Plaid CLI

Install and use the Plaid CLI to access your financial data from the terminal

The Plaid CLI is a command-line interface for the Plaid API. Install once and start making API calls — no client libraries to import, no request objects to construct, no response types to parse.

The CLI works for both developers and AI agents:

For developers: readable table output in the terminal, with commands that mirror the API structure
For agents: structured JSON output via --json, clean separation of data on stdout and diagnostics on stderr, and predictable exit codes

The CLI currently supports Balance, Transactions, Investments, and Liabilities. Use it to link a financial institution, check balances, pull transactions, view holdings, and more, all without writing any code.

The Plaid CLI is an experimental tool; you may encounter rough edges. Use plaid feedback to report issues or suggest improvements.

The interface to the Plaid CLI may change (including breaking changes) without advance notice.

Installing the CLI

The CLI is distributed via Homebrew.

Install via Homebrew

brew install plaid/plaid-cli/plaid

Update to the latest version

brew update && brew upgrade plaid

Verify the installation

plaid --version

Getting started

Creating an account

If you don't have a Plaid account yet, sign up directly from the CLI:

plaid register

This opens the Dashboard signup page in your browser. After creating and verifying your account, log in:

plaid login

This opens a browser for you to authenticate with the Dashboard. Once complete, the CLI stores your tokens locally and fetches your API keys automatically. Tokens are refreshed automatically by subsequent commands.

Signing up for the Trial plan

By default, new accounts have access to the Sandbox environment. To connect to real financial institutions, apply for a Trial plan:

Open the Trial plan application

plaid trial

This opens the Trial plan application form in your browser. Once your application is approved, refresh your locally stored API keys to start using Production:

Refresh API keys after Trial plan approval

plaid keys fetch

Linking an Item

The CLI is organized around Items, which represent logins at financial institutions. Product commands read data from one Item (--item) or all linked Items (--all).

To connect a real institution, use Hosted Link in your browser:

Open Link to create an Item

plaid link

This opens Plaid Link in your browser. Search for your financial institution, log in with your credentials, and select the accounts you want to connect. When the flow completes, the CLI automatically saves the access token and Item ID to your config so you can query product data immediately.

plaid link accepts a --products flag to choose the product set for the linked Item:

Link an Item for Transactions and Liabilities use cases

plaid link --products transactions,liabilities

plaid item link is an equivalent namespace form when you want to stay inside the item command tree.

To see which Items you have linked:

List linked Items in the current environment

plaid item list

Creating a Sandbox Item

The Sandbox environment allows you to test without connecting a real financial institution.

Create a Sandbox Item directly

plaid config set --env sandbox
plaid sandbox link

You can choose a Sandbox product scenario without opening Link:

Create Sandbox Items for specific product scenarios

plaid sandbox link --products balance
plaid sandbox link --products transactions,liabilities
plaid sandbox link --products investments

Querying PFM product data

With one linked Item stored locally, the product commands use it by default. When you have multiple linked Items, pass --item <item-id-or-alias> for one Item or --all to view every linked Item.

Once you have linked an Item, the main product commands are:

Check account balances

plaid balance

Sample output

ACCOUNT                            AVAILABLE  CURRENT   CURRENCY
Plaid Checking (0000)              100.00     110.00    USD

List recent transactions

plaid transactions list --count 5

Sample output

DATE        MERCHANT                   AMOUNT   CATEGORY                                  ACCOUNT
2026-04-24  Tectra Inc                 500.00   Food and Drink > Restaurants              Plaid Credit Card (3333)
2026-04-23  AUTOMATIC PAYMENT - THANK  2078.50  Payment                                   Plaid Credit Card (3333)
2026-04-23  KFC                        500.00   Food and Drink > Restaurants > Fast Food  Plaid Credit Card (3333)
2026-04-23  Madison Bicycle Shop       500.00   Shops > Sporting Goods                    Plaid Credit Card (3333)
2026-04-14  Uber                       5.40     Travel > Taxi                             Plaid Checking (0000)

Sync transactions incrementally

plaid transactions sync

Sample output

Synced: 4 added, 0 modified, 0 removed

New transactions:
DATE        MERCHANT         AMOUNT
2026-04-14  Uber             5.40
2026-04-12  United Airlines  -500.00
2026-04-11  McDonald's       12.00
2026-04-11  Starbucks        4.33

Get investment holdings

plaid investments holdings

Sample output

ACCOUNT            SECURITY                        TICKER               QUANTITY    PRICE     VALUE
Plaid 401k (6666)  Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc.  ACHN                 1           2.11      2.11
Plaid IRA (5555)   Nflx Feb 01'18 $355 Call        NFLX180201C00355000  10000       0.01      110.00

Get investment transactions

plaid investments transactions --start-date 2026-04-23

Sample output

DATE        NAME                                TICKER               TYPE  QUANTITY           AMOUNT    ACCOUNT
2026-04-24  BUY Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc.  ACHN                 buy   0.520877874205698  1.10      Plaid 401k (6666)
2026-04-23  BUY NFLX DERIVATIVE                 NFLX180201C00355000  buy   4211.152345617756  46.32     Plaid IRA (5555)

Get liabilities

plaid liabilities

Sample output

Credit
ACCOUNT                   CURRENT  LIMIT    MIN PAYMENT  NEXT DUE    LAST STATEMENT  OVERDUE
Plaid Credit Card (3333)  410.00   2000.00  20.00        2020-05-28  1708.77         no

Student
ACCOUNT                    CURRENT   MIN PAYMENT  NEXT DUE    RATE   EXPECTED PAYOFF
Plaid Student Loan (7777)  65262.00  25.00        2019-05-28  5.25%  2032-07-28

Mortgage
ACCOUNT                CURRENT   NEXT PAYMENT  NEXT DUE    RATE   TERM
Plaid Mortgage (8888)  56302.06  3141.54       2019-11-15  3.99%  30 year

JSON output for agents and scripts

All commands support the --json flag for structured, machine-readable output. This makes the CLI a natural fit for AI agents and shell scripts.

In --json mode:

stdout contains the primary JSON result
stderr contains diagnostics
browser-based commands still open the browser when required

Get balances as JSON

plaid balance --json

Sample output

{
  "accounts": [
    {
      "account_id": "zNGwXw3...",
      "name": "Plaid Checking",
      "official_name": "Plaid Gold Standard 0% Interest Checking",
      "type": "depository",
      "subtype": "checking",
      "mask": "0000",
      "balances": {
        "available": 100,
        "current": 110,
        "limit": null,
        "iso_currency_code": "USD"
      }
    },
    {
      "account_id": "BpMKbK7...",
      "name": "Plaid Saving",
      "official_name": "Plaid Silver Standard 0.1% Interest Saving",
      "type": "depository",
      "subtype": "savings",
      "mask": "1111",
      "balances": {
        "available": 200,
        "current": 210,
        "limit": null,
        "iso_currency_code": "USD"
      }
    }
  ],
  "item": {
    "item_id": "...",
    "institution_id": "ins_56"
  }
}

Pipe JSON output to other tools

plaid balance --json | jq '.accounts[0].name'
"Plaid Checking"

Command guide

Run plaid --help for the full command tree, or plaid <command> --help for details on a specific command.

Access

Command	Description
`plaid register`	Register an account in the Dashboard
`plaid login`	Log in to the Dashboard
`plaid trial`	Start the Trial plan onboarding in the Dashboard
`plaid logout`	Remove stored Dashboard credentials

Products

Command	Description
`plaid link`	Open Link to create an Item
`plaid item list`	List linked Items in the current environment
`plaid item get`	Show an Item and the accounts it contains
`plaid item remove`	Remove a linked Item
`plaid balance`	Get balance data
`plaid transactions list`	List transactions
`plaid transactions sync`	Sync transactions incrementally
`plaid investments holdings`	Get investments holdings
`plaid investments transactions`	Get investments transactions
`plaid liabilities`	Get liabilities
`plaid sandbox link`	Create a Sandbox Item

Configuration

Command	Description
`plaid config`	Show Plaid CLI config status
`plaid config set`	Manually modify config
`plaid teams list`	List available Dashboard teams
`plaid teams choose`	Interactively choose the active team
`plaid keys fetch`	Fetch API keys from the Dashboard

Utilities

Command	Description
`plaid feedback`	Submit feedback about the CLI
`plaid help`	Help about any command

Configuration

Credentials are read with this precedence: flags > environment variables > config file.

Each environment (Sandbox, Production) stores its own credentials separately. Switching environments preserves all stored data.

Managing credentials

# Set credentials (secret is prompted interactively)
plaid config set --client-id <your-client-id> --env sandbox

# Switch to production
plaid config set --env production

# View current config (secrets are masked)
plaid config

Environment variables

For scripted and automated usage, credentials can be set via environment variables:

Variable	Description
`PLAID_CLIENT_ID`	Plaid client ID
`PLAID_SECRET`	Plaid secret
`PLAID_ENV`	Environment (`sandbox` or `production`)
`PLAID_ACCESS_TOKEN`	Access token

Feedback

Submit feedback, bug reports, or feature requests

plaid feedback "The transactions list command is great!"

You can also run plaid feedback without a message to enter feedback interactively.