> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developers.circle.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. > ## Agent Instructions > Before reading these docs, install the relevant Circle Skill to get pre-loaded context — skills are LLM-optimized and cover architecture decisions, correct flows, and common pitfalls. In Claude Code: run /plugin marketplace add circlefin/skills then /plugin install circle-skills@circle. With Vercel Skills CLI: run npx skills add circlefin/skills. Available skills: use-usdc https://github.com/circlefin/skills/blob/master/plugins/circle/skills/use-usdc/SKILL.md (balances, transfers, approvals on EVM and Solana); EURC has no skill — see https://developers.circle.com/stablecoins/what-is-eurc.md; bridge-stablecoin https://github.com/circlefin/skills/blob/master/plugins/circle/skills/bridge-stablecoin/SKILL.md (crosschain transfers via CCTP, USDC, EURC, and third-party assets); use-arc https://github.com/circlefin/skills/blob/master/plugins/circle/skills/use-arc/SKILL.md (Arc chain config, contract deployment, USDC bridging — Arc docs: https://docs.arc.io/llms.txt); use-circle-wallets https://github.com/circlefin/skills/blob/master/plugins/circle/skills/use-circle-wallets/SKILL.md (choose wallet type); use-developer-controlled-wallets https://github.com/circlefin/skills/blob/master/plugins/circle/skills/use-developer-controlled-wallets/SKILL.md (custodial wallets for payouts and treasury); use-user-controlled-wallets https://github.com/circlefin/skills/blob/master/plugins/circle/skills/use-user-controlled-wallets/SKILL.md (embedded wallets with Web2 login); use-modular-wallets https://github.com/circlefin/skills/blob/master/plugins/circle/skills/use-modular-wallets/SKILL.md (smart contract wallets with passkeys and ERC-4337); use-gateway https://github.com/circlefin/skills/blob/master/plugins/circle/skills/use-gateway/SKILL.md (unified USDC balance, nanopayments); use-smart-contract-platform https://github.com/circlefin/skills/blob/master/plugins/circle/skills/use-smart-contract-platform/SKILL.md (deploy, interact, monitor contracts). Pair any skill with the Circle MCP server for live SDK signatures, contract addresses, and chain IDs: {"mcpServers":{"circle":{"url":"https://api.circle.com/v1/codegen/mcp"}}}. > Read the product overview first. Each product has an overview explaining when and why to use it. Read it before quickstarts. > Pick the right wallet type. Developer-controlled (you hold keys), user-controlled (end user holds keys via PIN/social login), or modular (smart contract wallets with passkeys). See https://developers.circle.com/wallets.md. > Use CCTP V2 for crosschain transfers. CCTP natively transfers USDC and EURC via burn-and-mint, and supports permissionless wrapping of third-party assets via lock-and-mint. V1 is legacy; always use V2 unless V1 is specified or the chain requires it (Noble, Sui, and Aptos still require V1). Migration guide: https://developers.circle.com/cctp/migration-from-v1-to-v2.md. > Use Bridge Kit for frontend bridging. Wraps CCTP with a simpler SDK for user-facing apps. Use CCTP directly for backend transfers. > Gas Station vs Paymaster. Gas Station sponsors gas for Circle Wallet transactions. Paymaster lets users pay gas in USDC. Different use cases — read both overviews. > Gateway Nanopayments for sub-cent payments. Gasless USDC micropayments down to $0.000001 via x402 and batched settlement. For pay-per-request APIs, AI agent payments, streaming. > Look up USDC addresses per chain. Never hardcode — use https://developers.circle.com/stablecoins/usdc-contract-addresses.md. > Prefer SDKs over raw API calls. Node.js and Python SDKs handle auth, retries, and errors. > API key required. Bearer token in Authorization header. Testnet and mainnet use separate keys and may use different base URLs depending on the product. > Set up webhooks when available. Most operations are async. Webhooks deliver transaction confirmations and state changes. > When calling list endpoints, paginate using pageSize and pageAfter until no nextPageAfter cursor is returned—stopping at the first page silently misses records. > Building an AI agent? Start with the Agent Stack—Circle CLI, agent wallets, and nanopayments built for autonomous use cases: https://developers.circle.com/agent-stack.md. # Create a payment intent > Create a continuous (default) or transient payment intent. Continuous payment intents are created by default. To create a transient payment intent, the `type` field must be explicitly set to `transient`. `purposeOfTransfer` is conditionally required: it must be supplied when the entity's legal entity is Circle SG (`CIRCLE_SG`), Circle Inc (`CIRCLE_INC`) with Managed Payments enabled, or Circle SAS (`CIRCLE_FR`); it is optional for other legal entities. `PMT006` is not allowed. Eligible Circle SG (`CIRCLE_SG`) merchants can link a transient payment intent to a Travel Rule customer wallet by supplying `customerWalletId`. ## OpenAPI ````yaml openapi/payments.yaml post /v1/paymentIntents openapi: 3.0.2 info: version: ${version} title: Crypto Deposits API description: > The Circle Payments API allows you to take payments from your end users via traditional methods such as debit & credit cards and receive settlement in USDC. The Circle Payments API has been designed with any business or internet commerce in mind, not just crypto applications, and it's based on Circle's extensive experience processing millions of card payments since 2014. servers: - url: https://api-sandbox.circle.com - url: https://api.circle.com security: [] tags: - name: Payments description: Create, cancel, refund, and get updates on card payments. - name: Crypto Payment Intents description: Create and track intent for end user to pay via crypto. - name: Crypto Payment Customers description: >- Create and manage Travel Rule customers and customer wallets for crypto payment attribution. - name: Crypto Payment Refund Addresses description: Create refund address-book entries for crypto payment refunds. paths: /v1/paymentIntents: post: tags: - Crypto Payment Intents summary: Create a payment intent description: > Create a continuous (default) or transient payment intent. Continuous payment intents are created by default. To create a transient payment intent, the `type` field must be explicitly set to `transient`. `purposeOfTransfer` is conditionally required: it must be supplied when the entity's legal entity is Circle SG (`CIRCLE_SG`), Circle Inc (`CIRCLE_INC`) with Managed Payments enabled, or Circle SAS (`CIRCLE_FR`); it is optional for other legal entities. `PMT006` is not allowed. Eligible Circle SG (`CIRCLE_SG`) merchants can link a transient payment intent to a Travel Rule customer wallet by supplying `customerWalletId`. operationId: createPaymentIntent requestBody: content: application/json: schema: oneOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/ContinuousPaymentIntentCreationRequest' - $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentIntentCreationRequest' discriminator: propertyName: type mapping: continuous: '#/components/schemas/ContinuousPaymentIntentCreationRequest' transient: '#/components/schemas/PaymentIntentCreationRequest' examples: Transient Payment Intent: value: idempotencyKey: ba943ff1-ca16-49b2-ba55-1057e70ca5c7 type: transient amount: amount: '3.14' currency: USD settlementCurrency: USD paymentMethods: - type: blockchain chain: ETH purposeOfTransfer: PMT001 expiresOn: '2026-07-01T20:13:35.578678Z' customerWalletId: 9b8a7d6c-5e4f-4321-9c8b-123456789abc metadata: customerExternalRef: 310c458a-18eb-4cbd-8a9a-586d9448ae69 Continuous Payment Intent: value: idempotencyKey: ff0bcbfb-c58e-4f36-b0f3-beb4747f1c30 type: continuous currency: USD settlementCurrency: USD paymentMethods: - type: blockchain chain: ETH merchantWalletId: '212000' purposeOfTransfer: PMT001 metadata: customerExternalRef: 310c458a-18eb-4cbd-8a9a-586d9448ae69 responses: '201': description: Successfully created a payment intent. headers: X-Request-Id: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRequestId' content: application/json: schema: title: CreatePaymentIntentResponse properties: data: oneOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentIntent' - $ref: '#/components/schemas/ContinuousPaymentIntent' examples: Transient Payment Intent: value: data: id: 8755d0ea-14f9-4259-b092-de23c14b6568 amount: amount: '3.14' currency: USD amountPaid: amount: '0.00' currency: USD settlementCurrency: USD paymentMethods: - type: blockchain chain: ETH address: '0x8381470ED67C3802402dbbFa0058E8871F017A6F' paymentIds: [] customerExternalRef: 310c458a-18eb-4cbd-8a9a-586d9448ae69 timeline: - status: created time: '2022-07-21T20:13:35.579331Z' purposeOfTransfer: PMT001 expiresOn: '2022-08-04T20:13:35.578678Z' customerWalletId: 9b8a7d6c-5e4f-4321-9c8b-123456789abc createDate: '2022-07-21T20:13:35.578678Z' updateDate: '2022-07-21T20:19:24.859052Z' Continuous Payment Intent: value: data: id: e2e90ba3-9d1f-490d-9460-24ac6eb55a1b currency: USD settlementCurrency: USD amountPaid: amount: '0.00' currency: USD paymentMethods: - type: blockchain chain: ETH address: '0x8381470ED67C3802402dbbFa0058E8871F017A6F' timeline: - status: created time: '2023-01-21T20:13:35.579331Z' type: continuous purposeOfTransfer: PMT001 createDate: '2023-01-21T20:13:35.578678Z' updateDate: '2023-01-21T20:13:35.578678Z' '400': $ref: '#/components/responses/BadRequest' '401': $ref: '#/components/responses/NotAuthorized' '403': $ref: '#/components/responses/Forbidden' '404': $ref: '#/components/responses/NotFound' security: - bearerAuth: [] components: schemas: ContinuousPaymentIntentCreationRequest: type: object required: - idempotencyKey - currency - settlementCurrency - paymentMethods - merchantWalletId properties: idempotencyKey: $ref: '#/components/schemas/IdempotencyKey' currency: description: Desired currency for the payment type: string enum: - USD - EUR settlementCurrency: description: >- Desired currency for the payments to settle in. This must match the currency used for the payment. type: string enum: - USD - EUR paymentMethods: type: array items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentMethodBlockchainRequest' merchantWalletId: $ref: '#/components/schemas/MerchantWalletId' purposeOfTransfer: $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentIntentPurposeOfTransfer' type: type: string description: Payment intent type. Defaults to 'continuous' if not specified. enum: - continuous default: continuous metadata: $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentIntentMetadata' PaymentIntentCreationRequest: type: object required: - idempotencyKey - amount - settlementCurrency - paymentMethods - type properties: idempotencyKey: $ref: '#/components/schemas/IdempotencyKey' amount: $ref: '#/components/schemas/CryptoPaymentsMoney' settlementCurrency: description: >- Desired currency for the payments to settle in. This must match the currency used for the payment method. type: string enum: - USD - EUR paymentMethods: type: array items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentMethodBlockchain' merchantWalletId: $ref: '#/components/schemas/MerchantWalletId' purposeOfTransfer: $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentIntentPurposeOfTransfer' type: type: string description: >- Payment intent type. Must be explicitly set to 'transient' for transient payment intents. enum: - transient expiresOn: description: > The time at which the transient payment intent expires. Once expired, the payment intent will no longer accept payments. Required for merchants registered under Circle's US LLC or Singapore legal entities. allOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/UtcTimestamp' metadata: $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentIntentMetadata' customerWalletId: type: string format: uuid description: >- The ID of a registered customer wallet to link to this transient payment intent. Available for Circle Singapore (`CIRCLE_SG`) merchants with the Travel Rule customer entitlement. Supported on `transient` intents only. example: b3d9d2d5-4c12-4946-a09d-953e82fae2b0 beneficiaryLei: $ref: '#/components/schemas/LegalEntityIdentifier' PaymentIntent: type: object required: - amount - settlementCurrency - paymentMethods properties: id: type: string description: Unique system generated identifier for the entity. format: uuid example: b8627ae8-732b-4d25-b947-1df8f4007a29 amount: $ref: '#/components/schemas/CryptoPaymentsMoney' amountPaid: $ref: '#/components/schemas/CryptoPaymentsMoney' amountRefunded: $ref: '#/components/schemas/CryptoPaymentsMoney' settlementCurrency: description: Desired currency for the payments to settle in. type: string enum: - USD paymentMethods: type: array items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentMethodBlockchain' fees: type: array items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentIntentFees' paymentIds: description: List of associated payments. type: array items: type: string format: uuid example: 69808f36-3e5e-4f37-bf82-ca79e4d70fc1 refundIds: description: List of associated refunds. type: array items: type: string format: uuid example: 425dca6d-ac79-43b6-b0f9-43fdc51de91b timeline: description: State management timeline. type: array items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Timeline' expiresOn: $ref: '#/components/schemas/UtcTimestamp' description: >- The time at which the transient payment intent expires. Once expired, the payment intent will no longer accept payments. Must be no more than 24 hours after the time of creation. Values beyond 24 hours, or values that are missing, malformed, or in the past, return error `1128`. updateDate: $ref: '#/components/schemas/UtcTimestamp' createDate: $ref: '#/components/schemas/UtcTimestamp' merchantWalletId: $ref: '#/components/schemas/MerchantWalletId' purposeOfTransfer: $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentIntentPurposeOfTransfer' customerExternalRef: $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentCustomerExternalRef' description: A customer-supplied reference to reconcile transactions. customerWalletId: type: string format: uuid description: >- Identifier of the customer wallet linked to the transient payment intent, when one was supplied at creation time. example: 9b8a7d6c-5e4f-4321-9c8b-123456789abc ContinuousPaymentIntent: type: object required: - currency - settlementCurrency - paymentMethods - type properties: id: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Id' currency: description: Desired currency of the payment. type: string enum: - USD amountPaid: $ref: '#/components/schemas/CryptoPaymentsMoney' amountRefunded: $ref: '#/components/schemas/CryptoPaymentsMoney' settlementCurrency: description: Desired currency for the payments to settle in. type: string enum: - USD paymentMethods: type: array items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentMethodBlockchain' fees: type: array items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentIntentFees' timeline: description: State management timeline. type: array items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Timeline' updateDate: $ref: '#/components/schemas/UtcTimestamp' createDate: $ref: '#/components/schemas/UtcTimestamp' type: type: string enum: - continuous merchantWalletId: $ref: '#/components/schemas/MerchantWalletId' purposeOfTransfer: $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentIntentPurposeOfTransfer' customerExternalRef: $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentCustomerExternalRef' description: A customer-supplied reference to reconcile transactions. IdempotencyKey: type: string description: >- Universally unique identifier (UUID v4) idempotency key. This key is utilized to ensure exactly-once execution of mutating requests. format: uuid example: ba943ff1-ca16-49b2-ba55-1057e70ca5c7 PaymentMethodBlockchainRequest: type: object required: - type - chain properties: type: type: string enum: - blockchain chain: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Chain' MerchantWalletId: type: string description: Unique system generated identifier for the wallet of the merchant. maxLength: 36 example: '212000' PaymentIntentPurposeOfTransfer: type: string description: > Payment reason code describing the purpose of the transfer for the payment intent. Conditionally required: it must be supplied when the entity's legal entity is Circle SG (`CIRCLE_SG`), or Circle Inc (`CIRCLE_INC`) with Managed Payments enabled. It is optional for all other legal entities. `PMT006` (Transfer to own account) is not allowed for payment intents. A missing value (when required) or a disallowed/invalid value returns error code `INVALID_PURPOSE_OF_TRANSFER`. enum: - PMT000 - PMT001 - PMT002 - PMT003 - PMT004 - PMT005 - PMT007 - PMT008 - PMT009 - PMT010 - PMT011 - PMT012 - PMT013 - PMT014 - PMT015 - PMT016 - PMT017 - PMT018 - PMT019 - PMT020 - PMT021 - PMT022 - PMT023 - PMT024 - PMT025 - PMT026 - PMT027 - PMT028 - PMT029 - PMT030 example: PMT001 PaymentIntentMetadata: type: object description: Optional metadata associated with the payment intent. properties: customerExternalRef: $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentCustomerExternalRef' description: A customer-supplied reference to reconcile transactions. CryptoPaymentsMoney: type: object required: - amount - currency properties: amount: description: Magnitude of the amount, in units of the currency, with a `.`. type: string example: '3.14' currency: description: Currency code. type: string enum: - USD - EUR PaymentMethodBlockchain: type: object required: - type - chain properties: type: type: string enum: - blockchain chain: type: string description: The blockchain network for the payment. enum: - ALGO - ARB - AVAX - BASE - BTC - ETH - HBAR - NOBLE - OP - POLY - SOL - SUI - XLM address: type: string example: '0x8381470ED67C3802402dbbFa0058E8871F017A6F' UtcTimestamp: type: string description: ISO-8601 UTC date/time format. example: '2020-04-10T02:13:30.000Z' LegalEntityIdentifier: type: string description: > Optional. Legal entity identifier (LEI). Unique global identifier for legal entities. Primarily relevant for French (CIRCLE_FR) entities. example: 529900T8BM49AURSDO55 PaymentIntentFees: type: object required: - type - amount - currency properties: type: type: string enum: - blockchainLeaseFee - totalPaymentFees amount: description: Magnitude of the amount, in units of the currency, with a `.`. type: string example: '3.14' currency: description: Currency code. type: string enum: - USD Timeline: type: object required: - status - time properties: status: type: string enum: - created - pending - complete - expired - failed - refunded context: type: string enum: - underpaid - paid - overpaid reason: type: string enum: - requested_by_merchant - fee_collection_failed time: description: ISO-8601 UTC date/time format. type: string format: date-time PaymentCustomerExternalRef: type: string format: uuid description: >- A customer-supplied reference for reconciliation purposes, used on payment intents, payments, and refunds. Must be a UUID. Payouts and transfers use a separate 21-character limit schema. example: 310c458a-18eb-4cbd-8a9a-586d9448ae69 Id: type: string description: Unique system generated identifier for the entity. format: uuid example: b8627ae8-732b-4d25-b947-1df8f4007a29 Chain: type: string description: A blockchain that a given currency is available on. enum: - ALGO - APTOS - ARB - ARC - AVAX - BASE - BTC - CELO - CODEX - ETH - HBAR - HYPEREVM - INK - LINEA - NEAR - NOBLE - OP - PLUME - PAH - PLASMA - POLY - SEI - SOL - SONIC - SUI - UNI - WORLDCHAIN - XLAYER - XDC - XLM - XRP - ZKS headers: XRequestId: description: >- Universally unique identifier (UUID v4) for the request. Helpful for identifying a request when communicating with Circle support. schema: type: string format: uuid example: 2adba88e-9d63-44bc-b975-9b6ae3440dde responses: BadRequest: description: The request cannot be processed due to a client error. headers: X-Request-Id: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRequestId' content: application/json: schema: type: object title: BadRequest required: - code - message properties: code: type: integer example: 400 message: type: string example: Something went wrong. example: code: 400 message: Bad request. examples: response: value: code: 400 message: Bad request. NotAuthorized: description: >- The request has not been applied because it lacks valid authentication credentials. headers: X-Request-Id: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRequestId' content: application/json: schema: type: object title: NotAuthorized required: - code - message properties: code: type: integer example: 400 message: type: string example: Something went wrong. example: code: 401 message: Malformed authorization. examples: response: value: code: 401 message: Malformed authorization. Forbidden: description: >- The request provides authentication, but the authenticated user does not possess sufficient permissions for accessing this resource. headers: X-Request-Id: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRequestId' content: application/json: schema: type: object title: Forbidden required: - code - message properties: code: type: integer example: 400 message: type: string example: Something went wrong. example: code: 3 message: Forbidden examples: response: value: code: 3 message: Forbidden NotFound: description: The specified resource was not found. headers: X-Request-Id: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRequestId' content: application/json: schema: type: object title: NotFound required: - code - message properties: code: type: integer example: 400 message: type: string example: Something went wrong. example: code: 404 message: Not found. examples: response: value: code: 404 message: Not found. securitySchemes: bearerAuth: type: http scheme: bearer ````