This section provides a fully interactive API Reference generated from the official OpenAPI specification. Developers can explore endpoints, view request parameters, and test API calls directly within the documentation.

Use the navigation on the left to explore the available API operations.

API Explorer

The API Reference provides detailed documentation for each endpoint, including:

Request headers and parameters
Path variables
Query parameters
Request payloads
Example responses

Developers can use the API explorer to understand how requests are structured before implementing them in their own systems.

Typical use cases include:

Managing recurring subscriptions
Charging tokenized customers
Retrieving transaction history
Querying transaction details
Monitoring API connectivity

Authentication

All PayFast API requests must include the required authentication headers.

Header	Description
`merchant-id`	The merchant identifier issued by PayFast
`version`	API version (currently `v1`)
`timestamp`	ISO timestamp used when generating the request signature
`signature`	MD5 hash generated from the request parameters

These headers ensure that each request is securely validated by the PayFast API.

Postman Collection

For developers who prefer testing APIs using Postman, we provide a hosted Postman collection that includes all available endpoints.

The collection includes:

Preconfigured requests
Authentication header examples
Request body examples
Environment variables for testing

You can access the collection here:

Postman API Collection

This collection is useful for quickly testing requests and understanding how the API behaves before integrating it into your application.

Base URL

All requests are sent to the PayFast API base URL:

https://api.payfast.co.za

Getting Started

If you are integrating with PayFast for the first time, we recommend reviewing the following sections before using the API:

Authentication & Security – understand how request signatures are generated.
Subscriptions – manage recurring payments.
Tokenization – perform ad-hoc charges against saved payment agreements.
Transactions – retrieve transaction and settlement data.

Next Steps

Use the navigation menu to explore the available API endpoints, beginning with the Authentication & Security section.