How to track users across items
Do items or access tokens expire?
What are the differences among a public_token, access_token, and an item?
How to track users across items
A new, unique item is generated every time you create an item. If one set of credentials were used to create an item twice, you would receive two unique items.
You can check whether credentials have been previously used to create an item by comparing the items’ accounts.name and accounts.mask.
Do items or access tokens expire?
Items do not expire. access_tokens, which are used to make API requests on behalf of an item, do not expire unless they are rotated.
How do I remove an item?
To deactivate an item, send a POST request to /item/remove, as here:
curl -X POST https://sandbox.plaid.com/item/remove \
-H 'content-type: application/json' \
-d '{
"client_id": String,
"secret": String,
"access_token": String
}'
We do not currently offer a method for the end user to directly remove an item, but you could add this feature to your integration by providing a method for your users to trigger a request to /item/remove.
What are the differences among a public_token, access_token, and an item?
An item represents a set of credentials at a financial institution. It is unique and does not expire. Access its data by making requests with an access_token. Retrieve an access_token by exchanging a public_token.
A public_token is a short-lived token returned by Plaid Link when creating an item. It can be exchanged for an access_token or used to initialize Link in update mode on behalf of an item.
An access_token is a rotatable token affiliated with an item. It is used to make product requests on behalf of an item.
How are tokens formatted?
Tokens follow this format: [type]-[env]-[uuid]
Possible types: public, access, processor
Possible environments: sandbox, development, production
For example: access-development-7c69d345-hda9-ka68-ahs3-e9317406a2