How can I differentiate handling of same Stripe events on two webhook endpoints in Node.js?

Below is an explanation of approaches and best practices for handling multiple webhook endpoints on the same server when they subscribe to the same event type.

Why Both Endpoints May Be Receiving the Events

Stripe delivers events based on the webhook configurations you set up in your account settings. If both endpoints are configured to listen for the same event (e.g. payment_intent.succeeded) and are part of the same Stripe account’s webhook settings, then Stripe will deliver the event to all matching endpoints. In your case, it sounds like one endpoint ("/webhook/stripe") is processing every payment_intent event regardless of the intended purpose.

Approaches to Differentiate Event Handling

1. Single Endpoint with Conditional Dispatch
   One common solution is to have a single webhook endpoint configured in your Stripe account. In that endpoint, inspect the event payload and then route the event to different internal handlers based on event characteristics. For example:

   • For Connect events: Stripe adds an additional account attribute when an event occurs on a connected account. You can use this attribute to determine if the event should be handled differently.
   • For standalone events: Process differently if the account attribute is not present (or based on other metadata).

   Example (Node.js pseudocode):

   JAVASCRIPTCopied
   app.post('/webhook', (req, res) => {
     const event = req.body;
   
     // Verify Stripe signature here
   
     if (event.type === 'payment_intent.succeeded') {
       // Check for Connect events based on the presence of the `account` attribute
       if ('account' in event) {
         // Process with /webhook/stripe-connect logic
         handleConnectPaymentIntent(event);
       } else {
         // Process with /webhook/stripe logic
         handleStandardPaymentIntent(event);
       }
     }
     
     // Acknowledge receipt
     res.json({received: true});
   });

2. Separate Endpoints with Targeted Configuration
   If you prefer to have two separate endpoints ("/webhook/stripe" and "/webhook/stripe-connect"), you must configure each endpoint separately in your Stripe Dashboard. That means:

   • Only subscribing the standard account events to the /webhook/stripe endpoint.
   • Setting up a Connect-specific webhook endpoint in your account settings (or via Connect integrations) so that events from connected accounts are only sent to /webhook/stripe-connect.

   Key Considerations:

   • Webhook Configuration: In Stripe’s Dashboard, when configuring a Connect webhook endpoint, the events sent include the extra account attribute. Ensure that your configuration segregates the events properly.
   • API Mode: With Connect, you can have endpoints that only get test or live events. Verify that your endpoints are correctly filtered (for example, using the livemode property) if you are using both test and live modes.

Summary

• Single Endpoint Approach: Use one webhook endpoint and implement logic to dispatch events to the appropriate handler based on event data (e.g. check for the account attribute).
• Separate Endpoint Approach: Use separate webhook configurations in the Stripe Dashboard so that each endpoint receives only the events intended for it. This setup often involves having a Connect-specific webhook endpoint configured to receive events from connected accounts.

Using either of these approaches will allow you to keep both endpoints on the same server while handling the same event type in different ways. If you opt for separate endpoints, double-check your webhook configuration in the Dashboard to ensure that events are routed as expected.