Test Subscriptions

The PayPal sandbox environment enables you to pass specific information in a request to trigger simulated positive and negative test scenarios. The simulated responses mimic actual API responses without calling downstream services. You can handle these responses in your code to manage your customer’s experience.

For easy API development and testing, download the latest version of Postman. Then download the Subscriptions collection .

Permissions

Before you can trigger a simulation, you need to Get Started setting up your development environment. Then, return to this page to conduct simulation testing.

Simulation method

To trigger a simulation for the Subscriptions API, you can use either a JSON pointer in the request payload or a path parameter in the request URI.

Use a JSON pointer in the request payload

Request

curl -X POST \
  https://api.sandbox.paypal.com/v1/billing/subscriptions \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer  <Access Token>'
  -d '{
        "plan_id": "ERRSUB033",
            "start_time": "2019-03-06T15:00:00Z",
            "quantity": "1",
            "shipping_amount": {
                "currency_code": "USD",
                "value": "12.00"
            },
            "subscriber": {
                "name": {
                    "given_name": "John",
                    "surname": "Doe"
                },
                "email_address": "customer@example.com",
                "shipping_address": {
                    "name": {
                        "full_name": "John Doe"
                    },
                    "address": {
                        "address_line_1": "2211 N First Street",
                        "address_line_2": "Building 17",
                        "admin_area_2": "San Jose",
                        "admin_area_1": "CA",
                        "postal_code": "95131",
                        "country_code": "US"
                    }
                }
            },
            "application_context": {
                "brand_name": "Walmart Inc",
                "locale": "en-US",
                "shipping_preference": "SET_PROVIDED_ADDRESS",
                "user_action": "SUBSCRIBE_NOW",
                "payment_method": {
                    "payer_selected": "PAYPAL_CREDIT",
                    "payee_preferred": "IMMEDIATE_PAYMENT_REQUIRED"
                },
                "return_url": "http://zoho.com/returnUrl",
                "cancel_url": "http://zoho.com/cancelUrl"
            }
        }'

Response

{
  "name": "NOT_AUTHORIZED",
  "debugId": "b1d1f06c7246c",
  "message": "Authorization failed due to insufficient permissions.",
  "details": [
      {
          "issue": "PERMISSION_DENIED",
          "description": "You do not have permission to access or perform operations on this resource."
      }
  ],
  "links": [
      {
          "href": "https://developer.paypal.com/docs/api/v1/billing/subscriptions#PERMISSION_DENIED",
          "rel": "information_link",
          "method": "GET"
      }
  ]
}

Use a path parameter in the request URI

Request

curl -X GET \
  https://api.sandbox.paypal.com/v1/billing/subscriptions/ERRSUB068/activate \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer <Access Token>' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
     "reason": "Reactivating the subscription"
  }
}'

Response

{
    "name": "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND",
    "message": "The specified resource does not exist.",
    "debug_id": "c2d1f06c7246c",
     "details": [
        {
            "issue": "INVALID_RESOURCE_ID",  
            "description": "Requested resource ID was not found",
            "value": "I-TT452GLLEP1G"
        }
    ],
    "links": [
        {
            "href": "https://developer.paypal.com/docs/api/v1/billing/subscriptions#RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND,
            "rel": "information_link"
        }
    ]
}

Test values

Use the following test values to trigger positive and negative responses for these subscriptions actions:

Product

• Create product
• Get product
• List products
• Update product

Plan

• Create plan
• Activate plan
• Deactivate plan
• Get plan
• List plans
• Update plan
• Change plan pricing

Subscription

• Create subscription
• Activate subscriptions
• Get subscription
• Update subscription
• Revise subscription
• Suspend subscription
• Capture subscription
• Get subscription transaction
• Cancel subscription

Product

Note: Test values are case sensitive.

Create product

Negative response test values

Use the JSON pointer in the request payload to simulate the following error responses at POST /v1/catalogs/products.

Get product

Negative response test values

Use the path parameter in the request URI method to simulate the following error responses at GET /v1/catalogs/products/{test_value}.

List products

Negative response test values

Use the path parameter in the request URI method to simulate the following error responses at GET /v1/billing/plans/?&total_required={test_value}.

Update product

Negative response test values

Use the path parameter in the request URI method to simulate the following error responses at PATCH /v1/catalog/products/{test_value}.

Plan

Note: Test values are case sensitive.

Create plan

Negative response test values

Use the JSON pointer in the request payload to simulate the following error responses at POST /v1/billing/plans/.

Activate plan

Negative response test values

Use the path parameter in the request URI method to simulate the following error responses at POST/v1/billing/plans/{test_value}/activate.

Deactivate plan

Negative response test values

Use the path parameter in the request URI method to simulate the following error responses at POST /v1/billing/plans/{test_value}/deactivate.

Get plan

Negative response test values

Use the path parameter in the request URI method to simulate the following error responses at GET /v1/billing/plans/{test_value}.

List plans

Negative response test values

Use the path parameter in the request URI method to simulate the following error responses at GET /v1/billing/plans/?page_size=3&page=1&total_required={test_value}.

Update plan

Negative response test values

Use the path parameter in the request URI method to simulate the following error responses at PATCH /v1/billing/plans/{test_value}.

Change plan pricing

Negative response test values

Use the path parameter in the request URI method to simulate the following error responses at POST /v1/billing/plans/{test_value}/update-pricing-schemes.

Subscription

Note: Test values are case sensitive.

Create subscription

Negative response test values

Use the JSON pointer in the request payload to simulate the following error responses at POST /v1/billing/subscriptions.

Activate subscriptions

Negative response test values

Use the path parameter in the request URI method to simulate the following error responses at POST /v1/billing/subscriptions/{test_value}/activate.

Get subscription

Negative response test values

Use the path parameter in the request URI method to simulate the following error responses at GET /v1/billing/subscriptions/{test_value}.

Update subscription

Negative response test values

Use the path parameter in the request URI method to simulate the following error responses at PATCH /v1/billing/subscriptions/{test_value}.

Revise subscription

Negative response test values

Use the path parameter in the request URI method to simulate the following error responses at POST /v1/billing/subscriptions/{test_value}/revise.

Suspend subscription

Negative response test values

Use the path parameter in the request URI method to simulate the following error responses at POST /v1/billing/subscriptions/{test_value}/suspend.

Capture subscription

Negative response test values

Use the path parameter in the request URI method to simulate the following error responses at POST /v1/billing/subscriptions/{test_value}/capture.

Get subscription transaction

Negative response test values

Use the path parameter in the request URI method to simulate the following error responses at GET /v1/billing/subscriptions/{test_value}/transactions.

Cancel subscription

Negative response test values

Use the path parameter in the request URI method to simulate the following error responses at POST /v1/billing/subscriptions/{test_value}/cancel.