Subscription renewal skipped: pre-release and first 30 minutes checklists

Scheduled renewals do not run or run with stale plan data after a billing job change.

The pre-release checklist maps each item to a test class from the incident page. The first-30-minutes checklist covers detection, containment, the rollback decision and customer communication.

7 pre-release items · 7 first-30-minutes items · verified 2026-10-21

Pre-release checklist

PR-01Write a unit test that feeds the subscription renewal handler a gateway response with missing fields and confirm it records a handled failure instead of raising a null pointer exception. unit
PR-02Write a unit test for the collect-invoice handler with each documented direct debit gateway error response and confirm each one marks the transaction failed with a reason. unit
PR-03Run a subscription renewal through the direct debit gateway sandbox after any change to the payment code path and confirm the renewal invoice is collected. integration
PR-04Run the scheduled renewal job in staging against memberships whose renewal date is today and confirm each one is renewed or recorded as failed. integration
PR-05Compare the count of memberships due for renewal with the count the renewal job processed in that staging run and confirm the two match. integration
PR-06After a system-wide change, list every scheduled billing job it touches and run each one once in staging before release. integration
PR-07Re-run the renewal job twice for the same date in staging and confirm no membership is renewed or charged twice. integration

First 30 minutes

FM-01Compare the number of memberships due for renewal today with the number the renewal job processed.
FM-02Search the collect-invoice and subscription renewal logs for null pointer exceptions since the last deploy.
FM-03Count failed renewal transactions per payment gateway to find whether one gateway carries all the failures.
FM-04If the failures began with a recent application change, roll that change back or patch its error handling before the next scheduled run.
FM-05After the fix is deployed, re-run the renewal job for every missed date and confirm the affected memberships are updated.
FM-06Post a status notice naming the affected renewal type or gateway and the date the failures started.
FM-07Tell affected customers whether their renewal will be retried automatically or needs action from them.

Download the checklist

Pre-release checklist (Markdown)1.6 KB · v1.0.0
First 30 minutes checklist (Markdown)1.1 KB · v1.0.0

Only in this checklist

Every test class in this checklist also appears in at least one sibling checklist in the group; the item texts differ: Write a unit test that feeds the subscription renewal handler a gateway response with missing fields and confirm it records a handled failure instead of raising a null pointer exception.

Questions

What should be checked before a release to prevent Subscription renewal skipped?

7 pre-release items, PR-01 to PR-07. PR-01: Write a unit test that feeds the subscription renewal handler a gateway response with missing fields and confirm it records a handled failure instead of raising a null pointer exception.

Is there a rollback plan for Subscription renewal skipped?

The first-30-minutes checklist has 7 items. FM-01: Compare the number of memberships due for renewal today with the number the renewal job processed.

What should a team do in the first 30 minutes after Subscription renewal skipped is detected?

The first-30-minutes checklist has 7 items. FM-01: Compare the number of memberships due for renewal today with the number the renewal job processed.

Is a Subscription renewal skipped checklist still needed if deployment is automated?

Yes. Automation runs the steps; the checklist names what the tests must cover: unit tests and integration tests.

Which pipeline stages does the Subscription renewal skipped checklist cover?

The pre-release items map to the pre-merge and pre-deploy stages.

In what formats can the Subscription renewal skipped checklist be downloaded?

Both checklists download as Markdown files: /downloads/subscription-renewal-skipped-pre-release.md and /downloads/subscription-renewal-skipped-first-30-minutes.md, licensed CC BY 4.0.