activate_payment_method

Offer a configured payment method to buyers again and re-queue its plan sync. Refuses a Stripe method whose Connect onboarding never finished.

Purpose

The creator's on-switch for a gateway. Activating offers the method at checkout again and re-queues the plan sync for its gateway, so its catalogue is current by the time the first buyer arrives. Idempotent: a method that is already on is a no-op and emits nothing. When the switch flips, project.payment_method.updated emits once with changes.active.

Stripe needs its Connect handshake first

A Stripe method whose Connect onboarding never finished is refused with VALIDATION_FAILED. Switching it on early would offer buyers a gateway that fails at checkout; onboarding can only be completed from the dashboard, the one place the Connect handshake can run.

Required ability

project-payment-method:update

Input schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "required": ["project_id", "payment_method_id"],
  "properties": {
    "project_id": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "UUID of the project the method belongs to."
    },
    "payment_method_id": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "UUID of the payment method to switch on."
    }
  }
}

Output shape

{
  "data": {
    "id": "a15d70c8-3e46-4b92-b70f-58c9d2140e63",
    "provider": "paypal",
    "mode": "live",
    "active": true,
    "created_at": "2026-05-18T10:05:00+00:00"
  }
}

Example prompts

"Switch the PayPal gateway back on for project 7f3d1c92-8b45-4e6a-9d21-5c8e0a4b6f13."

"Re-enable payment method a15d70c8-3e46-4b92-b70f-58c9d2140e63."

"Turn card payments back on now that the dispute is settled."

Failure modes

VALIDATION_FAILED — a Stripe method whose Connect onboarding is incomplete.
RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND — unknown project_id or payment_method_id, a method of another project, or a project outside the token's scope.
AUTHENTICATION_REQUIRED — no authenticated user on the request.
TOKEN_MISSING_ABILITY — token lacks project-payment-method:update.

deactivate_payment_method — the reverse.
get_payment_method — read the switch first.
sync_payment_method_plans — what activation queues for you.
Payment methods API — the REST equivalent.