# What does paypal.refund.completed prove?

> Prove that the money of this refund went back to the payer. Version 1.0.0, certification Provisional.

Canonical: https://provely.sh/verify/paypal/paypal.refund.completed  
Last reviewed: 2026-09-05  
Skill version: 0.1.0  
Certification: provisional  

**Prove that the money of this refund went back to the payer. The refund reached the status COMPLETED. A 201 Created answer with the status PENDING is an object that exists and not money that went back.**

*Contract identity.*

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Contract id | `paypal.refund.completed` |
| Version | `1.0.0` |
| Hash | `771e6b42e16841a3` |
| Completion level | `refund_completed` |
| Publisher | Built and signed by Provely. |
| Certification | Provisional |
| Skill | [PayPal REST API 0.1.0](/verify/paypal) |
| Valid for provider API versions | `v2` |

## What is the intent?

Refund the captured payment to the payer and let the money move back.

## What is the subject and the action?

| Member | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Subject type | `paypal.refund` |
| Subject identity | refund_id = `$action.result.id` |
| Canonical effect | `money.refund` |
| Provider operation | `POST /v2/payments/captures/{capture_id}/refund` |
| Idempotency | idempotency_key through `PayPal-Request-Id`, retry is safe |

## How does the evidence correlate with this operation?

| Strategy | Assurance | Keys | Required |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `resource_id` | strong | refund_id from `$action.result.id` | no |
| `resource_id` | weak | capture_id from `$input.capture_id` | no |
| `fingerprint` | weak | capture_id from `$input.capture_id`; amount from `$input.amount` | no |

## Which evidence does the contract require?

Minimum evidence level `E2`. An independent channel is required. Minimum channels: 1.

| Channel | Level | Independence | Verifier | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `refund_readback` | E2 | provider readback | `http` | Read the refund from the Payments API. A condition path is $observed.refund_readback.status, and the amount sits at $observed.refund_readback.amount.value as a string. |
| `capture_refunded_events` | E3 | provider event | `webhook` | The PAYMENT.CAPTURE.REFUNDED events of the intended captured payment, since the operation started. The webhook verifier returns {events, count, latest, earliest, types, duplicates_dropped}. A count above one shows a second refund of the same capture. |

## Which conditions must all hold for VERIFIED?

| Condition | Meaning | Path | Operator | Expected | Evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `refund_present` | The Payments API holds the refund that the refund response named. | `$observed.refund_readback.id` | `eq` | `$action.result.id` | `refund_readback` |
| `refund_amount_matches` | The refunded amount equals the requested amount. PayPal states the value as a string, so this is a string comparison and it normalizes nothing. | `$observed.refund_readback.amount.value` | `eq` | `$input.amount` | `refund_readback` |
| `refund_currency_matches` | The currency of the refunded amount equals the requested currency. | `$observed.refund_readback.amount.currency_code` | `eq` | `$input.currency_code` | `refund_readback` |
| `refund_created_in_window` | PayPal made the refund after the operation started. | `$observed.refund_readback.create_time` | `time_after` | `$operation.created_at` | `refund_readback` |
| `refund_on_intended_capture` | At least one PAYMENT.CAPTURE.REFUNDED event names the captured payment that the intent named. The refund resource names no capture, so this event is the only tie between the two. | `$observed.capture_refunded_events.count` | `gte` | `1` | `capture_refunded_events` |
| `refund_status_completed` | The refund states the status COMPLETED. That is the only status that proves that the money went back. | `$observed.refund_readback.status` | `eq` | `COMPLETED` | `refund_readback` |

## Which conditions give CONTRADICTED?

| Condition | Class | Reason | Path | Operator | Expected |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `refund_amount_mismatch` | wrong amount | PayPal refunded a different amount than the intent stated. | `$observed.refund_readback.amount.value` | `ne` | `$input.amount` |
| `refund_currency_mismatch` | wrong amount | PayPal refunded a different currency than the intent stated. | `$observed.refund_readback.amount.currency_code` | `ne` | `$input.currency_code` |
| `refund_predates_operation` | pre existing state | The refund is older than the operation. It proves nothing. | `$observed.refund_readback.create_time` | `time_before` | `$operation.created_at` |
| `duplicate_refund_present` | duplicate side effect | PayPal refunded the captured payment more than once since the operation started. Do not retry. | `$observed.capture_refunded_events.count` | `gt` | `1` |

## Which observed states map to a verdict before completion?

| Rule | Match | Verdict | Reason |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `refund_failed` | `$observed.refund_readback.status` eq `"FAILED"` | FAILED | The settlement process of the bank did not issue the refund. Retry with the first request id. |
| `refund_still_pending` | `$observed.refund_readback.status` eq `"PENDING"` | PENDING | The refund is pending. The money did not move back. The runtime observes again. |

## How long does the runtime observe?

| Timing member | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Initial delay | 2000 ms |
| Poll interval | 5000 ms |
| Backoff | exponential factor 2, max 300000 ms |
| Maximum attempts | 900 |
| Timeout | 259200000 ms |
| Stale read window | 20000 ms |
| On timeout | UNVERIFIABLE (`evidence_unavailable_before_timeout`), escalated to a person |

## Where do these rules come from?

- `paypal.payments.openapi#/components/schemas/refund_status/properties/status`: [paypal.payments.openapi](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/paypal/paypal-rest-api-specifications/main/openapi/payments_payment_v2.json), retrieved 2026-09-08
- `paypal.docs.refunds#refunds/the-status-of-a-refund`: [paypal.docs.refunds](https://developer.paypal.com/docs/api/payments/v2/), retrieved 2026-09-08
- `paypal.events#/events/PAYMENT.CAPTURE.REFUNDED`: [paypal.events](https://developer.paypal.com/api/rest/webhooks/event-names/), retrieved 2026-09-08
- `paypal.docs.refunds#refunds/refund-a-captured-payment`: [paypal.docs.refunds](https://developer.paypal.com/docs/api/payments/v2/), retrieved 2026-09-08
- `paypal.payments.openapi#/components/schemas/refund`: [paypal.payments.openapi](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/paypal/paypal-rest-api-specifications/main/openapi/payments_payment_v2.json), retrieved 2026-09-08
- `paypal.payments.openapi#/paths/~1v2~1payments~1refunds~1{refund_id}/get/responses/200`: [paypal.payments.openapi](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/paypal/paypal-rest-api-specifications/main/openapi/payments_payment_v2.json), retrieved 2026-09-08
- `paypal.payments.openapi#/components/schemas/money/properties/value`: [paypal.payments.openapi](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/paypal/paypal-rest-api-specifications/main/openapi/payments_payment_v2.json), retrieved 2026-09-08
- `paypal.payments.openapi#/components/schemas/money/properties/currency_code`: [paypal.payments.openapi](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/paypal/paypal-rest-api-specifications/main/openapi/payments_payment_v2.json), retrieved 2026-09-08
- `paypal.payments.openapi#/components/schemas/activity_timestamps/properties/create_time`: [paypal.payments.openapi](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/paypal/paypal-rest-api-specifications/main/openapi/payments_payment_v2.json), retrieved 2026-09-08
- `paypal.docs.refunds#refunds/events`: [paypal.docs.refunds](https://developer.paypal.com/docs/api/payments/v2/), retrieved 2026-09-08
- `paypal.docs.refunds#refunds/the-status-of-the-capture-after-a-refund`: [paypal.docs.refunds](https://developer.paypal.com/docs/api/payments/v2/), retrieved 2026-09-08

### Can paypal.refund.completed return VERIFIED from the action response alone?

No. The minimum evidence level is E2. The action response is E1. The completion conditions read `refund_readback` and `capture_refunded_events`.

### What happens after the timeout?

The verdict is UNVERIFIABLE with the reason `evidence_unavailable_before_timeout`. The operation goes to a person for review.

## Read next

- [Read the PayPal REST API verification page](https://provely.sh/verify/paypal)
- [Read the paypal.capture.completed contract](https://provely.sh/verify/paypal/paypal.capture.completed)
- [Read the paypal.capture.recorded contract](https://provely.sh/verify/paypal/paypal.capture.recorded)
- [Read the paypal.refund.recorded contract](https://provely.sh/verify/paypal/paypal.refund.recorded)
- [Read what a completion contract contains](https://provely.sh/contracts)
- [Read what a receipt proves](https://provely.sh/docs/receipts)