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Cancel Flow

The Cancel Flow API lets you capture why a customer wants to cancel, show them a targeted retention offer, and record the outcome — all through a simple three-endpoint flow.

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How It Works

1

Customer Initiates Cancellation

The customer clicks your cancel button. Your app calls the Cancel Flow API.
2

Reason Captured

The customer selects a cancellation reason from your UI. You submit it to Windback.
3

Offer Matched

Windback looks up the retention offer configured for that reason.
4

Offer Shown

Your app displays the offer to the customer using the response data.
5

Accepted or Declined

The customer accepts the offer (and stays) or declines it (and cancels). You report the outcome.
6

AI Follow-Up

If the customer declines, Windback can send an AI-generated recovery email. If they accept, a confirmation email is sent.

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Authentication

Cancel Flow endpoints use your public API key (prefix pub_). This key is safe to use in client-side code. 
-H "X-API-Key: pub_your_public_key"
The public key only grants access to Cancel Flow endpoints. It cannot read customer data or modify project settings.

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Rate Limits

Cancel Flow endpoints are rate-limited to 10 requests per 15 seconds per API key. If you exceed this limit, the API returns 429 Too Many Requests.

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Cancel Reasons

Windback supports eight standard cancellation reasons:
Reason KeyDescription
too_expensiveThe customer finds the price too high
missing_featuresA feature the customer needs is not available
switched_to_competitorThe customer is moving to another product
not_using_enoughThe customer does not use the product enough to justify the cost
technical_issuesThe customer is experiencing bugs or reliability problems
bad_supportThe customer is unhappy with support quality
temporary_pauseThe customer wants to pause, not permanently cancel
otherNone of the above reasons apply

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API Endpoints

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Submit Cancellation Reason

Submit the customer’s chosen cancellation reason and receive a matched retention offer. 
curl -X POST https://api.windbackai.com/api/v1/cancel-flow/submit \
  -H "X-API-Key: pub_your_public_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "customer_email": "jane@example.com",
    "reason": "too_expensive",
    "feedback": "I love the product but my budget was cut this quarter."
  }'
Response: 
{
  "cancel_flow_id": "cf_abc123",
  "reason": "too_expensive",
  "offer": {
    "offer_type": "discount",
    "title": "Stay for 20% Less",
    "description": "We'd hate to see you go. Here's 20% off your next 3 months.",
    "cta_button_text": "Apply Discount",
    "discount_percent": 20
  }
}
If no offer is configured for the given reason, the offer field will be null.

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Get Available Offers

Retrieve the retention offer for a specific cancel reason without submitting a cancellation. 
curl https://api.windbackai.com/api/v1/cancel-flow/offers?reason=too_expensive \
  -H "X-API-Key: pub_your_public_key"
Response: 
{
  "reason": "too_expensive",
  "offer": {
    "offer_type": "discount",
    "title": "Stay for 20% Less",
    "description": "We'd hate to see you go. Here's 20% off your next 3 months.",
    "cta_button_text": "Apply Discount",
    "discount_percent": 20
  }
}

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Accept an Offer

Record that the customer accepted the retention offer. 
curl -X POST https://api.windbackai.com/api/v1/cancel-flow/accept-offer \
  -H "X-API-Key: pub_your_public_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "cancel_flow_id": "cf_abc123",
    "customer_email": "jane@example.com"
  }'
Response: 
{
  "status": "offer_accepted",
  "cancel_flow_id": "cf_abc123",
  "message": "The discount has been applied. A confirmation email will be sent."
}

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SDK Usage

import Windback from "@windbackai/node";

const wb = new Windback({ apiKey: "pub_your_public_key" });

// 1. Submit cancellation reason
const { cancel_flow_id, offer } = await wb.cancelFlow.submit({
  customerEmail: "jane@example.com",
  reason: "too_expensive",
  feedback: "Budget was cut this quarter.",
});

// 2. Show offer in your UI...

// 3. If customer accepts
await wb.cancelFlow.acceptOffer({
  cancelFlowId: cancel_flow_id,
  customerEmail: "jane@example.com",
});

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Configuring Retention Offers

Each cancel reason can have a retention offer mapped to it. Configure offers in the dashboard under Settings > Retention Offers, or use the Retention Offers API.
Start by configuring offers for your top two or three cancellation reasons. You can see which reasons are most common in the Cancel Flow analytics section of your dashboard.

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Graceful Degradation

The Cancel Flow API is designed to work even when a customer’s subscription has already expired. If you call the endpoints after the subscription is no longer active:
  • The cancellation reason and feedback are still captured.
  • A retention offer is still returned (if configured).
  • Accepting the offer will flag the customer for manual follow-up by your team.
This means you can safely integrate the Cancel Flow into post-cancellation surveys and win-back pages without worrying about subscription state.