medusa-cart-checkout

Medusa v2 Cart and Checkout

Before writing code

Fetch live docs:

1. Web-search site:docs.medusajs.com cart module for cart data model and service methods
2. Web-search site:docs.medusajs.com checkout flow for the end-to-end checkout process
3. Web-search site:docs.medusajs.com sales channel for sales channel scoping
4. Fetch https://docs.medusajs.com/resources/references/cart and review the ICartModuleService interface
5. Web-search medusajs v2 cart workflow 2026 for latest cart-related workflow steps

Cart Lifecycle

Flow

Create Cart ──> Add Line Items ──> Set Address
  ──> Select Shipping ──> Init Payment ──> Complete

Cart States

State	Description
Active	Cart is open, items can be added/removed
Completing	Checkout in progress, payment being processed
Completed	Cart converted to order, no further modifications

Cart Data Model

Entity	Key Fields
Cart	region_id, customer_id, sales_channel_id, email
LineItems[]	variant_id, quantity, unit_price, Adjustments[]
ShippingMethods[]	shipping_option_id, amount, data
Addresses	shipping_address, billing_address
PaymentCollection	PaymentSessions[]

Module Architecture

Link Target	Purpose
Product Module	Variant resolution
Region Module	Currency, tax rules
Sales Channel Module	Storefront scoping
Promotion Module	Discount application
Payment Module	Payment sessions
Fulfillment Module	Shipping methods

Fetch live docs for cross-module link definitions and remoteQuery usage for cart enrichment.

Checkout Steps

Step 1: Create Cart

// Skeleton: create cart in storefront
// Fetch live docs for createCartWorkflow input
const cart = await createCartWorkflow(container)
  .run({ input: { region_id, sales_channel_id } })
// Fetch live docs for required vs optional fields

Step 2: Add Line Items

Workflow	Purpose
addToCartWorkflow	Add variant + quantity to cart
updateLineItemInCartWorkflow	Update quantity of existing item
deleteLineItemsWorkflow	Remove items from cart

Step 3: Set Addresses

Field	Required	Notes
first_name / last_name	Yes
address_1	Yes	Street address
city	Yes
country_code	Yes	ISO 2-letter code
postal_code	Conditional	Required by region
province	Conditional	State/province

Step 4: Select Shipping Option

Available options determined by cart region, shipping address, and shipping profiles.

Workflow	Purpose
listShippingOptionsForCartWorkflow	Fetch available options
addShippingMethodToCartWorkflow	Apply selected shipping option

Step 5: Initialize Payment

Workflow	Purpose
createPaymentCollectionForCartWorkflow	Create payment collection
initializePaymentSessionWorkflow	Start provider-specific session

Step 6: Complete Cart

Workflow	Purpose
completeCartWorkflow	Convert cart to order

Completion validates: all items in stock, shipping selected, payment authorized, email set.

Fetch live docs for the exact validation checks performed during cart completion.

Sales Channels

Concept	Description
Sales Channel	Named storefront scope (e.g., "Web", "Mobile App", "B2B")
Publishable API Key	Associates Store API requests with a sales channel
Product-Channel Link	Products published to specific channels

• Each cart belongs to one sales channel
• Store API requests must include x-publishable-api-key header
• Products not linked to the cart's channel are unavailable

Fetch live docs for publishable API key configuration and sales channel management.

Store API Routes

Route Pattern	Method	Purpose
/store/carts	POST	Create cart
/store/carts/:id	GET	Retrieve cart
/store/carts/:id	POST	Update cart (email, address)
/store/carts/:id/line-items	POST	Add line item
/store/carts/:id/line-items/:item_id	POST/DELETE	Update/remove line item
/store/carts/:id/shipping-methods	POST	Add shipping method
/store/carts/:id/payment-collections	POST	Create payment collection
/store/carts/:id/complete	POST	Complete checkout

Fetch live docs for request body shapes and response formats on each route.

Best Practices

Cart Management

• Always create carts with a region_id -- it determines currency, tax rules, and shipping
• Use sales_channel_id to scope product availability per storefront
• Store custom checkout data in cart metadata (e.g., gift messages, notes)

Checkout Flow

• Validate addresses before shipping option selection -- options depend on the destination
• Re-fetch shipping options after address changes (available options may differ)
• Initialize payment sessions only after shipping is selected (total must include shipping)
• Handle cart completion errors gracefully -- display specific validation failures to the user

Performance

• Use remoteQuery to enrich cart data (product details, images) in a single query
• Cache shipping options per region + address combination to reduce API calls

Security

• Never expose payment session secrets to the client
• Validate cart ownership (customer or anonymous session) on every mutation
• Use publishable API keys to enforce sales channel scoping

Fetch the Medusa v2 cart module documentation and checkout workflow references for exact service method signatures, workflow inputs, and validation rules before implementing.