AI Tools Overview - Use AI Agents for Payment Development

OwnPay is the first self-hosted payment platform built for the AI agent era. You can now ask your AI assistant to build integrations, create plugins, and explore the full OwnPay API - and it will know exactly what to do. No more copy-pasting documentation. No more switching tabs. Your AI reads OwnPay docs in real time and writes the code for you.

How it works

There are two things you set up once, then your AI handles the rest.

Connect the MCP Server

The MCP server gives your AI tool live access to all OwnPay documentation. Every time you ask a question, your AI reads the real docs - not outdated training data.Think of it as plugging your AI directly into the OwnPay knowledge base.

Install the OwnPay Skill

The OwnPay Skill teaches your AI the patterns, conventions, and architecture of OwnPay before you even ask a question.It’s like giving your AI a crash course in OwnPay development - payment flows, plugins, APIs, and best practices - all loaded upfront.

Ask your AI anything

Now just ask. Build a gateway plugin. Create a checkout theme. Write an API integration. Your AI knows OwnPay inside out and writes production-ready code.

What you get

MCP Server

Connect Cursor, Claude, VS Code, and other AI tools to live OwnPay documentation. Real-time search and page retrieval - always up to date.

OwnPay Skills

Install a structured knowledge file that teaches your AI agent the OwnPay architecture, APIs, plugin system, and development conventions.

AI Prompt Templates

Ready-to-use prompts for building gateway plugins, addons, themes, and third-party integrations. Copy, paste, and let your AI build.

What is MCP?

MCP stands for Model Context Protocol. It is an open standard that connects AI assistants to live data sources. Without MCP, your AI only knows what it learned during training - which may be months or years out of date. With MCP connected, your AI can search and read the OwnPay documentation right now, every time you ask a question.

The OwnPay MCP server is free, public, and requires no account. Connect it once and every AI conversation benefits automatically.

Here is the difference in practice:

Without MCP	With MCP
AI guesses from training data	AI reads live OwnPay docs
May suggest outdated API patterns	Always uses the current API spec
Generic payment gateway advice	OwnPay-specific, accurate answers
You manually copy-paste docs	AI retrieves docs automatically

What are Skills?

A Skill is a knowledge file you install into your AI tool. It contains a structured description of OwnPay: how the system is designed, how the plugin architecture works, which conventions to follow, and how to write correct code. When you install the OwnPay Skill, your AI understands things like:

OwnPay uses a multi-brand model where each brand has isolated gateways and a separate ledger
Plugins live in modules/gateways/, modules/addons/, and modules/themes/
All API calls require a Bearer Token in the Authorization header
Webhooks must be verified server-side using HMAC signatures

This context lets your AI give you correct answers from the very first question - without needing to explain the basics every time.

Use both MCP and Skills together for the best results. Skills teach the AI what OwnPay is. MCP lets the AI look up exact details on demand.

Example: ask your AI to build a plugin

Once set up, conversations like this just work:

You: Build me a gateway plugin for Stripe that supports redirect checkout.

AI: I'll build that for you. Let me check the OwnPay gateway plugin documentation...
    [reads developer/plugin-types/gateway-development via MCP]

    Here is your plugin structure:
    - modules/gateways/stripe/
      - manifest.json
      - StripeGateway.php
      - redirect.php

    [writes complete, working plugin code]

Or ask about integrations:

You: How do I add OwnPay to my WooCommerce store?

AI: I'll look that up right now...
    [reads developer/integration/woocommerce via MCP]

    Here are the exact steps...

No documentation tab switching. No copy-pasting. Your AI reads, understands, and builds.

Supported AI tools

Connect MCP and Skills to any of these tools today:

Cursor

Add the MCP server in Settings > Features > MCP. Cursor’s Agent mode will automatically call it when working on OwnPay projects.

Claude Desktop & Claude Code

Add to claude_desktop_config.json or run claude mcp add. Works in Projects and regular conversations.

VS Code (Cline / Roo Code)

Add the MCP server URL in your extension’s MCP settings. All Cline conversations gain live doc access.

Windsurf

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json. Cascade assistant picks it up automatically on restart.

Get started

Connect MCP Server

Step-by-step setup for Cursor, Claude, VS Code, and Windsurf. Takes 2 minutes.

Install OwnPay Skills

One command installs the OwnPay knowledge file into your AI tool.

Browse Prompt Templates

Ready-to-copy prompts for gateways, addons, themes, and integrations.

Developer Quickstart

Not using AI? Start with the standard developer quickstart guide.

​How it works

​What you get

MCP Server

OwnPay Skills

AI Prompt Templates

​What is MCP?

​What are Skills?

​Example: ask your AI to build a plugin

​Supported AI tools

Cursor

Claude Desktop & Claude Code

VS Code (Cline / Roo Code)

Windsurf

​Get started

Connect MCP Server

Install OwnPay Skills

Browse Prompt Templates

Developer Quickstart

How it works

What you get

What is MCP?

What are Skills?

Example: ask your AI to build a plugin

Supported AI tools

Get started