less than a minute read • Updated 2 hours ago
Checkout errors: hard errors, soft errors, and troubleshooting
The difference between hard errors from your payment gateway and soft errors from checkout validation, plus steps to troubleshoot unexpected checkout behavior.
Errors on the checkout fall into two categories: hard errors, which come from your payment gateway, and soft errors, which come from client-side validation.
Hard errors
Hard errors are supplied by your payment gateway — things like a declined card, a mismatched billing address, or other issues that prevent payment from going through. These are shown to the customer and recorded in your store’s error log.
Soft errors
Soft errors come from the checkout’s own JavaScript validation, giving customers immediate feedback without contacting the gateway — for example, a required field left empty, no shipping option selected, or a malformed email address. Soft errors are not recorded in your store’s error log.
Notes
If checkout behavior isn’t matching what you expect, especially after customizing the template, check the following:
Look for JavaScript errors using your browser’s developer tools.
Check for required fields that may have been hidden with CSS.
Confirm your checkout template has a doctype and is free of major HTML validation errors.
Contact Foxy support if the issue persists.