Why is an Item returning an ITEM_LOGIN_REQUIRED error soon after creation?

When an Item that a user has connected encounters an ITEM_LOGIN_REQUIRED error within a few minutes of it being added, it's likely that one of the following happened:

• An /accounts/balance/get call was made - the Balance endpoint performs a real-time balance check with the financial institution and sometimes requesting more data immediately after the initial connection can cause an ITEM_LOGIN_REQUIRED error. Since the data was just pulled it will be accurate, and there's no need for an additional real-time Balance check. If you need Balance data right after an Item add, the best practice is to use the /accounts/get endpoint. 
• A product was added to the Item - when a Plaid product (i.e. Identity, Investments, etc.) is added to an Item, Plaid connects to the financial institution to request that additional data. If the financial institution requires authentication to retrieve that data, the Item will return an ITEM_LOGIN_REQUIRED error. 

Adding products and calling Balance right after an Item add won't always result in an error, but it does happen at times so following the advice here is best practice to reduce friction for your users.

If you are seeing frequent ITEM_LOGIN_REQUIRED errors after an Item add but are not calling Balance or adding new products, please create a support ticket and we will look into what is causing the issue.