WC Installment Payments Engine

Enterprise-grade installment payment processing for WooCommerce.

This plugin implements a robust, event-driven payment engine designed to decouple payment scheduling from the immediate checkout flow. It prioritizes data integrity, automatic recovery, and observability over simple integration.

Key Architectural Highlights

• Service-Locator Pattern: Lightweight orchestration via a centralized Plugin class to manage dependencies and lazy-loading.
• Custom Data Layer: Dedicated SQL tables (via dbDelta) for high-performance querying, decoupling financial state from the heavy wp_posts table.
• Resilient Scheduling: A self-healing background worker that handles retries and failures without blocking the main thread.
• Penny-Perfect Calculation: Financial arithmetic engine ensuring zero-cent loss during installment splitting.
• Security First: HMAC-signed webhooks for secure communication with external recovery systems.

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Table of Contents

• WC Installment Payments Engine
  • Key Architectural Highlights
  • Table of Contents
  • Project Structure
  • Data Architecture
    • Plan Repository (wp_wcip_installment_plans)
    • Payment Ledger (wp_wcip_installment_payments)
  • Core Workflows
    • 1. Checkout \& Plan Generation
    • 2. The Scheduler Loop
    • 3. Retry Strategy (Smart Recovery)
    • 4. Webhook Dispatcher (Recovery)
    • Admin Interface
    • Plan List View
    • Plan Detail View
  • Installation \& Configuration
  • Development Notes
    • Debugging \& Logs
    • Manual Triggering
  • Future Roadmap

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Project Structure

The codebase follows PSR-4 standards and separates concerns into logical domains (Core, Payments, Admin).

wc-installment-payments/
├── wc-installment-payments.php       # Entry Point: Bootstrap & Hook Registration
├── uninstall.php                     # Teardown: Clean up SQL/Options
├── src/
│   ├── Plugin.php                    # Orchestrator: Dependency Injection & Wiring
│   ├── Core/                         # Infrastructure Layer
│   │   ├── Activator.php             # Schema Migration (dbDelta)
│   │   ├── Deactivator.php           # Cron Cleanup
│   │   ├── Scheduler.php             # Cron Event Handler
│   │   └── WebhookDispatcher.php     # External Notification Service (HMAC)
│   ├── Payments/                     # Domain Logic Layer
│   │   ├── PlanManager.php           # DAO for Installment Plans
│   │   ├── PaymentManager.php        # DAO for Individual Transactions
│   │   ├── CheckoutHandler.php       # WooCommerce Integration Bridge
│   │   └── RetryStrategy.php         # Algorithm: Recovery Logic (Pure PHP)
│   └── Admin/                        # Presentation Layer
│       ├── AdminMenu.php             # Routing & Controllers
│       ├── PlanListTable.php         # WP_List_Table Implementation
│       └── PlanDetailView.php        # Detailed Reporting View
└── README.md

Data Architecture

The engine bypasses standard WordPress Post Meta to ensure ACID-compliant transactions and efficient querying for high-volume stores.

Plan Repository (wp_wcip_installment_plans)

Represents the "parent" agreement linked to the WooCommerce Order.

Payment Ledger (wp_wcip_installment_payments)

Represents the individual transaction schedule.

Note: Foreign Keys are logical at this stage to maintain compatibility with dbDelta, but the application layer enforces integrity.

Core Workflows

1. Checkout & Plan Generation

• Handler: src/Payments/CheckoutHandler.php
• Hook: woocommerce_checkout_order_processed

When an order exceeds the configured threshold (e.g., 100€), the system engages the Installment Engine:

1. Transaction Start: Initiates an SQL transaction (START TRANSACTION).
2. Plan Initialization: Creates the parent record.
3. Penny-Perfect Calculation: Splits the total ensuring no floating-point errors.

   Example: 100€ / 3 installments Result: 33.33 + 33.33 + 33.34

4. Ledger Creation:
   • Installment 1: Marked paid (captured by standard WC Checkout).
   • Installment 2+: Marked pending with future due_date (D+30, D+60).
5. Commit: Finalizes the transaction.

2. The Scheduler Loop

• Handler: src/Core/Scheduler.php
• Cron Event: wcip_hourly_process

The background worker operates on a "Fetch-Lock-Process" model to handle high throughput:

1. Fetch: PaymentManager::get_due_payments() retrieves all pending items where due_date <= NOW().
2. Process: Iterates through payments securely (try/catch block per item).
3. Execute: Calls StripeService::charge_saved_card() (Simulation).
4. Result:
   • Success: Updates status to paid.
   • Failure: Triggers wcip_payment_failed action.

3. Retry Strategy (Smart Recovery)

• Handler: src/Payments/RetryStrategy.php
• Type: Pure PHP logic (Unit Testable)

The system implements a deterministic recovery strategy to maximize revenue recovery while minimizing gateway spam.

• Trigger: Payment failure in Scheduler.
• Logic:
  • Attempt 1 fail → Reschedule to D+3
  • Attempt 2 fail → Reschedule to D+7
  • Attempt 3 fail → Reschedule to D+14
  • Attempt 4 fail → Hard Failure
• Outcome:
  • If retrying: Status remains pending, due_date updated.
  • If exhausted: Status becomes failed_final, Plan becomes breach, wcip_payment_failed_final action fired.

4. Webhook Dispatcher (Recovery)

• Handler: src/Core/WebhookDispatcher.php

Upon a failed_final event, the system dispatches a secure notification to external dunning/collections software.

Security Specification:

• Method: POST (Async/Non-blocking)
• Signature: X-WCIP-Signature header containing HMAC-SHA256 of the payload.
• Verification: Receiver uses the shared secret_key to validate payload integrity and origin.

Admin Interface

The plugin extends the WooCommerce dashboard to provide full visibility into the installment ledger.

Plan List View

Located at WooCommerce → Installment Plans. Built on top of the native WP_List_Table for consistency with WordPress UI standards. Includes:

• Sortable columns
• Status badges
• Pagination

Plan Detail View

Provides a granular view of a specific plan, including:

• Summary metrics (Total paid, remaining).
• Detailed schedule table (Stripe IDs, attempt counts, last error logs).

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Installation & Configuration

1. Deploy: Upload the wc-installment-payments directory to wp-content/plugins/.

2. Activate: Enable via WP Admin. Database migrations run automatically via Activator::activate().

3. Configure keys: Go to WooCommerce → Installment Settings and set:

   • Stripe API key
   • Webhook URL
   • Webhook secret

   Alternatively, you can define constants in wp-config.php:

   • WCIP_STRIPE_API_KEY
   • WCIP_WEBHOOK_URL
   • WCIP_WEBHOOK_SECRET

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Development Notes

Debugging & Logs

The system writes to the standard PHP error_log for critical events:

• Transaction rollbacks during checkout.
• Scheduler execution times and batch counts.
• Webhook response codes.

Manual Triggering

To force the scheduler without waiting for WP-Cron (useful for local dev):

wp cron event run wcip_hourly_process

You can also use WooCommerce → Payment Plans → Direct URL (nonce-protected) to trigger the scheduler and redirect back to the list.

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Future Roadmap

• Multi-gateway Support: Extend beyond Stripe to support PayPal, Braintree, etc.
• Advanced Analytics: Dashboard with revenue projections and success rates.
• Customer Portal: Frontend interface for customers to manage their installment plans.
• API Endpoints: RESTful API for third-party integrations.