How to integrate Paystack MCP with Claude Agent SDK

This guide walks you through connecting Paystack to the Claude Agent SDK 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 Claude Agent 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.

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Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Paystack to the Claude Agent SDK 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 Claude Agent 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.

Also integrate Paystack with

OpenAI Agents SDKClaude CodeClaude CoworkCodexOpenClawHermesCLIGoogle ADKLangChainVercel AI SDKMastra AILlamaIndexCrewAI

TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Get and set up your Claude/Anthropic and Composio API keys
  • Install the necessary dependencies
  • Initialize Composio and create a Tool Router session for Paystack
  • Configure an AI agent that can use Paystack as a tool
  • Run a live chat session where you can ask the agent to perform Paystack operations

What is Claude Agent SDK?

The Claude Agent SDK is Anthropic's official framework for building AI agents powered by Claude. It provides a streamlined interface for creating agents with MCP tool support and conversation management.

Key features include:

  • Native MCP Support: Built-in support for Model Context Protocol servers
  • Permission Modes: Control tool execution permissions
  • Streaming Responses: Real-time response streaming for interactive applications
  • Context Manager: Clean async context management for sessions

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 starting, make sure you have:
  • Composio API Key and Claude/Anthropic API Key
  • Primary know-how of Claude Agents SDK
  • A Paystack account
  • Some knowledge of Python
2

Getting API Keys for Claude/Anthropic and Composio

Claude/Anthropic API Key
  • Go to the Anthropic Console and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models.
  • 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 dependencies

npm install @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk @composio/core dotenv

Install the Composio SDK and the Claude Agents SDK.

What's happening:

  • @composio/core provides Composio integration for Anthropic
  • @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk is the core agent framework
  • dotenv/config loads environment variables
4

Set up environment variables

bash
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
USER_ID=your_user_id_here
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_anthropic_api_key_here

Create a .env file in your project root.

What's happening:

  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates with Composio
  • USER_ID identifies the user for session management
  • ANTHROPIC_API_KEY authenticates with Anthropic/Claude
5

Import dependencies

import 'dotenv/config';
import readline from 'node:readline';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { query, type Options } from "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk";

dotenv.config();
What's happening:
  • We're importing all necessary libraries including the Claude Agent SDK and Composio
  • The dotenv.config() function loads environment variables from your .env file
  • This setup prepares the foundation for connecting Claude with Paystack functionality
6

Create a Composio instance and Tool Router session

async function chat() {
  const { COMPOSIO_API_KEY, USER_ID } = process.env;
  if (!COMPOSIO_API_KEY || !USER_ID) {
    throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID required in .env');
  }

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

  // Create Tool Router session for Paystack
  const session = await composio.create(USER_ID, {
    toolkits: ['paystack'],
  });
  const mcpUrl = session?.mcp.url;
What's happening:
  • The function checks for the required COMPOSIO_API_KEY environment variable
  • We're creating a Composio instance using our API key
  • The create method creates a Tool Router session for Paystack
  • The returned url is the MCP server URL that your agent will use
7

Configure Claude Agent with MCP

const options: Options = {
  permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions',
  mcpServers: {
    composio: {
      type: 'http',
      url: mcpUrl,
      headers: { 'x-api-key': COMPOSIO_API_KEY }
    }
  },
  systemPrompt: 'You are a helpful assistant with access to Paystack tools via Composio.',
  maxTurns: 10,
};
What's happening:
  • We're configuring the Claude Agent options with the MCP server URL
  • permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions' allows the agent to execute operations without asking for permission each time
  • The system prompt instructs the agent that it has access to Paystack
  • maxTurns: 10 limits the conversation length to prevent excessive API usage
8

Create client and start chat loop

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

  console.log('\nChat started. Type "exit" to quit.\n');

  let isProcessing = false;

  async function ask(prompt: string) {
    isProcessing = true;
    rl.pause();

    process.stdout.write('Claude is thinking...');
    const stream = query({ prompt, options });

    let firstChunk = true;
    for await (const msg of stream) {
      const content = (msg as any).message?.content || (msg as any).content;
      if (Array.isArray(content)) {
        for (const block of content) {
          if (block.type === 'text' && block.text) {
            if (firstChunk) {
              process.stdout.write('\r\x1b[K');
              process.stdout.write('Claude: ');
              firstChunk = false;
            }
            process.stdout.write(block.text);
          }
        }
      }
    }
    process.stdout.write('\n\n');

    isProcessing = false;
    rl.resume();
    rl.prompt();
  }

  rl.on('line', async (line) => {
    if (isProcessing) return;

    const input = line.trim();
    if (input === 'exit') {
      rl.close();
      process.exit(0);
    }
    if (input) await ask(input);
    else rl.prompt();
  });

  await ask('What can you help me with?');
}
What's happening:
  • The readline interface is created to handle user input and output
  • The query function is used to send the user's input to the agent
  • The chat loop continues until the user types 'exit' or 'quit'
9

Run the application

try {
  await chat();
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
  process.exit(1);
}
What's happening:
  • The chat function is the entry point for the application
  • The try-catch block is used to handle any errors that occur

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Paystack and Claude Agent SDK:

import 'dotenv/config';
import readline from 'node:readline';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { query, type Options } from "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk";

async function chat() {
  const { COMPOSIO_API_KEY, USER_ID } = process.env;
  if (!COMPOSIO_API_KEY || !USER_ID) {
    throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID required in .env');
  }

  const composio = new Composio({ apiKey: COMPOSIO_API_KEY });
  const session = await composio.create(USER_ID, {
    toolkits: ['paystack']
  });
  const mcp_url = session?.mcp.url;

  const options: Options = {
    permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions',
    mcpServers: {
      composio: {
        type: 'http',
        url: mcp_url,
        headers: { 'x-api-key': COMPOSIO_API_KEY }
      }
    },
    systemPrompt: 'You are a helpful assistant with access to Paystack tools via Composio.',
    maxTurns: 10,
  };

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

  console.log('\nChat started. Type "exit" to quit.\n');

  let isProcessing = false;

  async function ask(prompt: string) {
    isProcessing = true;
    rl.pause();

    process.stdout.write('Claude is thinking...');
    const stream = query({ prompt, options });

    let firstChunk = true;
    for await (const msg of stream) {
      const content = (msg as any).message?.content || (msg as any).content;
      if (Array.isArray(content)) {
        for (const block of content) {
          if (block.type === 'text' && block.text) {
            if (firstChunk) {
              process.stdout.write('\r\x1b[K');
              process.stdout.write('Claude: ');
              firstChunk = false;
            }
            process.stdout.write(block.text);
          }
        }
      }
    }
    process.stdout.write('\n\n');

    isProcessing = false;
    rl.resume();
    rl.prompt();
  }

  rl.on('line', async (line) => {
    if (isProcessing) return;

    const input = line.trim();
    if (input === 'exit') {
      rl.close();
      process.exit(0);
    }
    if (input) await ask(input);
    else rl.prompt();
  });

  await ask('What can you help me with?');
}

try {
  await chat();
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
  process.exit(1);
}

Conclusion

You've successfully built a Claude Agent SDK agent that can interact with Paystack through Composio's Tool Router.

Key features:

  • Native MCP support through Claude's agent framework
  • Streaming responses for real-time interaction
  • Permission bypass for smooth automated workflows
You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom business logic, or building a web interface around the agent.
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.

FRAMEWORKS

How to build Paystack MCP Agent with another framework

OpenAI Agents SDK logo

OpenAI Agents SDK

Use Paystack MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

Claude Code logo

Claude Code

Use Paystack MCP with Claude Code

Claude Cowork logo

Claude Cowork

Use Paystack MCP with Claude Cowork

Codex logo

Codex

Use Paystack MCP with Codex

OpenClaw logo

OpenClaw

Use Paystack MCP with OpenClaw

Hermes logo

Hermes

Use Paystack MCP with Hermes

CLI logo

CLI

Use Paystack MCP with CLI

Google ADK logo

Google ADK

Use Paystack MCP with Google ADK

LangChain logo

LangChain

Use Paystack MCP with LangChain

Vercel AI SDK logo

Vercel AI SDK

Use Paystack MCP with Vercel AI SDK

Mastra AI logo

Mastra AI

Use Paystack MCP with Mastra AI

LlamaIndex logo

LlamaIndex

Use Paystack MCP with LlamaIndex

CrewAI logo

CrewAI

Use Paystack MCP with CrewAI

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. Claude Agent SDK 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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Karan skipped his own birthday party to fix our critical issue. It was 10pm and he diverted his Waymo to help us instead. This really sets the bar — it shows the commitment you need when users rely on your software.

Harsha Gaddipati
Harsha Gaddipati
Co-founder, Slashy

A lot of students tell us that the moment their connected tools start talking to each other inside Opennote feels almost magical. The agent just knows them, and it's immensely helped keep new users on the platform.

Abhi Arya
Abhi Arya
Co-founder, Opennote

We chose Composio over Pipedream because it delivered depth where it mattered — niche tools and tricky edge cases other platforms simply ignored. That gave us confidence to scale without compromising.

Nirman Dave
Nirman Dave
CEO, Zams

As a solo builder, shipping fast is life or death. The only way I can outcompete incumbents is by outmanoeuvring them. Getting bogged down managing agent auth would have been a death sentence.

Ryan Yu
Ryan Yu
Founder, Extra Thursday

Before Composio, adding tool integrations was slow and resource-intensive. Each one could take weeks of engineering time, and maintaining them meant constantly keeping up with API changes.

Tomisin Jenrola
Tomisin Jenrola
Founder & CEO, SwarmZero

With hands-on help from their founder, we integrated Gmail and Google Drive in just 30 minutes. This level of personal support and commitment is exactly what startups should strive for.

Jerome Leclanche
Jerome Leclanche
Co-Founder, Ingram Technologies