PayPal APIPayPal.me ↗
Retrieve profile picture URLs from public PayPal.Me profiles. One endpoint returns the direct pics.paypal.com image URL or null for any username.
What is the PayPal API?
The PayPal.Me API exposes 1 endpoint, get_paypal_pfp, that returns the profile picture URL for any public PayPal.Me username. Pass the username segment from a paypal.me profile URL and the response gives you a direct profile_photo_url hosted on pics.paypal.com, or null when the user has not set a photo. The endpoint also flags invalid or inactive usernames with a stale_input status rather than returning empty data silently.
curl -X GET 'https://api.parse.bot/scraper/110f8f92-9980-43ae-aacf-e4145ca3c343/get_paypal_pfp?username=maboroshi' \ -H 'X-API-Key: $PARSE_API_KEY'
Typed, relational, agent-ready
A generated client with real types, enums, and the links between objects — the structure a flat JSON response can't carry. Autocompletes in your editor and reads cleanly to coding agents.
- Fully typed · autocompletes
- Objects link to objects
- Typed errors & pagination
Typed Python client. Set up the SDK in your uv project, then pull this API’s typed client:
uv add parse-sdk uv run parse init uv run parse add --marketplace paypal-me-api
uv run parse add --marketplace pulls a pinned snapshot of this canonical API — it won’t change underneath you. To customize it, subscribe and swap to your own copy.
"""Walkthrough: PayPal.Me Profile API — look up a user's profile picture."""
from parse_apis.paypal_me_api import PayPalMe, ProfileNotFound
client = PayPalMe()
# Fetch a profile by username and display the photo URL.
try:
profile = client.profiles.get(username="maboroshi")
except ProfileNotFound:
print("No active PayPal.Me profile for that username.")
else:
print(profile.username, profile.profile_photo_url)
print("exercised: profiles.get")
Gets the profile picture URL for a PayPal.Me user. Returns the direct image URL hosted on pics.paypal.com, or null if no profile picture is set. One round trip per call. Returns stale_input when the username does not correspond to an active PayPal.Me profile.
| Param | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| usernamerequired | string | PayPal.Me username (the portion after paypal.me/ in the profile URL, e.g. 'maboroshi'). |
{
"type": "object",
"fields": {
"username": "The PayPal.Me username queried",
"profile_photo_url": "Direct URL to the user's profile picture on pics.paypal.com, or null if none is set"
},
"sample": {
"data": {
"username": "maboroshi",
"profile_photo_url": "https://pics.paypal.com/00/s/NjAwWDkwNVhKUEc/p/NDM5NTdhYTItZmZjYy00ODIyLWE3MDgtMzUxNWI4MmU4ZDBk/image_58.jpg"
},
"status": "success"
}
}About the PayPal API
What the API Returns
The single get_paypal_pfp endpoint accepts a username string — the path segment after paypal.me/ in the profile URL, such as maboroshi — and returns two fields: username (the queried value echoed back) and profile_photo_url (a direct image URL on the pics.paypal.com domain, or null if the account has no profile picture set).
Handling Inactive or Missing Profiles
When the supplied username does not correspond to an active PayPal.Me profile, the endpoint returns a stale_input status rather than a null photo URL. This distinction matters for data pipelines: a null photo URL means the profile exists but carries no image, while stale_input means the username itself is not a valid or active PayPal.Me page.
Coverage and Scope
The API covers only publicly visible PayPal.Me profiles. Private account details, payment history, balance information, and PayPal account metadata beyond the profile picture are not part of the response. One request maps to one username — there is no batch mode in the current endpoint set.
The PayPal API is a managed, monitored endpoint for PayPal.me — not a raw scraper you maintain. Every endpoint is automatically health-checked on a schedule, and when PayPal.me changes and a check fails, the API is automatically queued for repair and re-verified. It is built to keep working as the site underneath it changes.
This isn't an official PayPal.me API — it's an independent, maintained REST wrapper over public data. Where the source has no official API (or only a limited one), Parse gives you a stable contract over a source that never promised one, and keeps it current. Need a new endpoint or field? You can revise it yourself in plain English and the agent rebuilds it against the live site in minutes — contributing the change back to the shared API is free.
Will this API break when the source site changes?+
Is this an official API from the source site?+
Can I fix or extend this API myself if I need a new endpoint or field?+
What happens if I call an endpoint that has an issue?+
- Display a sender's PayPal.Me avatar next to their payment link in a peer-to-peer payment app
- Validate whether a PayPal.Me username is active before storing it in a user directory
- Enrich a freelancer marketplace profile with the contractor's PayPal.Me photo
- Build a contact card tool that pulls a PayPal.Me profile picture from a stored username
- Verify PayPal.Me usernames submitted in a form and flag stale or invalid entries in real time
| Tier | Price | Credits/month | Rate limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 200 | 5 req/min |
| Hobby | $30/mo | 1,000 | 20 req/min |
| Developer | $100/mo | 5,000 | 100 req/min |
| Team | $300/mo | 20,000 | 300 req/min |
| Company | $1,000/mo | 100,000 | 500 req/min |
Each endpoint has a fixed posted price per successful call — most fall between 1 and 10 credits — shown on this API's page before you run it. Exceeding the rate limit returns a 429 response. Authenticate with the X-API-Key header.
Does PayPal have an official developer API that covers PayPal.Me profiles?+
What does `get_paypal_pfp` return when a profile has no picture?+
username field with the queried value and sets profile_photo_url to null. The endpoint only returns stale_input when the username itself does not correspond to an active PayPal.Me profile, so null photo and invalid username are two distinct states.Can I retrieve multiple PayPal.Me profile pictures in a single request?+
profile_photo_url. You can fork this API on Parse and revise it to add a batch endpoint that accepts multiple usernames in one request.Does the API return any profile data beyond the picture URL, such as display name or bio?+
username and profile_photo_url. You can fork this API on Parse and revise it to add an endpoint that returns additional public profile fields if they are available on the PayPal.Me page.How fresh is the profile picture URL?+
get_paypal_pfp fetches the current state of the profile, so the returned pics.paypal.com URL reflects whatever picture is publicly visible at the time of the request. There is no caching layer that could return a stale URL from a previous lookup.