8 verbs and a buyer checkout on top of PayPal's APIs. Holds, payouts and subscriptions in one call each. Simple to integrate, safe to retry.
claude mcp add --transport http mcpal "https://mcpal.vercel.app/mcp?key=<your-demo-key>"
Your demo key: … (kept in this browser; it is your own ledger).
“Take a $40 deposit on order 1042. Hold the remaining $80 until delivery.”
hold→orderRef: "order-1042" amount: "120.00" deposit: "40.00"
$80.00 authorized
7KX09366PL2471934tasks the official toolkit can attemptvs 17/30
duplicate paymentsvs 5
moved wronglyvs $295
prompt-injection tasks resistedvs 3/9
One clear interface between what a business asks for and what PayPal needs to do.
Claude · Cursor · ChatGPT · your code
↓ one verb per intent
charge · hold · capture_hold · void_hold · refund · pay_out · subscribe · status
idempotency · approval rules
merchant quotes · signed log
↓ the right PayPal calls, in order
Orders v2 · Payments v2 · Payouts
Invoicing · Subscriptions · Webhooks
Built on PayPal's REST APIs — the layer after PayPal's Agent Toolkit.
Same model. PayPal's own records. Both the comparable task set and the full suite, side by side.
Lower is better.
3 runs per task · gpt-4.1-mini · Temperature 0 · Correct in every run. A bounded benchmark, not a guarantee for every payment.
Method, caveats and every PayPal idConnect MCPal, copy a prompt, and let your agent work through the payment flow.
holdcapture_holdvoid_holdCapture the deposit; hold the balance until delivery or cancellation.
Order 1042 is $120. Take a $40 deposit from the card on file and hold the rest until delivery. When I say it was delivered, capture the rest.
pay_outKnown payees go through. New recipients wait for your approval.
Pay our courier courier@personal.example.com $6.25 for today's delivery, order courier-0412.
chargerefundCompute the fraction in code and return it to the original payer.
Charge $80 to the card on file for order mug-77. Then refund half of it because the handle arrived chipped. If anything times out, retry.
subscribevoid_holdCreate the product, plan and subscription in one call.
Start a $9/month 'Coffee club' plan for order club-5, billed to the card on file, and tell me the subscription id.
PayPal's Agent Toolkit exposes API calls as tools. MCPal complements it with complete business intents.
Direct access to PayPal's APIs, grouped by area. This is the local npm server we benchmarked; PayPal's hosted server (mcp.sandbox.paypal.com) lists 46 tools, and neither has holds, payouts or retry-safe keys.
create_invoicelist_invoicesget_invoicesend_invoicesend_invoice_remindercancel_sent_invoicegenerate_invoice_qr_codecreate_orderget_orderpay_ordercreate_productlist_productsupdate_productshow_product_detailscreate_subscription_planlist_subscription_plansshow_subscription_plan_detailscreate_subscriptionshow_subscription_detailscancel_subscriptioncreate_shipment_trackingget_shipment_trackinglist_disputesget_disputeaccept_dispute_claimlist_transactionscreate_refundget_refund@paypal/mcp@1.8.1 · --tools=all · Listed 2026-11-12
chargeAsk a buyer for a one-time payment.
Orders v2: create + capture (or a buyer approval link)holdnewReserve money on the buyer's account without taking it (authorization), optionally taking a deposit now.
Orders v2 authorize; Payments v2 capture for the depositcapture_holdnewTAKE money from an existing hold (capture).
Payments v2: capture authorization, then void the restvoid_holdnewGIVE IT BACK: void what is still held so the buyer is never charged it (also: 'release the hold', 'let it go', 'cancel the reservation').
Payments v2 void; Subscriptions cancel; Payouts cancel itemrefundGive captured money back to the original payer (it can only go back to the capture's payer).
Payments v2: refund a capturepay_outnewSend money from your PayPal balance to someone by email, phone or PayPal id.
Payouts v1: create batchsubscribeStart recurring billing.
Catalog Products + Billing Plans + Subscriptions v1statusAnswer 'what happened with this orderRef?' in one call, refreshed from PayPal (order, hold, captures, refunds, refundable_remaining, invoice, payout, subscription) plus the last webhook.
GET on orders, authorizations, captures, refunds, payouts, subscriptions“New” marks an intent unavailable in the listed official toolkit. All payments still run on PayPal.
The model chooses an intent. Deterministic checks decide whether money can move.
Every write carries a PayPal-Request-Id derived from the order, verb and amount. A retry returns the first result.
Approval thresholds, daily caps and refund ceilings are checked before PayPal is called. Above them, a human decides.
Anyone outside the allowlist who has never been paid before needs approval. At any amount.
Money returns to the original payer. Never to a different address, and never beyond the remaining balance.
Charges and holds default to a PayPal payment link. The card on file is charged only when explicitly requested.
Every decision joins a SHA-256 hash chain. Inspect the PayPal IDs and re-verify the chain yourself.
Write the rules in English or Spanish. A model proposes the file; code checks the changes. You decide when to apply.
The agent can't edit its own rules: there is no MCP tool for the policy. Limits only go up when you write the new amount, recipients are only added when you write them, and hard maximums apply whatever the text says.
Every decision, filterable, with PayPal ids — powered by AG Grid.
Open the decision log ↗holdallowed0VF52814…capture_holdallowed2GH41827…pay_outneeds approval—Buyer agents check out through the open Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP): discovery, checkout sessions, fulfillment, discounts and orders. The merchant settles every order on PayPal with MCPal's verbs, under the same policy, retry-safe ids and decision log.
Watch a buyer agent buy coffee ↗