In addition to the basic Sandbox credentials, the Sandbox environment also provides the ability to create custom user accounts, which can be used in conjunction with /sandbox/public_token/create or Plaid Link to generate custom Sandbox data, or in conjunction with Plaid Link to test Link flows in the Sandbox.
Using these accounts, you can create your own testing data for the Assets, Auth, Balance, Identity, Investments, Liabilities, and Transactions products. You can also simulate an account with regular income or one that makes regular loan payments. For Link testing, custom accounts support multi-factor authentication, reCAPTCHA, and Link error flows.
Custom user accounts can be configured and accessed in two ways. The easiest (and recommended) method is by using the Sandbox Users tool, located in the Plaid Developer Dashboard under the Team menu. Set the username and configuration object in the Dashboard, then log into the Sandbox with that username and any non-empty password. Alternatively, you can log into Sandbox with the username user_custom and provide the configuration object as the password.
To aid in testing, Plaid maintains a GitHub repo of pre-created custom user accounts that some users have found helpful.
Custom test accounts are configured with a JSON configuration object formulated according to the schema below. All top level fields are optional. Sending an empty object as a configuration will result in an account configured with random balances and transaction history.
The version of the password schema to use, possible values are 1 or 2. The default value is 2. You should only specify 1 if you know it is necessary for your test suite.
A seed, in the form of a string, that will be used to randomly generate account and transaction data, if this data is not specified using the override_accounts argument. If no seed is specified, the randomly generated data will be different each time. Note that transactions data is generated relative to the Item's creation date. Different Items created on different dates with the same seed for transactions data will have different dates for the transactions. The number of days between each transaction and the Item creation will remain constant. For example, an Item created on December 15 might show a transaction on December 14. An Item created on December 20, using the same seed, would show that same transaction occurring on December 19.
An array of account overrides to configure the accounts for the Item. By default, if no override is specified, transactions and account data will be randomly generated based on the account type and subtype, and other products will have fixed or empty data.
investment: Investment account. credit: Credit card depository: Depository account loan: Loan account payroll: Payroll account other: Non-specified account type See the Account type schema for a full listing of account types and corresponding subtypes.
Possible values: investment, credit, depository, loan, payroll, other
The account's mask. Should be a string of 2-4 alphanumeric characters. This allows you to model a mask which does not match the account number (such as with a virtual account number).
International bank account number (IBAN). If no account number is specified via account, will also be used as the account number by default. Must be specified alongside international_bic.
The date of the transaction, in ISO 8601 (YYYY-MM-DD) format. Transactions in Sandbox will move from pending to posted once their transaction date has been reached. If a date_transacted is not provided by the institution, a transaction date may be available in the authorized_date field.
The date the transaction posted, in ISO 8601 (YYYY-MM-DD) format. Posted dates in the past or present will result in posted transactions; posted dates in the future will result in pending transactions.
Specify the security associated with the holding or investment transaction. When inputting custom security data to the Sandbox, Plaid will perform post-data-retrieval normalization and enrichment. These processes may cause the data returned by the Sandbox to be slightly different from the data you input. An ISO-4217 currency code and a security identifier (ticker_symbol, cusip, isin, or sedol) are required.
12-character ISIN, a globally unique securities identifier. Please note that Plaid's customers must hold a license directly from CUSIP Global Services to receive CUSIP & ISIN data. This field will be null by default for new customers. For existing customers, this field will be null by default starting on Sept 15, 2023. If you would like access to this field, please contact your Plaid Account Manager or reach out to investments-vendors@plaid.com.
9-character CUSIP, an identifier assigned to North American securities. Please note that Plaid's customers must hold a license directly from CUSIP Global Services to receive CUSIP & ISIN data. This field will be null by default for new customers. For existing customers, this field will be null by default starting on Sept 15, 2023. If you would like access to this field, please contact your Plaid Account Manager or reach out to investments-vendors@plaid.com.
The type of the investment transaction. Possible values are:
buy: Buying an investment
sell: Selling an investment
cash: Activity that modifies a cash position
fee: A fee on the account
transfer: Activity that modifies a position, but not through buy/sell activity e.g. options exercise, portfolio transfer
Specify the security associated with the holding or investment transaction. When inputting custom security data to the Sandbox, Plaid will perform post-data-retrieval normalization and enrichment. These processes may cause the data returned by the Sandbox to be slightly different from the data you input. An ISO-4217 currency code and a security identifier (ticker_symbol, cusip, isin, or sedol) are required.
12-character ISIN, a globally unique securities identifier. Please note that Plaid's customers must hold a license directly from CUSIP Global Services to receive CUSIP & ISIN data. This field will be null by default for new customers. For existing customers, this field will be null by default starting on Sept 15, 2023. If you would like access to this field, please contact your Plaid Account Manager or reach out to investments-vendors@plaid.com.
9-character CUSIP, an identifier assigned to North American securities. Please note that Plaid's customers must hold a license directly from CUSIP Global Services to receive CUSIP & ISIN data. This field will be null by default for new customers. For existing customers, this field will be null by default starting on Sept 15, 2023. If you would like access to this field, please contact your Plaid Account Manager or reach out to investments-vendors@plaid.com.
A list of names associated with the account by the financial institution. These should always be the names of individuals, even for business accounts. Note that the same name data will be used for all accounts associated with an Item.
The purchase APR percentage value. For simplicity, this is the only interest rate used to calculate interest charges. Can only be set if type is credit.
If set, interest capitalization begins at the given number of months after loan origination. By default interest is never capitalized. Can only be set if type is student.
Possible values: cancelled, charged off, claim, consolidated, deferment, delinquent, discharged, extension, forbearance, in grace, in military, in school, not fully disbursed, other, paid in full, refunded, repayment, transferred
Information about the student's eligibility in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. This is only returned if the institution is FedLoan (ins_116527).
Override the repayment_plan.type field. Can only be set if type is student. Possible values are: "extended graduated", "extended standard", "graduated", "income-contingent repayment", "income-based repayment", "interest only", "other", "pay as you earn", "revised pay as you earn", or "standard".
The inflow_model allows you to model a test account that receives regular income or make regular payments on a loan. Any transactions generated by the inflow_model will appear in addition to randomly generated test data or transactions specified by override_accounts.
Inflow model. One of the following: none: No income monthly-income: Income occurs once per month monthly-balance-payment: Pays off the balance on a liability account at the given statement day of month. monthly-interest-only-payment: Makes an interest-only payment on a liability account at the given statement day of month. Note that account types supported by Liabilities will accrue interest in the Sandbox. The types impacted are account type credit with subtype credit or paypal, and account type loan with subtype student or mortgage.
Number between 1 and 28, or last meaning the last day of the month. The day of the month on which the income transaction will appear. The name of the income transaction. This field is required if type is monthly-income, monthly-balance-payment or monthly-interest-only-payment.
Number between 1 and 28, or last meaning the last day of the month. The day of the month on which the balance is calculated for the next payment. The name of the income transaction. This field is required if type is monthly-balance-payment or monthly-interest-only-payment.
The unofficial currency code associated with the net pay. 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 iso_currency_codes.
Possible values are device, selections, or questions. If value is device, the MFA answer is 1234. If value is selections, the MFA answer is always the first option. If value is questions, the MFA answer is answer_<i>_<j> for the j-th question in the i-th round, starting from 0. For example, the answer to the first question in the second round is answer_1_0.
You may trigger a reCAPTCHA in Plaid Link in the Sandbox environment by using the recaptcha field. Possible values are good or bad. A value of good will result in successful Item creation and bad will result in a RECAPTCHA_BAD error to simulate a failed reCAPTCHA. Both values require the reCAPTCHA to be manually solved within Plaid Link.
An error code to force on Item creation. Possible values are: "INSTITUTION_NOT_RESPONDING""INSTITUTION_NO_LONGER_SUPPORTED""INVALID_CREDENTIALS""INVALID_MFA""ITEM_LOCKED""ITEM_LOGIN_REQUIRED""ITEM_NOT_SUPPORTED""INVALID_LINK_TOKEN""MFA_NOT_SUPPORTED""NO_ACCOUNTS""PLAID_ERROR""USER_INPUT_TIMEOUT""USER_SETUP_REQUIRED"