Sample - Plaid API
POST/sandbox/transfer/refund/simulate

Simulate a refund event

Simulates a refund event in the Sandbox environment. Supply refund_id and an event type to generate an event visible through transfer event retrieval endpoints, without moving funds or creating actual transactions. You can optionally use a test clock, failure details, and a webhook URL for event delivery.

  • RetriesRetries up to 2×, 500ms backoff, 30s timeout.

7 body fields

Sandbox request for simulating an event on a refund.

client_idstringoptional
Your Plaid API `client_id`. The `client_id` is required and may be provided either in the `PLAID-CLIENT-ID` header or as part of a request body.
secretstringoptional
Your Plaid API `secret`. The `secret` is required and may be provided either in the `PLAID-SECRET` header or as part of a request body.
refund_idstringrequired
Plaid's unique identifier for a refund.
test_clock_idstringoptional
Plaid's unique identifier for a test clock. If provided, the event to be simulated is created at the `virtual_time` on the provided `test_clock`.
event_typestringrequired
The asynchronous event to be simulated. May be: `refund.posted`, `refund.settled`, `refund.failed`, or `refund.returned`. An error will be returned if the event type is incompatible with the current refund status. Compatible status --> event type transitions include: `refund.pending` --> `refund.failed` `refund.pending` --> `refund.posted` `refund.posted` --> `refund.returned` `refund.posted` --> `refund.settled` `refund.posted` events can only be simulated if the refunded transfer has been transitioned to settled. This mimics the ordering of events in Production.
failure_reasonobjectoptional
The failure reason if the event type for a transfer is `"failed"` or `"returned"`. Null value otherwise.
webhookstringoptional
The webhook URL to which a `TRANSFER_EVENTS_UPDATE` webhook should be sent.

2 status codes
200Returns a response containing the unique request identifier.
request_idstringrequired
A unique identifier for the request, which can be used for troubleshooting. This identifier, like all Plaid identifiers, is case sensitive.
defaultError response
error_typestringrequired
A broad categorization of the error. Safe for programmatic use.
Allowed:INVALID_REQUESTINVALID_RESULTINVALID_INPUTINSTITUTION_ERRORRATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDEDAPI_ERRORITEM_ERRORASSET_REPORT_ERRORBASE_REPORT_ERRORRECAPTCHA_ERROROAUTH_ERRORPAYMENT_ERROR
error_codestringrequired
The particular error code. Safe for programmatic use.
error_code_reasonstringoptional
The specific reason for the error code. Currently, reasons are only supported for OAuth-based item errors; `null` will be returned otherwise. Safe for programmatic use. Possible values: `OAUTH_INVALID_TOKEN`: The user's OAuth connection to this institution has been invalidated. `OAUTH_CONSENT_EXPIRED`: The user's access consent for this OAuth connection to this institution has expired. `OAUTH_USER_REVOKED`: The user's OAuth connection to this institution is invalid because the user revoked their connection.
error_messagestringrequired
A developer-friendly representation of the error code. This may change over time and is not safe for programmatic use.
display_messagestringrequired
A user-friendly representation of the error code. `null` if the error is not related to user action. This may change over time and is not safe for programmatic use.
request_idstringoptional
A unique ID identifying the request, to be used for troubleshooting purposes. This field will be omitted in errors provided by webhooks.
causesarrayoptional
In this product, a request can pertain to more than one Item. If an error is returned for such a request, `causes` will return an array of errors containing a breakdown of these errors on the individual Item level, if any can be identified. `causes` will be provided for the `error_type` `ASSET_REPORT_ERROR` or `CHECK_REPORT_ERROR`. `causes` will also not be populated inside an error nested within a `warning` object.
statusintegeroptional
The HTTP status code associated with the error. This will only be returned in the response body when the error information is provided via a webhook.
documentation_urlstringoptional
The URL of a Plaid documentation page with more information about the error
suggested_actionstringoptional
Suggested steps for resolving the error
required_account_subtypesarray<string>optional
A list of the account subtypes that were requested via the `account_filters` parameter in `/link/token/create`. Currently only populated for `NO_ACCOUNTS` errors from Items with `investments_auth` as an enabled product.
provided_account_subtypesarray<string>optional
A list of the account subtypes that were extracted but did not match the requested subtypes via the `account_filters` parameter in `/link/token/create`. Currently only populated for `NO_ACCOUNTS` errors from Items with `investments_auth` as an enabled product.

Error handling

refund_id and event_type are required. event_type must be one of refund.posted, refund.settled, refund.failed, or refund.returned, and the event must be compatible with the refund's current status. Provide failure_reason for failed or returned events and use a valid URL for webhook when requesting notifications.