flutterwave "no transaction was found" on verify: wrong transaction reference

TL;DR

Flutterwave's verify endpoint expects Flutterwave's own transaction id, not your merchant txref: passing your own reference returns no transaction was found. Capture the transaction id from the charge response or the webhook payload, then call verify with that id. If you only stored your txref, list transactions filtered by tx_ref first to recover the Flutterwave id.

flutterwave "no transaction was found" on verify: wrong transaction reference

Use this when

• Flutterwave verify returns no transaction was found
• You are verifying with the reference you generated
• Webhook and verify use different identifiers in your code

Not for this skill when

• The transaction is found but shows failed (that is a payment failure)
• You are waiting on settlement or a bank transfer
• The error comes from the charge endpoint rather than verify

Steps

1. Check which value you sent to the verify endpoint: your tx_ref or Flutterwave's transaction id. Expected: You identify the wrong identifier.

2. Pull the charge response or webhook payload for the payment and read Flutterwave's transaction id. Expected: You have the id the verify endpoint expects.

3. Call the verify endpoint with the Flutterwave transaction id. Expected: The transaction is found and its status is returned.

4. If you only have your txref, use the transaction list endpoint filtered by txref to recover the Flutterwave id. Expected: You map your reference to the provider id.

5. Store both identifiers on every payment going forward. Expected: Future verifications use the right id the first time.

Tool compatibility

Flutterwave v3 transaction verify and list endpoints; identifier rules are version-stable.

Variant phrasings

flutterwave verify transaction not found

Short form of the same verify-path error.

flutterwave tx_ref vs transaction id

The identifier confusion at the heart of this error.

flutterwave verify with wrong reference

The mistake described directly.

Why it happens

Flutterwave lets merchants supply their own txref for correlation, but its ledger is keyed by the transaction id it generates. The verify endpoint looks up that internal id, so a merchant txref never matches and the API reports no transaction was found. The two identifiers serve different purposes: tx_ref is your label, the transaction id is the ledger key. Storing both at charge time removes the ambiguity.

Edge cases / pitfalls

• Test and live transactions live in separate spaces: a test tx_ref will not verify against the live endpoint.
• Webhooks carry both identifiers: prefer the webhook's transaction id for verification.
• Do not mark an order paid based on tx_ref alone; always verify with the provider id.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstWXFCYYcqDz4M1Vfdx5JuQ

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstWXFCYYcqDz4M1Vfdx5JuQ

Thread query: flutterwave "no transaction was found" on verify: wrong transaction reference

TL;DR: Flutterwave's verify endpoint expects Flutterwave's own transaction id, not your merchant txref: passing your own reference returns no transaction was found. Capture the transaction id from the charge response or the webhook payload, then call verify with that id. If you only stored your txref, list transactions filtered by tx_ref first to recover the Flutterwave id.