The moment it happens

Catch failed subscription renewals

When a subscriber's renewal fails, you get their details so you can reach out before they lapse.

Runs: The moment it happens
Apps: PayPal
AI: Not needed
Access: REST app

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: when a PayPal subscription payment fails, email me the subscriber's name, email, plan and amount so I can contact them.

Paste it into your assistant. It tells you what it will send or change before it runs live.

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Why use it

Why teams use this automation

For a subscription seller, the worst renewals are the ones that fail quietly. A subscriber's card expires, PayPal cannot collect, and a few weeks later the subscription is suspended. The customer never decided to leave, but they are gone, and the seller only notices when monthly revenue dips and someone digs into the reason.

When PayPal reports that a subscription payment failed, the subscription and the subscriber's details are fetched, and an email goes to you right away with who they are, which plan it was and when it happened. That gives you time to contact the subscriber and ask them to update their funding source before PayPal gives up.

It matters most for businesses where a handful of subscribers account for much of the revenue and each save is worth chasing.

What you get out of it

Win back customers who never meant to leave
A friendly note asking a subscriber to update their payment method recovers many renewals. These people still want the product, so a quick reminder often works where silence loses them.
Contact them before suspension
PayPal retries failed payments for a period and then suspends the subscription. An email that arrives early in that window leaves time to resolve the problem instead of reactivating an account afterward.
Know who to write to
The email includes the subscriber's details, so the person following up has a name and address in front of them. There is no need to look up the subscription in PayPal before drafting the note.
Measure your involuntary churn
A history of failed renewals in your inbox shows how many losses are payment problems rather than decisions. That helps you decide whether to invest in outreach or leave it alone.
Protect predictable income
Recurring revenue is only predictable if renewals succeed. Catching failures quickly keeps forecasts close to reality and avoids sudden shortfalls that surprise the person paying the bills. Missing renewals mean missing budget for the month ahead.

How it works

What happens, step by step

When a PayPal subscription renewal fails, PayPal tells ClickRuntime straight away.
ClickRuntime looks up the subscription to find the subscriber, the plan and the amount due.
You get an email with those details, so you can contact the customer before they lose access.

Before it runs live

Connect PayPal
Paste your automation's link into the other app's webhook settings

What you get

RunsThe moment it happens

Catch failed subscription renewalsjust nowSucceeded

Email · Subscription payment failedSubscriber: Lee Park <lee@northwind.example> Plan: Pro monthly · Amount: USD 29.00

Build your own

Need it to work differently?

This template is a starting point. Copy the prompt and change it, or describe a different automation from scratch, with your own conditions, more apps or an AI step. Your assistant writes it, tests it and runs it on ClickRuntime.

Your own rules
Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.
Any number of apps
One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.
AI where it helps
Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.
On a schedule or on each event
Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.

Changes you can ask for

Act only on the items that match your own rules, and skip the rest
Add an AI step, for example to summarize, sort or draft a reply
Add another app, for example also send it to Slack
Combine it with other PayPal steps into one automation

Under the hood

The code that runs this automation

This is the Python script that runs each time the automation starts. Your AI assistant writes it for you when you send the prompt, and you allow each step in your assistant. To change how the automation works, describe the change to your assistant and it updates the script for you. For every function it can use, see the script reference.

recurring_payment_failed_alert.pyexample

from clickruntime import on_event, credentials, http, notify

API = "https://api-m.paypal.com"

def paypal_headers():
    resp = http.post(f"{API}/v1/oauth2/token", data={"grant_type": "client_credentials"},
                     auth=(credentials.secret("PAYPAL_CLIENT_ID"), credentials.secret("PAYPAL_CLIENT_SECRET")))
    resp.raise_for_status()
    return {"Authorization": f"Bearer {resp.json()['access_token']}"}

@on_event
def handle(event):
    body = event.json
    if body.get("event_type") != "BILLING.SUBSCRIPTION.PAYMENT.FAILED":
        return {"emailed": False}
    headers = paypal_headers()
    sub = http.get(f"{API}/v1/billing/subscriptions/{body['resource']['id']}", headers=headers).json()
    plan = http.get(f"{API}/v1/billing/plans/{sub['plan_id']}", headers=headers).json()
    s = sub["subscriber"]
    failed = sub["billing_info"].get("last_failed_payment", {}).get("amount", {})
    notify.email_me(f"PayPal subscription payment failed: {s['email_address']}",
                    f"Subscriber: {s['name']['given_name']} {s['name']['surname']} <{s['email_address']}>\n"
                    f"Plan: {plan['name']}\nAmount: {failed.get('currency_code', '')} {failed.get('value', '?')}")
    return {"subscription": sub["id"]}

FAQ

Common questions

Does PayPal retry the payment automatically?

PayPal can retry failed subscription payments according to the settings on the plan, and the failure event is sent each time a payment fails. You can see each failure so you know how many attempts have happened.

Will I see which subscriber it was?

Yes. The subscription is fetched after the event arrives, which gives you the subscriber's name and email along with the plan. That is the information you need to write a personal note asking them to check their payment method.

Can I send the email to my support inbox instead of mine?

Yes. Give your AI assistant the address and it will update the recipient. You see the revised version before it goes live, so you can confirm it will reach the people who handle billing issues. That is a quick edit for anyone.

What permissions does it need?

REST app. Nothing else in your accounts is used.

Does it need AI?

No. It runs without AI, so it doesn't use your plan's AI allowance.

How many runs does it use?

One run for each event the app sends.

Can I change how it works?

Yes. Describe the change to your AI assistant, for example a different schedule, channel or filter. It updates the automation, tests it and tells you what changed.

The moment it happens