How to integrate Paystack MCP with Vercel AI SDK v6

This guide walks you through connecting Paystack to Vercel AI SDK v6 using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Paystack agent that can list all successful transactions from this week, create a new customer profile in paystack, refund a recent payment from customer through natural language commands. This guide will help you understand how to give your Vercel AI SDK agent real control over a Paystack account through Composio's Paystack MCP server. Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

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Paystack is a Nigerian fintech platform for payment processing across Africa. Businesses use it to accept payments, manage transactions, and grow revenue easily.

112 Tools

Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Paystack to Vercel AI SDK v6 using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Paystack agent that can list all successful transactions from this week, create a new customer profile in paystack, refund a recent payment from customer through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your Vercel AI SDK agent real control over a Paystack account through Composio's Paystack MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

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TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • How to set up and configure a Vercel AI SDK agent with Paystack integration
  • Using Composio's Tool Router to dynamically load and access Paystack tools
  • Creating an MCP client connection using HTTP transport
  • Building an interactive CLI chat interface with conversation history management
  • Handling tool calls and results within the Vercel AI SDK framework

What is Vercel AI SDK?

The Vercel AI SDK is a TypeScript library for building AI-powered applications. It provides tools for creating agents that can use external services and maintain conversation state.

Key features include:

  • streamText: Core function for streaming responses with real-time tool support
  • MCP Client: Built-in support for Model Context Protocol via @ai-sdk/mcp
  • Step Counting: Control multi-step tool execution with stopWhen: stepCountIs()
  • OpenAI Provider: Native integration with OpenAI models

What is the Paystack MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Paystack MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Paystack account. It provides structured and secure access so your agent can perform Paystack operations on your behalf.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

Composio's Composio SDK helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Composio SDK

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Step by step09 STEPS
1

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:
  • Node.js and npm installed
  • A Composio account with API key
  • An OpenAI API key
2

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key
  • Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models, or you can connect to another model provider.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key
  • Log in to the Composio dashboard.
  • Navigate to your API settings and generate a new API key.
  • Store this key securely as you'll need it for authentication.
3

Install required dependencies

bash
npm install @ai-sdk/openai @ai-sdk/mcp @composio/core ai dotenv

First, install the necessary packages for your project.

What you're installing:

  • @ai-sdk/openai: Vercel AI SDK's OpenAI provider
  • @ai-sdk/mcp: MCP client for Vercel AI SDK
  • @composio/core: Composio SDK for tool integration
  • ai: Core Vercel AI SDK
  • dotenv: Environment variable management
4

Set up environment variables

bash
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key_here
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
COMPOSIO_USER_ID=your_user_id_here

Create a .env file in your project root.

What's needed:

  • OPENAI_API_KEY: Your OpenAI API key for GPT model access
  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY: Your Composio API key for tool access
  • COMPOSIO_USER_ID: A unique identifier for the user session
5

Import required modules and validate environment

typescript
import "dotenv/config";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
import { Composio } from "@composio/core";
import * as readline from "readline";
import { streamText, type ModelMessage, stepCountIs } from "ai";
import { createMCPClient } from "@ai-sdk/mcp";

const composioAPIKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const composioUserID = process.env.COMPOSIO_USER_ID;

if (!process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY) throw new Error("OPENAI_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioAPIKey) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioUserID) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set");

const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioAPIKey,
});
What's happening:
  • We're importing all necessary libraries including Vercel AI SDK's OpenAI provider and Composio
  • The dotenv/config import automatically loads environment variables
  • The MCP client import enables connection to Composio's tool server
6

Create Tool Router session and initialize MCP client

typescript
async function main() {
  // Create a tool router session for the user
  const session = await composio.create(composioUserID!, {
    toolkits: ["paystack"],
  });

  const mcpUrl = session.mcp.url;
What's happening:
  • We're creating a Tool Router session that gives your agent access to Paystack tools
  • The create method takes the user ID and specifies which toolkits should be available
  • The returned mcp object contains the URL and authentication headers needed to connect to the MCP server
  • This session provides access to all Paystack-related tools through the MCP protocol
7

Connect to MCP server and retrieve tools

typescript
const mcpClient = await createMCPClient({
  transport: {
    type: "http",
    url: mcpUrl,
    headers: session.mcp.headers, // Authentication headers for the Composio MCP server
  },
});

const tools = await mcpClient.tools();
What's happening:
  • We're creating an MCP client that connects to our Composio Tool Router session via HTTP
  • The mcp.url provides the endpoint, and mcp.headers contains authentication credentials
  • The type: "http" is important - Composio requires HTTP transport
  • tools() retrieves all available Paystack tools that the agent can use
8

Initialize conversation and CLI interface

typescript
let messages: ModelMessage[] = [];

console.log("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end the conversation.\n");
console.log(
  "Ask any questions related to paystack, like summarize my last 5 emails, send an email, etc... :)))\n",
);

const rl = readline.createInterface({
  input: process.stdin,
  output: process.stdout,
  prompt: "> ",
});

rl.prompt();
What's happening:
  • We initialize an empty messages array to maintain conversation history
  • A readline interface is created to accept user input from the command line
  • Instructions are displayed to guide the user on how to interact with the agent
9

Handle user input and stream responses with real-time tool feedback

typescript
rl.on("line", async (userInput: string) => {
  const trimmedInput = userInput.trim();

  if (["exit", "quit", "bye"].includes(trimmedInput.toLowerCase())) {
    console.log("\nGoodbye!");
    rl.close();
    process.exit(0);
  }

  if (!trimmedInput) {
    rl.prompt();
    return;
  }

  messages.push({ role: "user", content: trimmedInput });
  console.log("\nAgent is thinking...\n");

  try {
    const stream = streamText({
      model: openai("gpt-5"),
      messages,
      tools,
      toolChoice: "auto",
      stopWhen: stepCountIs(10),
      onStepFinish: (step) => {
        for (const toolCall of step.toolCalls) {
          console.log(`[Using tool: ${toolCall.toolName}]`);
          }
          if (step.toolCalls.length > 0) {
            console.log(""); // Add space after tool calls
          }
        },
      });

      for await (const chunk of stream.textStream) {
        process.stdout.write(chunk);
      }

      console.log("\n\n---\n");

      // Get final result for message history
      const response = await stream.response;
      if (response?.messages?.length) {
        messages.push(...response.messages);
      }
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("\nAn error occurred while talking to the agent:");
      console.error(error);
      console.log(
        "\nYou can try again or restart the app if it keeps happening.\n",
      );
    } finally {
      rl.prompt();
    }
  });

  rl.on("close", async () => {
    await mcpClient.close();
    console.log("\n👋 Session ended.");
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main().catch((err) => {
  console.error("Fatal error:", err);
  process.exit(1);
});
What's happening:
  • We use streamText instead of generateText to stream responses in real-time
  • toolChoice: "auto" allows the model to decide when to use Paystack tools
  • stopWhen: stepCountIs(10) allows up to 10 steps for complex multi-tool operations
  • onStepFinish callback displays which tools are being used in real-time
  • We iterate through the text stream to create a typewriter effect as the agent responds
  • The complete response is added to conversation history to maintain context
  • Errors are caught and displayed with helpful retry suggestions

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Paystack and Vercel AI SDK:

typescript
import "dotenv/config";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
import { Composio } from "@composio/core";
import * as readline from "readline";
import { streamText, type ModelMessage, stepCountIs } from "ai";
import { createMCPClient } from "@ai-sdk/mcp";

const composioAPIKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const composioUserID = process.env.COMPOSIO_USER_ID;

if (!process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY) throw new Error("OPENAI_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioAPIKey) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioUserID) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set");

const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioAPIKey,
});

async function main() {
  // Create a tool router session for the user
  const session = await composio.create(composioUserID!, {
    toolkits: ["paystack"],
  });

  const mcpUrl = session.mcp.url;

  const mcpClient = await createMCPClient({
    transport: {
      type: "http",
      url: mcpUrl,
      headers: session.mcp.headers, // Authentication headers for the Composio MCP server
    },
  });

  const tools = await mcpClient.tools();

  let messages: ModelMessage[] = [];

  console.log("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end the conversation.\n");
  console.log(
    "Ask any questions related to paystack, like summarize my last 5 emails, send an email, etc... :)))\n",
  );

  const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: "> ",
  });

  rl.prompt();

  rl.on("line", async (userInput: string) => {
    const trimmedInput = userInput.trim();

    if (["exit", "quit", "bye"].includes(trimmedInput.toLowerCase())) {
      console.log("\nGoodbye!");
      rl.close();
      process.exit(0);
    }

    if (!trimmedInput) {
      rl.prompt();
      return;
    }

    messages.push({ role: "user", content: trimmedInput });
    console.log("\nAgent is thinking...\n");

    try {
      const stream = streamText({
        model: openai("gpt-5"),
        messages,
        tools,
        toolChoice: "auto",
        stopWhen: stepCountIs(10),
        onStepFinish: (step) => {
          for (const toolCall of step.toolCalls) {
            console.log(`[Using tool: ${toolCall.toolName}]`);
          }
          if (step.toolCalls.length > 0) {
            console.log(""); // Add space after tool calls
          }
        },
      });

      for await (const chunk of stream.textStream) {
        process.stdout.write(chunk);
      }

      console.log("\n\n---\n");

      // Get final result for message history
      const response = await stream.response;
      if (response?.messages?.length) {
        messages.push(...response.messages);
      }
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("\nAn error occurred while talking to the agent:");
      console.error(error);
      console.log(
        "\nYou can try again or restart the app if it keeps happening.\n",
      );
    } finally {
      rl.prompt();
    }
  });

  rl.on("close", async () => {
    await mcpClient.close();
    console.log("\n👋 Session ended.");
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main().catch((err) => {
  console.error("Fatal error:", err);
  process.exit(1);
});

Conclusion

You've successfully built a Paystack agent using the Vercel AI SDK with streaming capabilities! This implementation provides a powerful foundation for building AI applications with natural language interfaces and real-time feedback.

Key features of this implementation:

  • Real-time streaming responses for a better user experience with typewriter effect
  • Live tool execution feedback showing which tools are being used as the agent works
  • Dynamic tool loading through Composio's Tool Router with secure authentication
  • Multi-step tool execution with configurable step limits (up to 10 steps)
  • Comprehensive error handling for robust agent execution
  • Conversation history maintenance for context-aware responses

You can extend this further by adding custom error handling, implementing specific business logic, or integrating additional Composio toolkits to create multi-app workflows.
TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every Paystack action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Add Products to Page

Tool to add products to a Paystack payment page.

Add Products to Storefront

Tool to add previously created products to a Storefront.

Add Split Code to Virtual Terminal

Tool to add a split code to a virtual terminal.

Add Subaccount to Split

Tool to add a subaccount to a split configuration, or update the share of an existing subaccount.

Archive Payment Request

Tool to archive a payment request to clean up records.

Assign Destination to Virtual Terminal

Tool to assign WhatsApp destinations to a Virtual Terminal for payment notifications.

Check Pending Charge

Tool to check the status of a pending charge transaction.

Check Slug Availability

Tool to check if a custom slug is available for use when creating a payment page.

Bulk Create Transfer Recipients

Create multiple transfer recipients in batches.

Create Charge

Tool to initiate a payment by integrating the payment channel of your choice.

Create Customer

Tool to create a customer on your Paystack integration.

Create Payment Page

Tool to create a payment page on your Paystack integration.

Create Payment Request

Create a new payment request by issuing an invoice to a customer.

Create Plan

Tool to create a plan for recurring payments on Paystack.

Create Refund

Tool to initiate a refund for a previously completed transaction on Paystack.

Create Split Configuration

Tool to create a split configuration for transaction revenue sharing.

Create Storefront

Create a digital storefront on Paystack to manage and display products.

Create Subaccount

Tool to create a subaccount on your Paystack integration.

Create Transfer Recipient

Tool to create a new recipient for transfers.

Create Virtual Terminal

Create a Virtual Terminal on your Paystack integration to accept payments.

Deactivate Authorization

Tool to deactivate an authorization when a card or payment method needs to be forgotten.

Deactivate Virtual Terminal

Tool to deactivate a Virtual Terminal on your integration.

Delete Product

Delete a previously created product from Paystack by its ID.

Delete Storefront

Delete a previously created storefront from Paystack by its ID.

Delete Transfer Recipient

Tool to delete a transfer recipient by setting it to inactive status.

Disable OTP for Transfers

Tool to disable OTP requirement for programmatic transfers.

Disable Subscription

Tool to disable a subscription on your Paystack integration.

Duplicate Storefront

Tool to duplicate a previously created Storefront.

Enable OTP for Transfers

Tool to enable OTP requirement for transfers.

Export Transactions

Tool to export transactions from Paystack for a specific timeframe.

Fetch Balance

Tool to fetch the available balance on your Paystack integration.

Fetch balance ledger

Tool to fetch all pay-ins and pay-outs that went into your Paystack balance.

Fetch Bulk Charge Batch

Tool to retrieve a specific bulk charge batch by code.

Fetch Customer

Tool to get details of a customer on your integration.

Fetch Mandate Authorizations

Tool to fetch the list of direct debit mandate authorizations associated with a customer.

Fetch Payment Page

Tool to fetch details of a payment page on your Paystack integration.

Fetch Payment Request Details

Tool to fetch details of a payment request from Paystack.

Fetch Payment Session Timeout

Tool to fetch the payment session timeout configured on your Paystack integration.

Fetch Plan

Tool to get details of a plan on your integration.

Fetch Product

Tool to get details of a product on your integration.

Fetch Product Orders

Tool to fetch all orders for a particular product on your Paystack integration.

Fetch Refund

Tool to get details of a refund on your integration.

Fetch Split

Tool to get details of a split configuration for a transaction.

Fetch Storefront

Tool to get the details of a previously created Storefront.

Fetch Storefront Orders

Tool to fetch all orders in a Paystack storefront.

Fetch Subaccount

Tool to get details of a subaccount on your integration.

Fetch Subscription

Tool to get details of a subscription on your integration.

Fetch Transaction

Tool to get details of a transaction carried out on your integration.

Fetch Transaction Timeline

Tool to fetch the timeline of a transaction showing the steps taken from initiation to completion.

Fetch Transfer Recipient

Tool to fetch details of a transfer recipient.

Fetch Virtual Terminal

Tool to fetch a Virtual Terminal on your Paystack integration.

Finalize Payment Request

Tool to finalize the creation of a draft payment request for a customer.

Generate Update Subscription Link

Tool to generate a link for updating the card on a subscription.

Get Payment Request Totals

Tool to retrieve metrics for all pending and successful payment requests.

Get Transaction Totals

Tool to get the total amount received on your Paystack account.

Initialize Authorization

Tool to initialize a reusable authorization for recurring transactions.

Initialize Transaction

Tool to initialize a transaction from your backend.

Initiate Bulk Charge

Tool to initiate a bulk charge on your integration.

List Banks

Tool to get a list of all supported banks and their properties on Paystack.

List Bulk Charge Batches

Tool to list bulk charge batches created on your integration.

List Charges in Batch

Tool to retrieve the charges associated with a specified bulk charge batch.

List countries

Tool to retrieve a list of countries that Paystack currently supports.

List Customers

Tool to list customers available on your integration.

List Disputes

Tool to list transaction disputes filed by customers on your Paystack integration.

List Apple Pay Domains

Tool to list all registered Apple Pay domains on your integration.

List Mandate Authorizations

Tool to get a list of all direct debit mandates on your integration.

List Orders

Tool to list orders available on your integration.

List Payment Pages

Tool to list payment pages available on your Paystack integration.

List Payment Requests

Tool to list all previously created payment requests to your customers.

List Plans

Tool to list all subscription plans available on your integration.

List Products

Tool to list products available on your integration.

List Refunds

Tool to list refunds available on your integration.

List Settlements

Tool to list settlements made to your settlement accounts.

List Splits

Tool to list the transaction splits available on your integration.

List states for address verification

Tool to retrieve a list of states for a country for address verification.

List Storefront Products

Tool to list all products in a Paystack storefront.

List Storefronts

Tool to list storefronts available on your integration.

List Subaccounts

Tool to list subaccounts available on your integration.

List Subscriptions

Tool to list all subscriptions available on your integration.

List Transactions

Tool to list transactions that have occurred on your integration.

List Transfer Recipients

Tool to list transfer recipients available on your integration.

List Transfers

Tool to list all transfers carried out on your integration.

List Virtual Terminals

Tool to list virtual terminals available on your integration.

Pause Bulk Charge

Tool to pause processing of a bulk charge batch.

Publish Storefront

Tool to make a Storefront publicly available on Paystack.

Remove Subaccount from Split

Tool to remove a subaccount from a split configuration.

Resend OTP for Transfer

Tool to resend OTP for a transfer.

Resolve Card BIN

Tool to get basic information about a card BIN (Bank Identification Number).

Resume Bulk Charge Batch

Tool to resume processing of a previously paused bulk charge batch.

Send Payment Request Notification

Tool to send an email notification to a customer for a previously created payment request.

Send Subscription Update Link

Tool to send an email to the customer with a link to update the card on their subscription.

Set Risk Action

Tool to set a customer's risk action by whitelisting or blacklisting them.

Submit Phone

Tool to submit phone number when requested during a charge transaction.

Trigger direct debit activation charge

Tool to trigger an activation charge on an inactive direct debit mandate for a customer.

Unassign Destination from Virtual Terminal

Tool to unassign WhatsApp destinations from a Virtual Terminal.

Unregister Apple Pay Domain

Tool to unregister a top-level domain or subdomain previously used for Apple Pay integration.

Update Customer

Tool to update a customer's details on your Paystack integration.

Update Payment Page

Tool to update a payment page on your Paystack integration.

Update Payment Request

Tool to update a payment request on your Paystack integration.

Update Payment Session Timeout

Tool to update the payment session timeout on your Paystack integration.

Update Plan

Tool to update a plan's details on your Paystack integration.

Update Product

Tool to update a product on your integration.

Update Split Configuration

Tool to update a split configuration for transactions.

Update Storefront

Tool to update the details of a previously created Storefront.

Update Subaccount

Tool to update a subaccount's details on your Paystack integration.

Update Transfer Recipient

Tool to update the details of a transfer recipient.

Validate Bank Account

Tool to validate the authenticity of a customer's bank account before sending money.

Validate Customer

Tool to validate a customer's identity on your Paystack integration.

Validate Order

Tool to validate a pay for me order on Paystack.

Verify Payment Request

Tool to verify the status of a previously created payment request on Paystack.

Verify Storefront Slug

Tool to verify the availability of a slug before using it for a Storefront.

Verify Transaction

Tool to confirm the status of a transaction using its reference.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

With a standalone Paystack MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Paystack tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Paystack and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Yes, you can. Vercel AI SDK v6 fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Paystack tools.

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Paystack scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Paystack data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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