Release authorization

The release_authorization operation releases previously held credits back to the usable balance, effectively canceling an existing authorization (hold).

API Behavior

Reverses an earlier authorize operation.
Moves credits from held (reserved) → usable balance.
No consumption occurs as part of this operation.
Always releases the entire remaining held amount; partial releases are not supported.
Once released, the hold is considered closed.

Requirements

Requires the authorization_id of the original authorize request.

Business Use Cases

Cancellation flows When an authorized action is no longer needed.

Failure recovery Downstream processing fails after authorization.

Timeout handling Manual alternative to auto-release on hold expiry.

Usage

Ensures held credits are fully returned to the usable balance, preventing funds from remaining locked.

The response returns ledger_operations (and, for compatibility, a deprecated singular ledger_operation), the updated ledger_account_balance, the affected grant_blocks, and the ledger_entries recorded by this operation.

Sample Request

Sample Result[JSON]

URL Format

POST https://[site].chargebee.com/api/v2/ledger_operations/release_authorization

Input Parameters

authorization_id

required, string, max chars=50

Identifier of the original authorize operation whose hold is being captured.

Behavior

Must reference a valid and active hold created via an authorize request.
Must match the ledger_operation_id used in the original authorize call.

optional, string, max chars=50

Optional client-supplied identifier for this release_authorization operation.

Behavior

When provided, must uniquely identify this operation across the entire ledger.
Should not conflict with any other operation, regardless of type.

ledger_operation_timestamp

required, timestamp(UTC) in seconds

Unix timestamp (in seconds) representing when the release_authorization occurred in the upstream system.

Usage

Used for period attribution, grace-period eligibility, and reporting accuracy.

Note

Late or out-of-order submissions appear in arrival order, while attribution and eligibility logic rely on ledger_operation_timestamp.

metadata

optional, jsonobject

Optional opaque JSON object carrying additional business context.

Behavior

Stored as-is and returned verbatim by the system.
Not interpreted, validated, or indexed by the system.

Returns

ledger_operation

Ledger operation object

Deprecated. Use ledger_operations instead. The single ledger_operation resulting from this capture_authorization. Retained for backward compatibility.

ledger_operations

always returned

The resulting ledger_operations for this release_authorization. Array of one or more ledger operations. The amount field reflects the credit grants returned to the usable balance.

ledger_account_balance

Ledger account balance object

Summarized real-time ledger_account_balance after this release.

grant_blocks

always returned

The grant_blocks affected by this operation, each reflecting its updated balances after the operation.

ledger_entries

always returned

The ledger_entries recorded by this operation — immutable, per-grant-block movements of type unhold that make up this operation.