> This page is for version v2 (default).
> For other versions, use one of these documentation indexes:
> - v2 (default): https://developers.clearpay.co.uk/v-2/llms.txt
> - v1: https://developers.clearpay.co.uk/v-1/llms.txt

> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://developers.clearpay.co.uk/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://developers.clearpay.co.uk/_mcp/server.

# Create Checkout [Express Checkout]

POST https://global-api-sandbox.afterpay.com/v2/checkouts/
Content-Type: application/json

This endpoint creates a checkout that is used to initiate the Clearpay payment process. Clearpay uses the information in the order request to assist with the consumer’s pre-approval process.

## Successful Response (201)

Returns a token, expiry date/time and checkout URL if successful.

| Attribute             | Type   | Description                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| :-------------------- | :----- | :-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `token`               | string | Checkout token to be used to complete payment.                                                                                                                                                |
| `expires`             | string | The UTC timestamp of when the checkout token will expire, in [ISO 8601](https://www.iso.org/iso-8601-date-and-time-format.html) format.                                                       |
| `redirectCheckoutUrl` | string | A URL that can be used to redirect the consumer to the Clearpay screenflow directly from the merchant backend. This can be used as an alternative to implementing the JavaScript afterpay.js. |

## Connection Timeouts

| Timeout | Time (Seconds) |
| :------ | :------------- |
| Open    | 10             |
| Read    | 20             |

## Errors

In addition to the [PUT/POST Errors](/put-post-errors) applicable to all POST endpoints, the following errors are specific to Create Checkout:

| HTTP Status Code          | errorCode                  | Description                                                                                                                                            |
| :------------------------ | :------------------------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 422  Unprocessable Entity | `invalid_object`           | One or more required fields were missing or invalid.                                                                                                   |
| 422  Unprocessable Entity | `unsupported_payment_type` | The amount is outside of the merchant's payment limits, as returned by [Get Configuration](/api-reference/online-api/configuration/get-configuration). |
| 422  Unprocessable Entity | `unsupported_currency`     | One or more [Money](/money-object) objects may have contained a currency that differs from the merchant's account currency.                            |

Reference: https://developers.clearpay.co.uk/api-reference/create-checkout-express-checkout

## Authentication

- `Authorization` header (basic auth, required) — Basic authentication of the form `Basic <base64(username:password)>`.

## Request

### Headers

- `Accept` (string, optional, default: application/json)

### Body (application/json)

This endpoint expects an object.

- `amount` (V2CheckoutsPostRequestBodyContentApplicationJsonSchemaAmount, required) — Total amount for order to be charged to consumer.
- `mode` (enum, required, default: express) — Must be set to `express` to enable express checkout.
  - Allowed values: `express`, `standard`
- `merchant` (renamedMerchant, required)

## Response

### 200

200

- `token` (string, optional)
- `expires` (string, optional)
- `redirectCheckoutUrl` (string, optional)

## Errors

### 400 Bad Request Error

400

## Types

### V2CheckoutsPostRequestBodyContentApplicationJsonSchemaAmount

Total amount for order to be charged to consumer.

- `amount` (string, required, default: 0.00) — The amount as a string representation of a decimal number, rounded to 2 decimal places.
- `currency` (string, required, default: GBP) — The currency in [ISO 4217](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_4217) format.

### renamedMerchant

- `popupOriginUrl` (string, required, default: https://www.clearpay-merchant.com/cart) — The URL location from which Clearpay is initiated (required for express checkout). Optional for standard checkout when a `redirectConfirmURL` is provided.

## Examples

**Request**

```json
{
  "amount": {
    "amount": "0.00",
    "currency": "GBP"
  },
  "mode": "express",
  "merchant": {
    "popupOriginUrl": "https://www.clearpay-merchant.com/cart"
  }
}
```

**Response**

```json
{}
```

**SDK Code**

```python
import requests

url = "https://global-api-sandbox.afterpay.com/v2/checkouts/"

payload = {
    "amount": {
        "amount": "0.00",
        "currency": "GBP"
    },
    "mode": "express",
    "merchant": { "popupOriginUrl": "https://www.clearpay-merchant.com/cart" }
}
headers = {
    "User-Agent": "User-Agent"
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers, auth=("<username>", "<password>"))

print(response.json())
```

```javascript
const url = 'https://global-api-sandbox.afterpay.com/v2/checkouts/';
const credentials = btoa("<username>:<password>");

const options = {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'User-Agent': 'User-Agent',
    Authorization: `Basic ${credentials}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: '{"amount":{"amount":"0.00","currency":"GBP"},"mode":"express","merchant":{"popupOriginUrl":"https://www.clearpay-merchant.com/cart"}}'
};

try {
  const response = await fetch(url, options);
  const data = await response.json();
  console.log(data);
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
}
```

```go
package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"strings"
	"net/http"
	"io"
)

func main() {

	url := "https://global-api-sandbox.afterpay.com/v2/checkouts/"

	payload := strings.NewReader("{\n  \"amount\": {\n    \"amount\": \"0.00\",\n    \"currency\": \"GBP\"\n  },\n  \"mode\": \"express\",\n  \"merchant\": {\n    \"popupOriginUrl\": \"https://www.clearpay-merchant.com/cart\"\n  }\n}")

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", url, payload)

	req.Header.Add("User-Agent", "User-Agent")
	req.SetBasicAuth("<username>", "<password>")
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(res)
	fmt.Println(string(body))

}
```

```ruby
require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://global-api-sandbox.afterpay.com/v2/checkouts/")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)
request["User-Agent"] = 'User-Agent'
request.basic_auth("<username>", "<password>")
request["Content-Type"] = 'application/json'
request.body = "{\n  \"amount\": {\n    \"amount\": \"0.00\",\n    \"currency\": \"GBP\"\n  },\n  \"mode\": \"express\",\n  \"merchant\": {\n    \"popupOriginUrl\": \"https://www.clearpay-merchant.com/cart\"\n  }\n}"

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body
```

```java
import com.mashape.unirest.http.HttpResponse;
import com.mashape.unirest.http.Unirest;

HttpResponse<String> response = Unirest.post("https://global-api-sandbox.afterpay.com/v2/checkouts/")
  .header("User-Agent", "User-Agent")
  .basicAuth("<username>", "<password>")
  .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
  .body("{\n  \"amount\": {\n    \"amount\": \"0.00\",\n    \"currency\": \"GBP\"\n  },\n  \"mode\": \"express\",\n  \"merchant\": {\n    \"popupOriginUrl\": \"https://www.clearpay-merchant.com/cart\"\n  }\n}")
  .asString();
```

```php
<?php
require_once('vendor/autoload.php');

$client = new \GuzzleHttp\Client();

$response = $client->request('POST', 'https://global-api-sandbox.afterpay.com/v2/checkouts/', [
  'body' => '{
  "amount": {
    "amount": "0.00",
    "currency": "GBP"
  },
  "mode": "express",
  "merchant": {
    "popupOriginUrl": "https://www.clearpay-merchant.com/cart"
  }
}',
  'headers' => [
    'Content-Type' => 'application/json',
    'User-Agent' => 'User-Agent',
  ],
    'auth' => ['<username>', '<password>'],
]);

echo $response->getBody();
```

```csharp
using RestSharp;
using RestSharp.Authenticators;

var client = new RestClient("https://global-api-sandbox.afterpay.com/v2/checkouts/");
client.Authenticator = new HttpBasicAuthenticator("<username>", "<password>");
var request = new RestRequest(Method.POST);
request.AddHeader("User-Agent", "User-Agent");

request.AddHeader("Content-Type", "application/json");
request.AddParameter("application/json", "{\n  \"amount\": {\n    \"amount\": \"0.00\",\n    \"currency\": \"GBP\"\n  },\n  \"mode\": \"express\",\n  \"merchant\": {\n    \"popupOriginUrl\": \"https://www.clearpay-merchant.com/cart\"\n  }\n}", ParameterType.RequestBody);
IRestResponse response = client.Execute(request);
```

```swift
import Foundation

let credentials = Data("<username>:<password>".utf8).base64EncodedString()

let headers = [
  "User-Agent": "User-Agent",
  "Authorization": "Basic \(credentials)",
  "Content-Type": "application/json"
]
let parameters = [
  "amount": [
    "amount": "0.00",
    "currency": "GBP"
  ],
  "mode": "express",
  "merchant": ["popupOriginUrl": "https://www.clearpay-merchant.com/cart"]
] as [String : Any]

let postData = JSONSerialization.data(withJSONObject: parameters, options: [])

let request = NSMutableURLRequest(url: NSURL(string: "https://global-api-sandbox.afterpay.com/v2/checkouts/")! as URL,
                                        cachePolicy: .useProtocolCachePolicy,
                                    timeoutInterval: 10.0)
request.httpMethod = "POST"
request.allHTTPHeaderFields = headers
request.httpBody = postData as Data

let session = URLSession.shared
let dataTask = session.dataTask(with: request as URLRequest, completionHandler: { (data, response, error) -> Void in
  if (error != nil) {
    print(error as Any)
  } else {
    let httpResponse = response as? HTTPURLResponse
    print(httpResponse)
  }
})

dataTask.resume()
```