The short answer
Reconcile webhook replay by freezing the affected endpoint and time window, retrieving provider event and current-object evidence, classifying missing, duplicate, modified, and out-of-order events, then processing each stable event identity through an idempotent handler. Validate the resulting business state rather than assuming HTTP success means recovery.
Key takeaways
Define the incident population
Record the provider account/environment, endpoint version, signing configuration, first and last known good receipts, outage or error interval, deployment/config changes, queue/dead-letter state, and workflows that consume the events. Preserve raw payload references under the appropriate sensitive-data controls.
Stripe documents that webhook endpoints should handle duplicate events and should not depend on receiving events in order. Provider behavior differs, so use the current event-retrieval, signature, and retry guidance for the actual integration.
Build an event-to-effect ledger
List provider event IDs, object IDs and versions where available, event creation and receipt times, verification result, handler version, processing attempts, and downstream effects. Retrieve current object state before deciding what a historical event should do.
| Event condition | Question | Replay control |
|---|---|---|
| Missing locally | Does provider evidence show the event/object transition? | Ingest once with original identity |
| Duplicate receipt | Was this event ID already accepted? | Acknowledge without duplicating effect |
| Out of order | Is the event still applicable to current version/state? | Apply state-aware rule or record no-op |
| Payload/schema mismatch | Can the archived payload be processed safely? | Use compatible handler or manual resolution |
| Effect uncertain | Did an earlier attempt create a charge, message, or record? | Reconcile effect before another attempt |
Validate business outcomes after technical replay
Compare provider objects, the event ledger, target records, and consequential effects such as ledger updates, messages, work dispatch, or payment state. HTTP 200, an empty queue, or matching event counts cannot show that each effect is correct.
Close with the affected interval, events recovered, duplicates suppressed, events intentionally ignored and why, unresolved effects, handler/config correction, owner, reviewer, and monitoring window.
Reconcile manual work before the recovered endpoint takes authority
If people used spreadsheets, alternate messages, or provider dashboards during the outage, add those business actions to the event-to-effect ledger. Mark completed, uncertain, expired, and not-attempted items before replay.
Set one explicit checkpoint at which manual creation stops and automated processing resumes. Continue monitoring late provider events so the recovered endpoint cannot duplicate the manual interval.
Disposition the dead-letter population before selecting a replay batch
A dead-letter queue needs its own denominator, entry reasons, retention and original-age semantics, business and technical owners, and per-message disposition. Classify safe-to-redrive, transform, already applied, manual or compensated, quarantined, irrelevant with evidence, and expired or lost items.
Freeze the selected batch, destination, rate, order assumptions, code version, abort condition, and monitoring. After processing, reconcile returned failures and downstream effects; an empty queue is not sufficient evidence of correct recovery.
Operational checklist
Mark your progress, then save a working copy. Selections reset when you leave this page. A checked box is not an approval or evidence of completion.
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Edge cases
Sources and references
Follow each source to check the underlying claim. Access checks and professional review are different steps.