Postman Guide

APICurrentLast updated: May 18th 2022, @ 4:02:27 pm

Postman allows you to explore PayPal's REST APIs without the need for a developer account. You can configure and send requests and receive responses for any of our core APIs.

Fork the collection

1. Sign in to your Postman account.
2. Select the Run in Postman button.

3. Select the Fork Collection button.
4. Name your fork and select a workspace.

Step result

You successfully forked the PayPal Postman collection.

Authentication

An access token is automatically generated using a default client_id and client_secret. PayPal recommends using your own client_id and client_secret from the Developer Dashboard.

1. On the Developer Dashboard, find your client_id and client_secret under Dashboard > My Apps & Credentials.
2. In Postman, select your fork of the PayPal collection.
3. Enter your client_id and client_secret under the Variables tab.
4. Click the Save button.

A pre-request script will generate and manage the access_token automatically.

Step result

You can now call any API in the collection.

Start making API calls with Postman

PayPal recommends starting with the Orders API. These steps will use the Orders API to create an order and capture payment using sandbox accounts linked to your Developer Dashboard account.

To create an order:

1. In your workspace, navigate to your fork of the PayPal collection.
2. Select Orders > Create Order.
3. Select the Send button to create the order. On a successful call, the API returns a 201 order created response code.
4. In the response, find the approve link.
5. Open the approve link in a browser.
6. Log in with your Developer Dashboard Sandbox Personal Account credentials. You can find those credentials by logging into the Developer Dashboard and selecting Sandbox > Accounts.
7. Select the Continue button.

Step Result

You've completed the order.

To capture payment:

1. In the response of the order you created, find the id and copy the value.
2. In the left panel, select your fork of the PayPal collection.
3. In the Variables tab, enter the value you copied in the order_id field.
4. Select Orders > Capture payment for order.
5. Select Send. On a successful call, the API returns a 201 order created response code.

Step result

Your order was created and payment was captured. You can verify the transaction in both the sandbox personal account and the sandbox business account.