Integrate reports using Transaction Reports API

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();
};

Basic transaction search

// 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.