Get incremental transaction updates on an Item

POST /transactions/sync

The /transactions/sync endpoint retrieves transactions associated with an Item and can fetch updates using a cursor to track which updates have already been seen.

For important instructions on integrating with /transactions/sync, see the Transactions integration overview. If you are migrating from an existing integration using /transactions/get, see the Transactions Sync migration guide.

This endpoint supports credit, depository, and some loan-type accounts (only those with account subtype student). For investments accounts, use /investments/transactions/get instead.

When retrieving paginated updates, track both the next_cursor from the latest response and the original cursor from the first call in which has_more was true; if a call to /transactions/sync fails when retrieving a paginated update (e.g due to the TRANSACTIONS_SYNC_MUTATION_DURING_PAGINATION error), the entire pagination request loop must be restarted beginning with the cursor for the first page of the update, rather than retrying only the single request that failed.

If transactions data is not yet available for the Item, which can happen if the Item was not initialized with transactions during the /link/token/create call or if /transactions/sync was called within a few seconds of Item creation, /transactions/sync will return empty transactions arrays.

Plaid typically checks for new transactions data between one and four times per day, depending on the institution. To find out when transactions were last updated for an Item, use the Item Debugger or call /item/get; the item.status.transactions.last_successful_update field will show the timestamp of the most recent successful update. To force Plaid to check for new transactions, use the /transactions/refresh endpoint.

To be alerted when new transactions are available, listen for the SYNC_UPDATES_AVAILABLE webhook.

Request Body

Required

TransactionsSyncRequest defines the request schema for /transactions/sync

Parameters

client_id
string
Your Plaid API client_id. The client_id is required and may be provided either in the PLAID-CLIENT-ID header or as part of a request body.
access_token
required, string
The access token associated with the Item data is being requested for.
secret
string
Your Plaid API secret. The secret is required and may be provided either in the PLAID-SECRET header or as part of a request body.
cursor
string
The cursor value represents the last update requested. Providing it will cause the response to only return changes after this update. If omitted, the entire history of updates will be returned, starting with the first-added transactions on the Item. The cursor also accepts the special value of "now", which can be used to fast-forward the cursor as part of migrating an existing Item from /transactions/get to /transactions/sync. For more information, see the Transactions sync migration guide. Note that using the "now" value is not supported for any use case other than migrating existing Items from /transactions/get. The upper-bound length of this cursor is 256 characters of base64.
count
integer
The number of transaction updates to fetch.
options
object
An optional object to be used with the request. If specified, options must not be null.
include_original_description
boolean
Include the raw unparsed transaction description from the financial institution.
include_personal_finance_category
boolean
Personal finance categories are now returned by default.
include_logo_and_counterparty_beta
boolean
Counterparties and extra merchant fields are now returned by default.
personal_finance_category_version
string
Optional parameter that specifies which version of the personal finance category taxonomy to return. The v2 taxonomy is defined here. The legacy v1 taxonomy is defined here. If you enabled any Financial Insights products before October 2025 you will receive a default of v1 taxonomy and may request v2 by explicitly setting this field to v2. If you enabled any Financial Insights products on or after October 2025 you may only receive v2 taxonomy.
days_requested
integer
This field only applies to calls for Items where the Transactions product has not already been initialized (i.e., by specifying transactions in the products, required_if_supported_products, or optional_products array when calling /link/token/create or by making a previous call to /transactions/sync or /transactions/get). In those cases, the field controls the maximum number of days of transaction history that Plaid will request from the financial institution. The more transaction history is requested, the longer the historical update poll will take. If no value is specified, 90 days of history will be requested by default. If you are initializing your Items with transactions during the /link/token/create call (e.g. by including transactions in the /link/token/create products array), you must use the transactions.days_requested field in the /link/token/create request instead of in the /transactions/sync request. If the Item has already been initialized with the Transactions product, this field will have no effect. The maximum amount of transaction history to request on an Item cannot be updated if Transactions has already been added to the Item. To request older transaction history on an Item where Transactions has already been added, you must delete the Item via /item/remove and send the user through Link to create a new Item. Customers using Recurring Transactions should request at least 180 days of history for optimal results.
account_id
string
If provided, the returned updates and cursor will only reflect the specified account’s transactions. Omitting account_id returns updates for all accounts under the Item. Note that specifying an account_id effectively creates a separate incremental update stream—and therefore a separate cursor—for that account. If multiple accounts are queried this way, you will maintain multiple cursors, one per account_id. If you decide to begin filtering by account_id after using no account_id, start fresh with a null cursor and maintain separate (account_id, cursor) pairs going forward. Do not reuse any previously saved cursors, as this can cause pagination errors or incomplete data. Note: An error will be returned if a provided account_id is not associated with the Item.

Response

TransactionsSyncResponse defines the response schema for /transactions/sync

Response Properties

transactions_update_status
required, string
A description of the update status for transaction pulls of an Item. This field contains the same information provided by transactions webhooks, and may be helpful for webhook troubleshooting or when recovering from missed webhooks. TRANSACTIONS_UPDATE_STATUS_UNKNOWN: Unable to fetch transactions update status for Item. NOT_READY: The Item is pending transaction pull. INITIAL_UPDATE_COMPLETE: Initial pull for the Item is complete, historical pull is pending. HISTORICAL_UPDATE_COMPLETE: Both initial and historical pull for Item are complete.
accounts
required, array[object]
An array of accounts at a financial institution associated with the transactions in this response. Only accounts that have associated transactions will be shown. For example, investment-type accounts will be omitted.
account_id
required, string
Plaid’s unique identifier for the account. This value will not change unless Plaid can’t reconcile the account with the data returned by the financial institution. This may occur, for example, when the name of the account changes. If this happens a new account_id will be assigned to the account. The account_id can also change if the access_token is deleted and the same credentials that were used to generate that access_token are used to generate a new access_token on a later date. In that case, the new account_id will be different from the old account_id. If an account with a specific account_id disappears instead of changing, the account is likely closed. Closed accounts are not returned by the Plaid API. When using a CRA endpoint (an endpoint associated with Plaid Check Consumer Report, i.e. any endpoint beginning with /cra/), the account_id returned will not match the account_id returned by a non-CRA endpoint. Like all Plaid identifiers, the account_id is case sensitive.
balances
required, object
A set of fields describing the balance for an account. Balance information may be cached unless the balance object was returned by /accounts/balance/get.
available
required, number
The amount of funds available to be withdrawn from the account, as determined by the financial institution. For credit-type accounts, the available balance typically equals the limit less the current balance, less any pending outflows plus any pending inflows. For depository-type accounts, the available balance typically equals the current balance less any pending outflows plus any pending inflows. For depository-type accounts, the available balance does not include the overdraft limit. For investment-type accounts (or brokerage-type accounts for API versions 2018-05-22 and earlier), the available balance is the total cash available to withdraw as presented by the institution. Note that not all institutions calculate the available balance. In the event that available balance is unavailable, Plaid will return an available balance value of null. Available balance may be cached and is not guaranteed to be up-to-date in realtime unless the value was returned by /accounts/balance/get. If current is null this field is guaranteed not to be null.
current
required, number
The total amount of funds in or owed by the account. For credit-type accounts, a positive balance indicates the amount owed; a negative amount indicates the lender owing the account holder. For loan-type accounts, the current balance is the principal remaining on the loan, except in the case of student loan accounts at Sallie Mae (ins_116944). For Sallie Mae student loans, the account’s balance includes both principal and any outstanding interest. Similar to credit-type accounts, a positive balance is typically expected, while a negative amount indicates the lender owing the account holder. For investment-type accounts (or brokerage-type accounts for API versions 2018-05-22 and earlier), the current balance is the total value of assets as presented by the institution. Note that balance information may be cached unless the value was returned by /accounts/balance/get; if the Item is enabled for Transactions, the balance will be at least as recent as the most recent Transaction update. If you require realtime balance information, use the available balance as provided by /accounts/balance/get. When returned by /accounts/balance/get, this field may be null. When this happens, available is guaranteed not to be null.
limit
required, number
For credit-type accounts, this represents the credit limit. For depository-type accounts, this represents the pre-arranged overdraft limit, which is common for current (checking) accounts in Europe. In North America, this field is typically only available for credit-type accounts.
iso_currency_code
required, string
The ISO-4217 currency code of the balance. Always null if unofficial_currency_code is non-null.
unofficial_currency_code
required, string
The unofficial currency code associated with the balance. Always null if iso_currency_code is non-null. Unofficial currency codes are used for currencies that do not have official ISO currency codes, such as cryptocurrencies and the currencies of certain countries. See the currency code schema for a full listing of supported unofficial_currency_codes.
last_updated_datetime
string
Timestamp in ISO 8601 format (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ssZ) indicating the last time the balance was updated. This field is returned only when the institution is ins_128026 (Capital One).
mask
required, string
The last 2-4 alphanumeric characters of either the account’s displayed mask or the account’s official account number. Note that the mask may be non-unique between an Item’s accounts.
name
required, string
The name of the account, either assigned by the user or by the financial institution itself
official_name
required, string
The official name of the account as given by the financial institution
type
required, string
investment: Investment account. In API versions 2018-05-22 and earlier, this type is called brokerage instead. credit: Credit card depository: Depository account loan: Loan account other: Non-specified account type See the Account type schema for a full listing of account types and corresponding subtypes.
subtype
required, string
See the Account type schema for a full listing of account types and corresponding subtypes.
verification_status
string
The current verification status of an Auth Item initiated through micro-deposits or database verification. Returned for Auth Items only. pending_automatic_verification: The Item is pending automatic verification pending_manual_verification: The Item is pending manual micro-deposit verification. Items remain in this state until the user successfully verifies the micro-deposit. automatically_verified: The Item has successfully been automatically verified manually_verified: The Item has successfully been manually verified verification_expired: Plaid was unable to automatically verify the deposit within 7 calendar days and will no longer attempt to validate the Item. Users may retry by submitting their information again through Link. verification_failed: The Item failed manual micro-deposit verification because the user exhausted all 3 verification attempts. Users may retry by submitting their information again through Link. unsent: The Item is pending micro-deposit verification, but Plaid has not yet sent the micro-deposit. database_matched: The Item has successfully been verified using Plaid’s data sources. Only returned for Auth Items created via Database Match. database_insights_pass: The Item’s numbers have been verified using Plaid’s data sources: the routing and account number match a routing and account number of an account recognized on the Plaid network, and the account is not known by Plaid to be frozen or closed. Only returned for Auth Items created via Database Auth. database_insights_pass_with_caution:The Item’s numbers have been verified using Plaid’s data sources and have some signal for being valid: the routing and account number were not recognized on the Plaid network, but the routing number is valid and the account number is a potential valid account number for that routing number. Only returned for Auth Items created via Database Auth. database_insights_fail: The Item’s numbers have been verified using Plaid’s data sources and have signal for being invalid and/or have no signal for being valid. Typically this indicates that the routing number is invalid, the account number does not match the account number format associated with the routing number, or the account has been reported as closed or frozen. Only returned for Auth Items created via Database Auth.
verification_name
string
The account holder name that was used for micro-deposit and/or database verification. Only returned for Auth Items created via micro-deposit or database verification. This name was manually-entered by the user during Link, unless it was otherwise provided via the user.legal_name request field in /link/token/create for the Link session that created the Item.
verification_insights
object
Insights from performing database verification for the account. Only returned for Auth Items using Database Auth.
name_match_score
integer
Indicates the score of the name match between the given name provided during database verification (available in the verification_name field) and matched Plaid network accounts. If defined, will be a value between 0 and 100. Will be undefined if name matching was not enabled for the database verification session or if there were no eligible Plaid network matches to compare the given name with.
network_status
required, object
Status information about the account and routing number in the Plaid network.
has_numbers_match
required, boolean
Indicates whether we found at least one matching account for the ACH account and routing number.
is_numbers_match_verified
required, boolean
Indicates if at least one matching account for the ACH account and routing number is already verified.
previous_returns
object
Information about known ACH returns for the account and routing number.
has_previous_administrative_return
required, boolean
Indicates whether Plaid’s data sources include a known administrative ACH return for account and routing number.
account_number_format
required, string
Indicator of account number format validity for institution. valid: indicates that the account number has a correct format for the institution. invalid: indicates that the account number has an incorrect format for the institution. unknown: indicates that there was not enough information to determine whether the format is correct for the institution.
persistent_account_id
string
A unique and persistent identifier for accounts that can be used to trace multiple instances of the same account across different Items for depository accounts. This field is currently supported only for Items at institutions that use Tokenized Account Numbers (i.e., Chase and PNC, and in May 2025 US Bank). Because these accounts have a different account number each time they are linked, this field may be used instead of the account number to uniquely identify an account across multiple Items for payments use cases, helping to reduce duplicate Items or attempted fraud. In Sandbox, this field is populated for TAN-based institutions (ins_56, ins_13) as well as the OAuth Sandbox institution (ins_127287); in Production, it will only be populated for accounts at applicable institutions.
holder_category
string
Indicates the account’s categorization as either a personal or a business account. This field is currently in beta; to request access, contact your account manager.
added
required, array
Transactions that have been added to the Item since cursor ordered by ascending last modified time.
modified
required, array
Transactions that have been modified on the Item since cursor ordered by ascending last modified time.
removed
required, array[object]
Transactions that have been removed from the Item since cursor ordered by ascending last modified time.
transaction_id
required, string
The ID of the removed transaction.
account_id
required, string
The ID of the account of the removed transaction.
next_cursor
required, string
Cursor used for fetching any future updates after the latest update provided in this response. The cursor obtained after all pages have been pulled (indicated by has_more being false) will be valid for at least 1 year. This cursor should be persisted for later calls. If transactions are not yet available, this will be an empty string. If account_id is included in the request, the returned cursor will reflect updates for that specific account.
has_more
required, boolean
Represents if more than requested count of transaction updates exist. If true, the additional updates can be fetched by making an additional request with cursor set to next_cursor. If has_more is true, it’s important to pull all available pages, to make it less likely for underlying data changes to conflict with pagination.
request_id
required, string
A unique identifier for the request, which can be used for troubleshooting. This identifier, like all Plaid identifiers, is case sensitive.