Refunds

CiteFlow auto-refunds credits based on what caused the audit to not complete. You never need to ask for a routine refund — the engine flags the failure reason, the refund worker applies the matrix, and a partner_credit_transactions row of type refund lands in your ledger.

Refund matrix

Failure reason	Refund	Why
`timeout`	50%	Engine consumed resources but didn't finish.
`engine_error`	50%	Trust signal — our infra problem, ~92% gross margin allows it.
`blocked_by_policy`	50%	Target site WAF/robots blocked us; we got partway.
`partner_input`	0%	The request itself was bad (e.g. URL doesn't resolve, returns 404).
`cancelled_by_user` (queued)	100%	No engine work started.
`cancelled_by_user` (processing)	50%	Engine already running.

Numbers are floor()-rounded credits. Example: a 150-credit all audit that times out refunds floor(150 * 0.50) = 75 credits.

Where you see the refund

`GET /audit/{id}` response

{
  "data": {
    "status": "failed",
    "failure_reason": "timeout",
    "credits": { "charged": 150, "refunded": 75 }
  }
}

Webhook event

audit.failed and audit.cancelled carry the refund amount:

{
  "type": "audit.failed",
  "data": {
    "audit_id": "...",
    "status": "failed",
    "failure_reason": "timeout",
    "credits": { "charged": 150, "refunded": 75 }
  }
}

Email

CiteFlow sends a Refund Issued email per refund, batched if multiple land in a short window.

Ledger

/dashboard/api/billing shows a partner_credit_transactions table with type='refund'. The related_audit_id column links back to the failed audit.

Idempotency

The refund worker is idempotent: it only refunds if partner_audits.credits_refunded == 0. Re-running it (manually or via re-delivery) is safe.

Manual refunds

If something is missed (rare), email partners@citeflow.io with the audit_id and request_id. Our team can issue a one-off partner_credit_transactions row of type adjustment.

What's NOT refunded

Successful audits — even if the scores were low.
Audits cancelled in a terminal state — they already paid out per the matrix.
Cancelled top-ups — Stripe Checkout sessions that never paid don't create credits; nothing to refund. Buyer can simply not pay.

Refunds

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