Sample - Plaid API
POST/signal/schedule

Schedule an ACH transaction

Schedules a planned ACH transaction and calculates recommended dates for submitting its debit entry. Supply access_token, account_id, client_transaction_id, and amount, and optionally choose the default payment method that affects timing recommendations. The response covers a five-banking-day evaluation period and identifies the optimal submission date.

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

7 body fields

Planned ACH transaction details used to calculate debit submission recommendations.

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.
access_tokenstringrequired
The access token associated with the Item for which data is being requested.
account_idstringrequired
The Plaid `account_id` of the account that is the funding source for the proposed transaction. The `account_id` is returned in the `/accounts/get` endpoint as well as the [`onSuccess`](https://plaid.com/docs/link/ios/#link-ios-onsuccess-linkSuccess-metadata-accounts-id) callback metadata. This will return an [`INVALID_ACCOUNT_ID`](https://plaid.com/docs/errors/invalid-input/#invalid_account_id) error if the account has been removed at the bank or if the `account_id` is no longer valid.
client_transaction_idstringrequired
The unique ID that you would like to use to refer to this transaction. For your convenience mapping your internal data, you could use your internal ID/identifier for this transaction. The max length for this field is 36 characters.
amountnumberrequired
The transaction amount, in USD (e.g. `102.05`)
default_payment_methodstringoptional
The payment method specified in the `default_payment_method` field directly impacts the timing recommendations provided by the API for submitting the debit entry to your processor or ODFI. If unspecified, defaults to `STANDARD_ACH`. `SAME_DAY_ACH`: Same Day ACH (as defined by Nacha). The API assumes the settlement will occur on the same business day if the `/signal/schedule` request is submitted by 6:00 PM UTC. Note: The actual cutoff time can vary depending on your payment processor or ODFI. Nacha has established three processing windows for Same Day ACH (Eastern Time): 10:30 AM, 2:45 PM, and 4:45 PM. `STANDARD_ACH`: Standard ACH (as defined by Nacha), typically settled one to three business days after submission. `MULTIPLE_PAYMENT_METHODS`: Indicates that there is no default debit rail or multiple payment methods are available, and the transaction could use any of them based on customer policy or availability.
Allowed:SAME_DAY_ACHSTANDARD_ACHMULTIPLE_PAYMENT_METHODS

2 status codes
200Returns the recommended `optimal_date`, date-by-date `recommendations`, any `warnings`, and a `request_id`.
optimal_datestringrequired
The recommended optimal date to submit the debit entry, formatted in ISO 8601 "YYYY-MM-DD" (e.g., "2024-03-30"). The `optimal_date` is derived from the date with rank = 1 in the following recommendations array. NOTE: The `default_payment_method` field specified in the request will affect the recommendation, since we're accounting for debit settlement time. The debit scheduling evaluation starts from the day the /signal/schedule request is submitted (Day 0) or the next banking day if the submission day is not a banking day, and extends through the following five banking days (Day 1 to Day 5). If no date within this period is considered likely to result in a successful debit attempt, `null` will be returned for the `optimal_date`.
recommendationsarray<SignalScheduleRecommendation>required
This array provides a date-by-date evaluation of debit submission recommendations within the five banking day evaluation period. Each object in the array represents a retry recommendation for a specific date.
warningsarray<SignalWarning>required
If bank information was not available to be used in the Signal Transaction Scores model, this array contains warnings describing why bank data is missing. If you want to receive an API error instead of scores in the case of missing bank data, file a support ticket or contact your Plaid account manager.
request_idstringrequired
A unique identifier for the request, which can be used for troubleshooting. This identifier, like all Plaid identifiers, is case sensitive.
defaultReturned when the request cannot be processed; inspect `error_code`, `error_type`, and `error_message` to identify the problem.
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

access_token, account_id, client_transaction_id, and amount are required. client_transaction_id must contain between 1 and 36 characters, and default_payment_method must be SAME_DAY_ACH, STANDARD_ACH, or MULTIPLE_PAYMENT_METHODS when supplied.