Panel/Website/QUICK_DEBUG_REFERENCE.md

PayPal Payment Flow - Quick Debug Reference

Quick Commands

View recent errors:

cd /home/runner/work/GSP/GSP/modules/billing/logs

# Last 50 lines of create order log
tail -50 paypal_create_order.log

# Last 50 lines of capture log  
tail -50 paypal_capture.log

# Last 50 lines of client errors
tail -50 client_errors.log

Watch logs live:

# In terminal, run:
tail -f /home/runner/work/GSP/GSP/modules/billing/logs/paypal_*.log

Search for specific error:

# Find all OAuth errors
grep "OAUTH.*ERROR" paypal_create_order.log paypal_capture.log

# Find database errors
grep "DB.*FAILED" paypal_capture.log

# Find a specific request by ID
grep "req_12345" paypal_create_order.log

Common Error Patterns

❌ "JSON error" or "unable to handle this request"

What to check:

1. Browser console (F12 → Console tab) for JavaScript errors
2. client_errors.log for client-side issues
3. paypal_create_order.log for JSON_DECODE_ERROR

Quick fix:

• Check if cart items are valid
• Verify amount calculations are correct
• Look for PHP errors that might corrupt JSON output

---

❌ HTTP ERROR 500

What to check:

1. paypal_create_order.log for CREATE_ORDER_HTTP_ERROR
2. paypal_capture.log for CAPTURE_HTTP_ERROR
3. Look for OAUTH.*ERROR entries

Quick fix:

• Verify PayPal credentials are correct
• Check PayPal API status: https://www.paypal-status.com/
• Verify sandbox vs live mode settings match credentials

---

❌ Payment seems successful but no order created

What to check:

1. paypal_capture.log for DB_CONNECTION_FAILED
2. Look for UPDATE_INVOICES_FAILED
3. Check ORDER_CREATE_FAILED

Quick fix:

• Verify database connection settings
• Check if ogp_billing_invoices table exists
• Verify ogp_billing_orders table exists
• Check table permissions

---

❌ Intermittent failures (works sometimes, fails sometimes)

What to check:

1. Compare successful vs failed requests in logs
2. Look for timeout errors (CURL.*ERROR)
3. Check for database connection pool exhaustion

Quick fix:

• Check server load/resources
• Verify network connectivity to PayPal API
• Check for rate limiting

Log File Locations

/home/runner/work/GSP/GSP/modules/billing/logs/
├── paypal_create_order.log    # Order creation (when clicking "Pay")
├── paypal_capture.log          # Payment capture (after PayPal approval)
└── client_errors.log           # JavaScript/browser errors

Request ID Format

• Create order: req_XXXXXXXXXXXXX
• Capture order: cap_XXXXXXXXXXXXX

When user sees an error with (Ref: req_abc123), search logs for that ID.

Important Log Labels

Create Order Flow:

• REQUEST_START → RAW_INPUT → PARSED_INPUT
• OAUTH_REQUEST_START → OAUTH_SUCCESS
• CREATE_ORDER_REQUEST_START → CREATE_ORDER_SUCCESS

Capture Order Flow:

• REQUEST_START → PARSED_INPUT
• OAUTH_SUCCESS → CAPTURE_SUCCESS
• DB_CONNECTED → PROCESSING_INVOICES
• ORDER_CREATED_SUCCESS or ORDER_EXTENDED_SUCCESS

Error Labels:

• *_ERROR - Something went wrong
• *_FAILED - Operation failed
• INVALID_* - Invalid input/data

Browser Console Debugging

1. Open cart page
2. Press F12 to open DevTools
3. Go to Console tab
4. Click "Pay with PayPal"
5. Watch for:
   • Red error messages
   • PayPal Error: logs
   • Network errors (check Network tab)

Testing Checklist

When testing payments:

• Check browser console for errors
• Note the Ref ID if error occurs
• Check paypal_create_order.log for the request
• Check paypal_capture.log if got past order creation
• Verify database tables exist and have data
• Check PayPal sandbox account activity

Need More Help?

See full guide: PAYPAL_DEBUGGING_GUIDE.md

Key Configuration Files

• PayPal credentials: api/create_order.php and api/capture_order.php

  • Lines 5-6: $client_id and $client_secret
  • Line 4: $sandbox (true/false)

• Database config: includes/config.inc.php

  • $db_host, $db_user, $db_pass, $db_name
  • $table_prefix

Status Checklist for Issues

When user reports error:

1. Get details:

   • What error message did they see?
   • What was the Ref ID (if shown)?
   • Can they reproduce it?

2. Check logs:

   • Find the request by Ref ID
   • Look for ERROR or FAILED labels
   • Check surrounding context (before/after)

3. Verify config:

   • PayPal credentials valid?
   • Database connection working?
   • Correct sandbox/live mode?

4. Test:

   • Try creating test order
   • Watch logs in real-time
   • Check database for created records