PayPal MCP Server
Payment processing, transaction management, and merchant operations through AI-powered function calling.
- Maintained by
- PayPal
- Hosting
- Hosted endpoint, or run it locally
- Authentication
- OAuth sign-in
- Last checked
Sandbox remote endpoint is https://mcp.sandbox.paypal.com/http.
How to connect the PayPal MCP server
Pick your AI client and paste the snippet. Swap the YOUR_… placeholders for your own values. New to this? Our guide to how MCP clients and servers fit together explains what each piece does.
Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http paypal https://mcp.paypal.com/httpThen run /mcp inside Claude Code and choose Authenticate to sign in.
Full Claude Code setup guide →Claude Desktop and claude.ai
Name: PayPal
Remote MCP server URL: https://mcp.paypal.com/httpCustom connectors need a Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise plan. On Team and Enterprise an owner adds them in admin settings.
Full Claude Desktop setup guide →Cursor
{
"mcpServers": {
"paypal": {
"url": "https://mcp.paypal.com/http"
}
}
}VS Code
{
"servers": {
"paypal": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://mcp.paypal.com/http"
}
}
}ChatGPT
Business, Enterprise and Edu plans (and Pro, read-only) can add this endpoint as an app in developer mode. ChatGPT setup guide →
+ − Run it locally instead
Claude Code
claude mcp add --env PAYPAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=YOUR_PAYPAL_ACCESS_TOKEN --env PAYPAL_ENVIRONMENT=SANDBOX --transport stdio paypal \
-- npx -y @paypal/mcp --tools=allClaude Desktop
{
"mcpServers": {
"paypal": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@paypal/mcp",
"--tools=all"
],
"env": {
"PAYPAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "YOUR_PAYPAL_ACCESS_TOKEN",
"PAYPAL_ENVIRONMENT": "SANDBOX"
}
}
}
}Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop after saving.
Full Claude Desktop setup guide →Cursor
{
"mcpServers": {
"paypal": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@paypal/mcp",
"--tools=all"
],
"env": {
"PAYPAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "YOUR_PAYPAL_ACCESS_TOKEN",
"PAYPAL_ENVIRONMENT": "SANDBOX"
}
}
}
}VS Code
{
"servers": {
"paypal": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@paypal/mcp",
"--tools=all"
],
"env": {
"PAYPAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "YOUR_PAYPAL_ACCESS_TOKEN",
"PAYPAL_ENVIRONMENT": "SANDBOX"
}
}
}
}Frequently asked questions
What is the PayPal MCP server?
It is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server — a small piece of software that gives AI assistants like Claude a secure, governed connection to PayPal. Payment processing, transaction management, and merchant operations through AI-powered function calling.
Is there an official PayPal MCP server?
Yes. The PayPal MCP server is an official integration, maintained by the vendor or the Model Context Protocol project, which makes it the safest default for business use. It is maintained by PayPal.
Is the PayPal MCP server hosted, or do I run it myself?
Both. PayPal runs a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.paypal.com/http, so most people just paste that URL into their AI client. You can also run the server locally with npx, supplying your own credentials.
Do I need an API key for the PayPal MCP server?
No API key is needed for the hosted server. You sign in through PayPal's own OAuth screen, and the assistant only gets the access your account has.
What can an AI assistant actually do with PayPal?
Through this server an assistant can work with payments, transactions, invoices, merchant tools — reading from and acting on PayPal directly instead of you copy-pasting between windows. What you allow it to do is controlled by the permissions you grant.
How do I set this up for my business?
The setup section above has copy-paste config for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor and VS Code. Once it is running against real systems, the question becomes what catches it when it acts wrongly, which is what Crox's Safety Diagnostic looks at.
New to MCP? Start with our plain-English guide to the Model Context Protocol or see how to connect AI to your business tools without writing code .
Already running this in production?
An agent with a live connection to your tools is a model that can act. Crox looks at what catches it when it acts wrongly: the layers around it, who can stop it, and where a near miss gets reported. Two days, one team, one model.