> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.payra.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Create a customer

> Creates a customer of your workspace, to save payment methods on and charge them again later. It appears under Customers in the Payra dashboard, and its payments are filed on it. With a `reference` that already belongs to a customer, that customer is returned with `200` instead, unchanged. Not available on a workspace whose customers come from an ERP integration.



## OpenAPI

````yaml /api-reference/openapi-v1.json post /customers
openapi: 3.1.0
info:
  title: Payra API
  version: v1
  description: >-
    The Payra API. Authenticate with a secret key: `Authorization: Bearer
    sk_test_...`. The two payment method session endpoints Payra Elements calls
    also take a publishable key with the session's `client_secret`.
servers:
  - url: https://api-dashboard.payra.com/v1
    description: 'Sandbox and live: the key decides which'
security: []
paths:
  /customers:
    post:
      tags:
        - Customers
      summary: Create a customer
      description: >-
        Creates a customer of your workspace, to save payment methods on and
        charge them again later. It appears under Customers in the Payra
        dashboard, and its payments are filed on it. With a `reference` that
        already belongs to a customer, that customer is returned with `200`
        instead, unchanged. Not available on a workspace whose customers come
        from an ERP integration.
      requestBody:
        required: true
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              properties:
                reference:
                  type: string
                  minLength: 1
                  maxLength: 100
                  example: user_48213
                  description: >-
                    Your own id for the customer, such as your user id, unique
                    in the workspace. When a customer already has it, that
                    customer is returned (`200`) and nothing is created or
                    changed, so the call is safe to repeat.
                name:
                  type: string
                  minLength: 1
                  maxLength: 200
                  example: Ada Lovelace
                email:
                  type: string
                  maxLength: 254
                  format: email
                  example: ada@example.com
                  description: >-
                    Where Payra sends this customer's payment receipts, when the
                    workspace sends them.
                phone:
                  type: string
                  pattern: ^\+[1-9]\d{9,14}$/u
                  example: '+15555550123'
                  description: E.164.
      responses:
        '200':
          description: A customer already had this `reference`
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Customer'
        '201':
          description: The new customer
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Customer'
        '400':
          description: Invalid parameters
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
        '401':
          description: Missing, invalid or revoked API key
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
        '403':
          description: >-
            The API is not enabled for the workspace, the key lacks the scope,
            or the workspace's customers come from its ERP integration
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
        '429':
          description: Rate limit exceeded; see Retry-After
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
        '500':
          description: Internal error
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
      security:
        - bearerAuth: []
components:
  schemas:
    Customer:
      type: object
      properties:
        object:
          type: string
          enum:
            - customer
        id:
          type: string
          format: uuid
          example: 019e2b4c-7a1d-7c3e-9f20-5b8d4e6a1c30
          description: >-
            Pass it as `customer` on a payment method session, a checkout
            session or a payment.
        reference:
          type:
            - string
            - 'null'
          example: user_48213
          description: >-
            Your own id for the customer; null for customers created in the
            Payra dashboard or by an ERP.
        name:
          type:
            - string
            - 'null'
          example: Ada Lovelace
          description: >-
            The name shown in the Payra dashboard: the email, or the reference,
            when created without one.
        email:
          type:
            - string
            - 'null'
          example: ada@example.com
        phone:
          type:
            - string
            - 'null'
          example: '+15555550123'
        created_at:
          type: string
          format: date-time
          example: '2026-09-29T14:00:00.000Z'
      required:
        - object
        - id
        - reference
        - name
        - email
        - phone
        - created_at
    Error:
      type: object
      properties:
        error:
          type: object
          properties:
            type:
              type: string
              enum:
                - invalid_request_error
                - authentication_error
                - permission_error
                - rate_limit_error
                - idempotency_error
                - card_error
                - api_error
            code:
              type: string
            message:
              type: string
            param:
              type: string
            request_id:
              type: string
          required:
            - type
            - code
            - message
            - request_id
          additionalProperties:
            type: string
      required:
        - error
  securitySchemes:
    bearerAuth:
      type: http
      scheme: bearer
      description: >-
        A secret key, `sk_test_...` or `sk_live_...`; a publishable key
        (`pk_...`) on the browser routes only

````