Pinch Payments API Authentication

How to authenticate Pinch Payments API requests: one Bearer API key plus a connectionId. MindCloud runs the OAuth flow and refreshes tokens for you.

Every Pinch Payments API request through MindCloud needs two things: a MindCloud API Key and a connectionId for your Pinch Payments account. This page covers both, plus exactly how to send them, so you do not need to visit any other page to get authenticated.

Steps to authenticate

Create a MindCloud account at app.mindcloud.co if you do not already have one.
Generate a MindCloud API Key in API Keys. This is the Bearer token you send on every request. Keep it on your server.
Create a Pinch Payments connection in Connections. Pinch Payments uses OAuth. When you create the connection, you are redirected to sign in to Pinch Payments and approve access — MindCloud stores the resulting tokens and refreshes them automatically, so your integration never has to.
Copy the connection’s connectionId — you will send it on every request alongside your MindCloud API Key.

How requests are authenticated

Authentication has two layers. Your MindCloud API Key authenticates the request to MindCloud, sent as a Bearer token in the Authorization header. The connectionId selects the connected Pinch Payments account that should run the action. MindCloud stores and refreshes the Pinch Payments credentials behind that connection, so you never send provider tokens with your requests.

Pass connectionId in the query string for GET and DELETE actions, and in the JSON body for POST, PUT, and PATCH actions.

For example, calling Get Merchant with an Pinch Payments connection looks like this:

curl --request POST \
  --url "https://connect.mindcloud.co/v2/universal/apps/pinchPayments/actions/get-merchant/run" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $MINDCLOUD_API_KEY" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{
  "connectionId": "$CONNECTION_ID",
  "arguments": {}
}'

The Authorization: Bearer <your MindCloud API Key> header authenticates you to MindCloud; the connectionId tells MindCloud which Pinch Payments account to run the action against. Missing or invalid Authorization returns 401, and a missing or mismatched connectionId returns 400.

Connect your Pinch account

You need either a Pinch Merchant ID and Secret Access Key or an Application ID and Secret. Pinch test and live credentials are different.

Open the Pinch Portal and go to API Keys
Sign in to the Pinch Portal and open the API Keys section. Create an Application if you do not want to use your Merchant ID and Secret directly.
Copy the Client ID
Use the Application ID if you created an Application. Otherwise use your Merchant ID.
Copy the Client Secret
Use the matching Application Secret or Secret Access Key. Pinch only shows the secret once when it is generated, so copy it immediately.
Choose the right environment
Use live credentials for live API calls. Use separate test credentials if you want to call Pinch test business endpoints.

Keep your key safe

Keep your MindCloud API Key on your server; do not ship it in browser code, mobile apps, public repositories, or logs. Anyone with the key can call the Universal API as your MindCloud account, across every connection you have created.