PayPal

Connect AI agents to PayPal. Agents create and capture Checkout orders, refund or void payments, draft, send, and track invoices, manage subscriptions across the activate, suspend, and cancel lifecycle, and send batch payouts to many recipients at once across the Checkout, Payments, Invoicing, Billing, and Payouts APIs.

26 actions available

A checkout order is approved by the buyer in another system

Agent reads the order amount, currency, and buyer details

Agent confirms the amount matches the originating order record

Agent captures the payment with Capture Order

Agent records the payment against the matching invoice with Record Payment

Finance channel receives a capture summary

Any capture above the review threshold pauses for a controller's sign-off before funds are taken

What This Integration Enables

Agents get control over the full PayPal money surface. They create and capture Checkout orders, authorize and void payments, refund captured payments, draft and send invoices, manage subscriptions across the activate, suspend, and cancel lifecycle, and send batch payouts to many recipients at once. The point is not that PayPal can do these things through an API. The point is that an agent can run them end to end, decide when a transaction is routine, and pull in a human at the exact moment the cost of being wrong is too high to automate.

Without FlowRunner

Manual capture review Someone opens the PayPal dashboard to capture approved orders one at a time

Refunds without a paper trail Refunds issued informally with no record of who approved the amount

Payout runs assembled by hand Contractor and affiliate payouts entered individually, with no second check before money leaves

With FlowRunner

Automated capture with a guardrail Approved orders capture on their own, and large captures wait for a controller

Refunds routed and logged Each refund carries the approver's identity and the reason in the audit trail

Batch payouts with a release gate The full payout batch is prepared automatically and released only after a human confirms the total

Use Case Scenarios

Order capture with a value guardrail

A buyer approves a Checkout order in your storefront. The agent reads the order amount and currency, confirms they match the originating order record, and captures the payment with Capture Order. It records the payment against the matching invoice and posts a summary to the finance channel. For most orders this happens without anyone touching PayPal. When a capture lands above the configured threshold, the agent holds it and asks a controller to confirm before funds move. The routine work clears itself; the exceptions get a human.

Invoicing from an existing bill

An unpaid invoice sits in your accounting system. The agent pulls its line items with [QuickBooks Online](/integrations/quickbooks-online) "Get Invoice", calls PayPal "Generate Invoice Number", creates the invoice with Create Draft Invoice, and sends it with Send Invoice. It logs the sent invoice id to [Google Sheets](/integrations/google-sheets) for reconciliation. Billing that used to mean re-keying line items into PayPal becomes a step the agent completes on its own.

Batch payout with a release gate

Payout day arrives for contractors and affiliates. The agent assembles the batch from your recipient list, each item carrying a receiver, amount, currency, and note, and prepares Create Batch Payout. Before it sends, it posts the full batch total and recipient count to the finance team and waits. A human confirms, the agent releases the batch, and after Get Payout Batch reports success it records each recipient's status to a sheet and notifies the team. Money leaves only after a person has seen the total.

Human-in-Loop Highlight

The moment that matters most in PayPal is money leaving your account. Batch payouts are the sharpest version of that risk: one release sends funds to many recipients at once, and a wrong total or a bad recipient list is expensive to unwind. Configure the agent to pause before Create Batch Payout is released. It posts the batch total, the recipient count, and the currency to the finance manager through Slack and asks a specific question: "This payout batch totals the amount shown across the listed recipients. Release it?" The manager approves, and the agent sends exactly what was confirmed. The decision, the approver, and the timestamp are written to the audit trail. This is [human-in-the-loop](/concepts/human-in-the-loop): the agent pauses on its own, assembles the context and the choices, routes to the right person, and resumes the moment they answer.

Agent processes routinely

Detects exception requiring judgment

Clear match Continues automatically

Ambiguous Routes to human via Slack

Human decides

Agent resumes with decision

Agent Capabilities

26 actions

Orders (Checkout)

Create Order Creates a PayPal Checkout order from a simple amount and currency or a full purchase-units array. The order intent decides whether funds capture immediately or reserve for later. Used to start a payment from a signup flow or storefront event.
Get Order Retrieves the full details of an order by id, including status, purchase units, and payer information. Used to check order state inside a multi-step workflow.
Capture Order Captures payment for a buyer-approved order and returns the capture id used for later refunds. Used to collect funds once the buyer has approved.
Authorize Order Reserves payment for an approved order without capturing it, returning an authorization id. Used when a human or a downstream check must clear before funds move.

Payments

Get Captured Payment Retrieves a captured payment by capture id, including amount and status. Used to confirm a capture before recording it elsewhere.
Refund Captured Payment Refunds a captured payment in full or in part, with an optional note visible to the payer. Used to process returns and billing corrections under a review gate.
Get Authorized Payment Retrieves an authorized payment by authorization id, including amount and expiration. Used to check a reservation before capturing or voiding it.
Capture Authorized Payment Captures funds from a previously authorized payment. Used once conditions clear on a reserved order.
Void Authorized Payment Cancels an authorization and releases the reserved funds. Used when an order should not proceed.

Invoicing

Create Draft Invoice Creates a draft invoice from a full PayPal invoice object with recipients and line items. Used to bill a customer straight from an automation.
Send Invoice Sends or schedules a draft invoice to the recipient by email. Used to deliver the invoice once it is ready.
Get Invoice Retrieves an invoice by id, including status, line items, and payment history. Used to check whether an invoice has been paid.
List Invoices Lists merchant invoices with pagination. Used to sweep for unpaid or overdue invoices to follow up.
Cancel Invoice Cancels a sent invoice and optionally notifies the recipient. Used to void a bill that should no longer be collected.
Generate Invoice Number Generates the next available invoice number for the account. Used before creating a new invoice.
Delete Invoice Permanently deletes a draft or cancelled invoice. Used to clean up invoices that were never sent.
Record Payment Records an external payment against an invoice, such as cash, check, or bank transfer. Used to keep PayPal in step with payments taken offline.

Subscriptions

Create Subscription Creates a subscription for a billing plan and returns the approval link the subscriber uses to confirm. Used to start recurring billing from a signup.
Get Subscription Retrieves a subscription by id, including status and billing information. Used to check subscription state in a lifecycle flow.
Activate Subscription Resumes billing on a suspended subscription. Used to reactivate an account after a hold.
Suspend Subscription Pauses billing on an active subscription. Used to hold a subscription during a dispute or account review.
Cancel Subscription Permanently cancels a subscription and stops future billing. Used to close out a subscription at end of life.
List Plans Lists billing plans for the account with pagination. Used to select a plan when creating a subscription.
Get Plan Retrieves a billing plan by id, including billing cycles and pricing. Used to confirm plan terms before subscribing a customer.

Payouts

Create Batch Payout Sends money to one or more recipients in a single batch, each item carrying a receiver, amount, currency, and note. Used to pay contractors, affiliates, or refund recipients at once, behind a human release gate.
Get Payout Batch Retrieves the status of a batch payout, including the status of each item. Used to confirm delivery and record per-recipient results.

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