Skip to main content
The Transaction Search API provides programmatic access to your PayPal transaction data, enabling real-time queries and automated reporting workflows. You can use this API to get transaction data with various query parameters and filters. It takes a maximum of three hours for executed transactions to appear in the API calls, and it provides transaction data for the previous three years.

​
Prerequisites

  • PayPal Developer account.
  • API credentials (Client ID and Secret).
  • Access token generation capability.
  • Understanding of REST API principles.

​
Server-side integration

​
Authentication setup

// Generate access token
const getAccessToken = async () => {
  const auth = Buffer.from(`${CLIENT_ID}:${CLIENT_SECRET}`).toString('base64');
  
  const response = await fetch('https://api-m.paypal.com/v1/oauth2/token', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Basic ${auth}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'
    },
    body: 'grant_type=client_credentials'
  });
  
  return await response.json();
};

// Search transactions
const searchTransactions = async (accessToken, params) => {
  const queryString = new URLSearchParams(params).toString();
  
  const response = await fetch(`https://api-m.paypal.com/v1/reporting/transactions?${queryString}`, {
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${accessToken}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    }
  });
  
  return await response.json();
};

​
Steps for implementation

  1. Set up authentication
    • Obtain API credentials from PayPal Developer portal.
    • Implement token generation and refresh logic.
    • Secure credential storage.
  2. Build query parameters
    • Define date ranges.
    • Set transaction status filters.
    • Configure pagination settings.
  3. Make API calls
    • Send authenticated requests.
    • Handle response data.
    • Implement error handling.
  4. Process results
    • Parse transaction data.
    • Transform for your business logic.
    • Store or forward as needed.

​
Warnings

  • API rate limits apply (check documentation).
  • Date ranges are limited to specific periods.
  • Some transaction details may have delays.

​
Samples

// Example transaction search with filters
const params = {
  start_date: '2024-01-01T00:00:00Z',
  end_date: '2024-01-31T23:59:59Z',
  transaction_status: 'SUCCESS',
  page_size: 100
};

const transactions = await searchTransactions(accessToken, params);

​
Testing

  • Use sandbox endpoints for development.
  • Test with various date ranges and filters.
  • Verify pagination handling.
  • Check error response handling.

​
Best practices

  • Implement proper authentication refresh.
  • Use appropriate page sizes.
  • Handle rate limiting gracefully.
  • Store transaction IDs for deduplication.
⌘I