Gusto Embedded Payroll API

Name: Gusto Embedded Payroll API API
Brand: Gusto Embedded Payroll API
Availability: InStock

★ Only Publicly Available OpenAPI DocumentHR recruitingPayrollapiKey, http213 EndpointsREST

For Agents

Run embedded US payroll for partner-managed companies — create companies, manage employees and contractors, configure tax details, and execute payroll runs.

Connect the Gusto Embedded Payroll API to your agent

Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the Gusto Embedded Payroll API, or any other public or private API you need. You set the rules, the agent never sees your credentials, and every call is logged.

Install Jentic One Beta (Self-Hosted)

Jentic One Host machine

# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh

Agent machine

# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh
jentic register       # connects your agent to your Jentic One instance

Jentic One is in public beta. The setup above keeps your agent separate from the instance, which is what you want before using real credentials: an agent running as the same OS user as Jentic One can read its stored keys directly. Just evaluating? A single local install is fine to start. See the secure deployment guide for the tiers.

Capabilities

What an agent can do with Gusto Embedded Payroll API API.

Create and migrate partner-managed companies including federal and state tax detail setup

Manage employee and contractor records with addresses, jobs, and compensation history

Run regular payroll, off-cycle payrolls, and post historical payroll data

Configure pay schedules, time-off policies, and holiday pay rules per company

GET STARTED

Start building with Gusto Embedded Payroll API API

Explore with Jentic

View OpenAPI Document

Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI document for Gusto Embedded Payroll API, keeping it validated and agent-ready.

Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI specification for Gusto Embedded Payroll API, keeping it validated and agent-ready. Gusto Embedded Payroll is the white-label payroll platform partners use to run US payroll inside their own product. Its 213 endpoints cover partner-managed company creation and migration, federal and state tax details, employees and contractors, jobs and compensations, payroll runs, off-cycle and historical payrolls, garnishments, time-off policies, holiday pay, employee benefits, signatories, and onboarding flows. Authentication uses partner-scoped tokens via Authorization bearer or API key header.

Use Cases

Patterns agents use Gusto Embedded Payroll API API for, with concrete tasks.

★ Embedded payroll inside a vertical SaaS

A vertical SaaS — for example construction, restaurants, or healthcare scheduling — embeds Gusto payroll directly so its customers run payroll without leaving the product. Partner-managed company creation, tax-detail configuration, and payroll-run endpoints power the end-to-end flow from sign-up through monthly pay cycles. Embedded launches typically take six to twelve weeks once partner credentials are issued.

Call POST /v1/partner_managed_companies to create a company, then POST tax details under /v1/companies/{company_id}/federal_tax_details before the first payroll.

Historical payroll migration onto Gusto Embedded

When a customer moves to a partner's embedded payroll, prior-period payroll history must be loaded so year-to-date tax calculations and W-2 generation are accurate. The historical payroll endpoints accept prior pay periods and gross-to-net amounts so Gusto can replay year-to-date balances cleanly without manual reconciliation.

POST historical payroll records for the current year against /v1/partner_managed_companies/{company_uuid}/migrate and verify YTD totals match the source system.

Off-cycle and bonus payroll runs

Partner products trigger off-cycle bonus or correction runs outside the regular pay schedule. The off-cycle payroll endpoints let the partner specify employees, gross amounts, and tax treatment for a single dated run, and produce the matching pay stubs and tax filings.

Create an off-cycle payroll for a list of employees with a specified bonus amount and confirm the run reaches the calculated state.

AI agent payroll ops via Jentic

An AI assistant in a partner's admin console handles a request to add an employee to a partner-managed company, set their job and compensation, and assign them to the next payroll run. Through Jentic the agent loads the right Embedded Payroll endpoints on demand, with token refresh handled automatically.

Search Jentic for 'add an employee to gusto embedded', load the matching operation, and execute with the company UUID, employee details, and starting compensation.

Key Endpoints

213 endpoints — jentic publishes the only available openapi specification for gusto embedded payroll api, keeping it validated and agent-ready.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

POST

/v1/partner_managed_companies

Create a partner-managed company

GET

/v1/companies/{company_id}

Get a company

PUT

/v1/partner_managed_companies/{company_uuid}/migrate

Migrate company to embedded payroll

GET

/v1/companies/{company_id}/federal_tax_details

Get federal tax details

PUT

/v1/companies/{company_id}/federal_tax_details

Update federal tax details

POST

/oauth/token

Refresh access token

POST

/v1/partner_managed_companies

Create a partner-managed company

GET

/v1/companies/{company_id}

Get a company

PUT

/v1/partner_managed_companies/{company_uuid}/migrate

Migrate company to embedded payroll

GET

/v1/companies/{company_id}/federal_tax_details

Get federal tax details

PUT

/v1/companies/{company_id}/federal_tax_details

Update federal tax details

Why though Jentic?

Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.

Credential isolation

Partner-scoped Gusto Embedded tokens are stored encrypted in the Jentic vault. Agents receive scoped execution tokens — partner refresh tokens never enter the agent context, and refresh is handled automatically before expiry.

Intent-based discovery

Agents search Jentic by intent (e.g., 'run gusto embedded payroll') and Jentic returns the matching operation across the 213-endpoint surface with its input schema and required scope.

Time to first call

Direct integration: 6-12 weeks to wire OAuth, partner-managed company setup, payroll-run lifecycle, webhook handling, and tax-detail flows. Through Jentic: an hour per workflow — search, load, execute.

Related APIs

Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.

Alternative

Rippling

Combined HR, IT, and payroll platform with partner APIs

Choose Rippling when the customer needs combined HR, IT provisioning, and payroll under one platform rather than embedded payroll alone.

Alternative

ADP

Enterprise payroll provider with broad market coverage

Choose ADP when the customer base is enterprise-scale or needs international payroll outside the US.

Complementary

Deputy

Time-tracking and shift-scheduling that feeds hours into payroll

Choose Deputy when the partner workflow needs scheduled-shift hours captured and approved before they are pushed into Gusto Embedded for payroll.

FAQs

Specific to using Gusto Embedded Payroll API API through Jentic.

Why is there no official OpenAPI spec for Gusto Embedded Payroll API?

Gusto does not publish an OpenAPI specification. Jentic generates and maintains this spec so that AI agents and developers can call Gusto Embedded Payroll API via structured tooling. It is validated against the live API and kept up to date. Get started at https://app.jentic.com/sign-up.

What authentication does the Gusto Embedded Payroll API use?

Embedded Payroll uses partner-scoped tokens — an Authorization bearer token plus an X-Gusto-API-Version header, with API-key flows available for some operations. Tokens are refreshed via POST /oauth/token. Through Jentic the partner credential is held in the vault and refreshed automatically.

Can I create a new company under my partner account with the Gusto Embedded Payroll API?

Yes. POST /v1/partner_managed_companies creates a partner-managed company, returns its UUID, and lets you continue with federal tax details, locations, and employee setup. Use the migrate endpoint when bringing an existing company over.

Can I run an off-cycle payroll with the Gusto Embedded Payroll API?

Yes. The payrolls resource includes off-cycle endpoints that accept a list of employees, gross amounts, and a check date. Submit, calculate, and approve the run through the standard payroll lifecycle endpoints.

What are the rate limits for the Gusto Embedded Payroll API?

Embedded Payroll enforces partner-tier rate limits scoped to each partner credential, typically a few requests per second per token. Pace high-volume migration calls and respect Retry-After on 429 responses; subscribe to webhooks instead of polling for payroll-state changes.

How do I update federal tax details for a Gusto Embedded company through Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'update gusto federal tax details', load the PUT /v1/companies/{company_id}/federal_tax_details operation, then execute with the company ID and tax detail payload. Install with pip install jentic.