react-plaid-link

What is react-plaid-link?

The react-plaid-link npm package is a React wrapper for Plaid Link, which is a quick and secure way to integrate with the Plaid API. It allows users to connect their bank accounts to your application, enabling functionalities like retrieving account balances, transaction histories, and more.

What are react-plaid-link's main functionalities?

Initialize Plaid Link

This code demonstrates how to initialize Plaid Link in a React application. The `PlaidLink` component is configured with necessary props like `clientName`, `env`, `product`, `publicKey`, and `onSuccess` callback.

import React from 'react';
import { PlaidLink } from 'react-plaid-link';

const App = () => {
  const onSuccess = (public_token, metadata) => {
    console.log('Public Token: ', public_token);
    console.log('Metadata: ', metadata);
  };

  return (
    <PlaidLink
      clientName="Your App Name"
      env="sandbox"
      product={['auth', 'transactions']}
      publicKey="your_public_key"
      onSuccess={onSuccess}
    >
      Connect a bank account
    </PlaidLink>
  );
};

export default App;

Handle onExit Callback

This code demonstrates how to handle the `onExit` callback, which is triggered when the user exits the Plaid Link flow. The `onExit` callback provides error information and metadata.

import React from 'react';
import { PlaidLink } from 'react-plaid-link';

const App = () => {
  const onExit = (error, metadata) => {
    console.log('Error: ', error);
    console.log('Metadata: ', metadata);
  };

  return (
    <PlaidLink
      clientName="Your App Name"
      env="sandbox"
      product={['auth', 'transactions']}
      publicKey="your_public_key"
      onExit={onExit}
    >
      Connect a bank account
    </PlaidLink>
  );
};

export default App;

Handle onEvent Callback

This code demonstrates how to handle the `onEvent` callback, which is triggered for various events during the Plaid Link flow. The `onEvent` callback provides the event name and metadata.

import React from 'react';
import { PlaidLink } from 'react-plaid-link';

const App = () => {
  const onEvent = (eventName, metadata) => {
    console.log('Event Name: ', eventName);
    console.log('Metadata: ', metadata);
  };

  return (
    <PlaidLink
      clientName="Your App Name"
      env="sandbox"
      product={['auth', 'transactions']}
      publicKey="your_public_key"
      onEvent={onEvent}
    >
      Connect a bank account
    </PlaidLink>
  );
};

export default App;

Other packages similar to react-plaid-link

react-stripe-elements

The react-stripe-elements package is a React wrapper for Stripe.js, allowing you to build custom payment forms with Stripe. It provides similar functionality in terms of integrating a third-party financial service into a React application, but it focuses on payment processing rather than bank account linking.

react-paypal-button-v2

The react-paypal-button-v2 package is a React component for integrating PayPal's checkout buttons into your application. Like react-plaid-link, it simplifies the integration of a financial service, but it is specifically designed for handling PayPal transactions.

react-google-login

The react-google-login package is a React component for integrating Google login into your application. While it is not a financial service, it provides a similar user authentication flow, making it comparable in terms of user experience and integration complexity.

README

react-plaid-link

React hooks and components for integrating with the Plaid Link drop module

Install

With npm:

npm install --save react-plaid-link

With yarn

yarn add react-plaid-link

Documentation

Please refer to the official Plaid Link docs for a more holistic understanding of the various Link options.

Examples

Head to the react-plaid-link storybook to try out a live demo.

Using React hooks

This is the preferred approach for integrating with Plaid Link in React.

ℹ️ Note: link_token cannot be null when passed to usePlaidLink. Generate your link_token outside of the component where the hook is initialized.

import React, { useCallback, useState, FunctionComponent } from "react";
import {
  usePlaidLink,
  PlaidLinkOptions,
  PlaidLinkOnSuccess,
} from "react-plaid-link";

interface Props {
  token: string;
}

const PlaidLink: FunctionComponent<Props> = ({ token }) => {
  const onSuccess = useCallback<PlaidLinkOnSuccess>(
    (public_token, metadata) => {
      // send public_token to server
    },
    []
  );

  const config: PlaidLinkOptions = {
    token,
    onSuccess,
    // onExit
    // onEvent
  };

  const { open, ready, error } = usePlaidLink(config);

  return (
    <button onClick={() => open()} disabled={!ready}>
      Connect a bank account
    </button>
  );
};

const App: FunctionComponent = () => {
  const [token, setToken] = useState<string | null>(null);

  // generate a link_token
  React.useEffect(() => {
    async function createLinkToken() {
      let response = await fetch("/api/create_link_token");
      const { link_token } = await response.json();
      setToken(link_token);
    }
    createLinkToken();
  }, []);

  // only initialize Link once our token exists
  return token === null ? (
    // insert your loading animation here
    <div className="loader"></div>
  ) : (
    <PlaidLink token={token} />
  );
};

export default App;

OAuth / opening Link without a button click

Handling OAuth redirects requires opening Link without any user input. This can also be useful if you simply if you want Link to open immediately when your page or component renders.

import React, { useCallback, useEffect, FunctionComponent } from "react";
import {
  usePlaidLink,
  PlaidLinkOptions,
  PlaidLinkOnSuccess,
} from "react-plaid-link";

interface Props {
  token: string;
}

const OpenPlaidLink: FunctionComponent<Props> = ({ token }) => {
  const onSuccess = useCallback<PlaidLinkOnSuccess>(
    (public_token, metadata) => {
      // send public_token to server
    },
    []
  );

  const config: PlaidLinkOptions = {
    // When re-initializing Link after OAuth redirection, the same
    // Link token from the first initialization must be used
    token,
    onSuccess,
    // receivedRedirectUri: document.location.href, // required for OAuth
    // onExit
    // onEvent
  };

  const { open, ready, error } = usePlaidLink(config);

  // this opens link as soon as it's ready
  useEffect(() => {
    if (!ready) {
      return;
    }
    open();
  }, [ready, open]);

  // don't render anything, just open Link
  return null;
};

export default OpenPlaidLink;

Using the pre-built component instead of the usePlaidLink hook

import React, { useCallback, useState, FunctionComponent } from "react";
import { PlaidLink, PlaidLinkOnSuccess } from "react-plaid-link";

const App: FunctionComponent = () => {
  const [token, setToken] = useState<string | null>(null);

  // generate a link_token
  React.useEffect(() => {
    async function createLinkToken() {
      let response = await fetch("/api/create_link_token");
      const { link_token } = await response.json();
      setToken(link_token);
    }
    createLinkToken();
  }, []);

  const onSuccess = useCallback<PlaidLinkOnSuccess>(
    (public_token, metadata) => {
      // send public_token to server
    },
    []
  );

  // The pre-built PlaidLink component uses the usePlaidLink hook under the hood.
  // It renders a styled button element and accepts a `className` and/or `style` prop
  // to override the default styles. It accepts any Link config option as a prop such
  // as receivedRedirectUri, onEvent, onExit, onLoad, etc.
  return token === null ? (
    // insert your loading animation here
    <div className="loader"></div>
  ) : (
    <PlaidLink
      token={token}
      onSuccess={onSuccess}
      // onExit={...}
      // onEvent={...}
    >
      Connect a bank account
    </PlaidLink>
  );
};

export default App;

All available Link configuration options

Please refer to the official Plaid Link docs for a more holistic understanding of the various Link options and the link_token.

See also src/types/index.ts for exported types.

interface PlaidLinkOptionsWithLinkToken = {
  token: string;
  onSuccess: (
    public_token: string,
    metadata: PlaidLinkOnSuccessMetadata
  ) => void;
  onExit?: (
    error: null | PlaidLinkError,
    metadata: PlaidLinkOnExitMetadata
  ) => void;
  onEvent?: (
    eventName: string,
    metadata: PlaidLinkOnEventMetadata
  ) => void;
  onLoad?: () => void;
  receivedRedirectUri?: string;
}

type PlaidLinkOptions = PlaidLinkOptionsWithLinkToken;

Typescript support

TypeScript definitions for react-plaid-link are built into the npm package. If you have previously installed @types/react-plaid-link before this package had types, please uninstall it in favor of built-in types.

Changelog

3.2.0

• Improve TypeScript types (may cause minor TS errors)