Stripe No such customer: test/live key mismatch and the self-heal fix
# Stripe No such customer: test/live key mismatch and the self-heal fix
## The symptom
`StripeInvalidRequestError: No such customer: 'cus_...'`, code `resource_missing`, param `customer`, HTTP 400. Sometimes Stripe adds the hint: "a similar object exists in test mode, but a live mode key was used to make this request."
## Confirm the cause
Three usual causes, check in order:
1. **Test/live mismatch.** The id was created under `sk_test` and the request uses `sk_live` (or vice versa). Stripe objects live in exactly one mode. This is the classic post-launch bug: test-mode customer ids stored in your DB before the cutover.
2. **Wrong account.** The key belongs to a different Stripe account than the one that created the object.
3. **Deleted object.** Someone deleted the customer in the dashboard.
Log which key prefix made the call and compare against where the id was minted.
## The fix
Make checkout self-heal instead of crashing. Catch the specific error and retry once with a fresh customer:
```js
function isStaleCustomerError(err) {
return err.code === 'resource_missing' && err.param === 'customer';
}
try {
session = await stripe.checkout.sessions.create({ customer: storedId, ... });
} catch (err) {
if (isStaleCustomerError(err)) {
const fresh = await stripe.customers.create({ email: user.email });
await db.users.update({ stripe_customer_id: fresh.id });
session = await stripe.checkout.sessions.create({ customer: fresh.id, ... });
} else throw err;
}
```
Scope the catch narrowly: only `resource_missing` on the `customer` param. A missing price or a decline must keep failing loudly; minting a customer for those hides the real error. Retry once, not in a loop.
Also fix the root cause: make sure every Stripe env var (secret key, webhook secret, price ids) comes from the same account *and* mode. A mode flip orphans all three at once.
## Verify the fix
In test mode, store a bogus customer id, attempt checkout, and confirm the code mints a fresh customer, persists it, and completes. Confirm a genuinely different error (bad price id) still surfaces instead of healing. After any test-to-live cutover, run one live checkout end to end before announcing.
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