": "dp_...",
  "charge_id": "ch_...",
  "payment_intent_id": "pi_...",
  "amount": 100000,
  "currency": "usd",
  "reason": "fraudulent",
  "network": "visa",
  "due_by": 1735689600,
  "account": "acct_..."
}

Required webhook response behavior:

• 2xx: accepted for processing
• 4xx: validation/policy error (route to manual review)
• 5xx: retry path

9) Sandbox Test Matrix

Run tests for each path:

1. High-value dispute → escalation branch.
2. Low-value dispute → standard branch.
3. Missing required fields → manual intervention branch.
4. Simulated webhook failure → retry + dead-letter behavior.
5. Duplicate event delivery → single processing outcome.
6. Deadline-near scenario → urgent escalation.

Validate:

• Alerts are sent correctly.
• Ticket/task is created with complete context.
• Webhook payload is correct.
• No duplicate task or duplicate evidence submission behavior.

10) Publish Strategy

Rollout sequence:

1. Deploy in production with monitoring enabled.
2. Limit initial scope (single reason code or threshold segment).
3. Expand to full policy after stable results.

11) Monitoring and Tuning

Track weekly:

• Response-before-deadline rate
• Automation success rate
• Manual review volume
• Duplicate event handling accuracy
• Failure causes by branch/action

Operational loop:

• Review failed runs weekly.
• Tune thresholds/conditions/actions.
• Version every workflow policy change.
• Keep audit log of policy updates and approvers.