Mercury Payments Skill

Overview

Pay invoices via Mercury bank API, notify Zeni (bookkeeper) and the vendor, and always attach the invoice PDF.

Prerequisites

Mercury API token (write access): $MERCURY_API_TOKEN or pass show <vault-path>
Auth: Authorization: Bearer <token> (Basic auth also works: token: base64)
Base URL: https://api.mercury.com/api/v1

Accounts

Discover account IDs dynamically (do not hardcode organization-specific IDs):

bash

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" "https://api.mercury.com/api/v1/accounts"

Default payment account should be confirmed at payment time.

Known Recipients

Keep recipient IDs in your own secure records or resolve by recipient name at runtime.

Payment Flow

1. Get explicit approval

NEVER send money without explicit approval from the authorized operator. Present: amount, recipient, invoice #, account.

2. Download the invoice PDF

Find the invoice email, download the attachment to /tmp/.

3. Check for existing recipient

bash

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" "https://api.mercury.com/api/v1/recipients" | python3 -c "..."

4. Create recipient if needed

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.mercury.com/api/v1/recipients" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "...",
    "emails": ["..."],
    "defaultPaymentMethod": "ach",
    "electronicRoutingInfo": {
      "accountNumber": "...",
      "routingNumber": "...",
      "electronicAccountType": "businessChecking",
      "address": { "address1": "...", "city": "...", "region": "...", "postalCode": "...", "country": "US" }
    },
    "defaultAddress": { ... }
  }'

5. Send payment

ACH payment:

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.mercury.com/api/v1/account/{accountId}/transactions" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "recipientId": "...",
    "amount": 533.13,
    "paymentMethod": "ach",
    "note": "INV123 - Vendor - Period",
    "idempotencyKey": "unique-key-here"
  }'

Domestic wire payment:

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.mercury.com/api/v1/account/{accountId}/transactions" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "recipientId": "...",
    "amount": 1080.00,
    "paymentMethod": "domesticWire",
    "purpose": {"simple": {"category": "vendor", "additionalInfo": "Invoice TRC37332 TRACE Data"}},
    "note": "INV-001 - Vendor - Jan 2026",
    "idempotencyKey": "unique-key-here"
  }'

Wire purpose is required. Format: {"simple": {"category": "<cat>", "additionalInfo": "<desc>"}} Categories: employee, landlord, vendor, contractor, subsidiary, transferToMyExternalAccount, familyMemberOrFriend, forGoodsOrServices, angelInvestment, savingsOrInvestments, expenses, travel, other

6. Email bookkeeper (always)

Send to your bookkeeping inbox (e.g., bookkeeping@example.com) with:

Subject: <Vendor> Invoice <number> — Paid
Body: amount, method, estimated delivery
Attach the invoice PDF

7. Email vendor (always)

Reply in the existing email thread if possible. Include:

Confirmation of payment with amount
Attach the invoice PDF
Estimated delivery date

Internal Transfers (Between Mercury Accounts)

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.mercury.com/api/v1/transfer" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "sourceAccountId": "YOUR_SOURCE_ACCOUNT_ID",
    "destinationAccountId": "YOUR_DESTINATION_ACCOUNT_ID",
    "amount": 465.00,
    "idempotencyKey": "unique-key-here"
  }'

Required fields: sourceAccountId, destinationAccountId, amount, idempotencyKey. Transfers post instantly. Response contains both creditTransaction and debitTransaction.

Querying Transactions

bash

# Recent (default ~30 days)
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" "https://api.mercury.com/api/v1/account/{id}/transactions?limit=500"

# Date range (goes further back)
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" "https://api.mercury.com/api/v1/account/{id}/transactions?start=2025-12-01&end=2026-01-18&limit=500"

Note: Without date params, API only returns ~30 days. Use start/end to go further back.

Idempotency Keys

Use descriptive keys: {vendor}-{invoice}-{period} (e.g., finra-trc37332-nov2025)

Checklist

Explicit approval received from authorized operator
Invoice PDF downloaded
Recipient exists (or created)
Payment sent with correct amount, method, and note
Zeni emailed with invoice attached
Vendor emailed with invoice attached
Payment logged in daily memory file

Mercury Payments