The moment it happens

Know when a bank link needs you to log in again

You hear about an expiring or broken bank connection before your balances and transactions stop updating.

Runs: The moment it happens
Apps: Plaid
AI: Not needed
Access: client_id + secret; Item access_token

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: email me when any of my Plaid-linked banks needs me to log in again or is about to disconnect, once per bank per problem.

Paste it into your assistant. It tells you what it will send or change before it runs live.

Add to ChatGPT Add to Claude

First time? Adding ClickRuntime to your assistant takes about two minutes.

Why use it

Why teams use this automation

Linked bank connections do not last forever. A bank changes its login rules, a password expires, consent runs out, and the connection enters a state where Plaid can no longer refresh data. Nothing visibly breaks. Your daily summary simply stops showing new transactions, and weeks later someone notices that the reports have been stale and the balance in the app is wrong.

When Plaid sends an item webhook, or when the item is checked once a day as a fallback, the status is read and only login-required and pending-disconnect states are kept. You receive one email per item per state, telling you which bank needs you to sign in again. That gives you time to fix it before data stops updating. Finance managers with several linked institutions get the most value.

It matters most for anyone whose reports, budgets or bookkeeping depend on bank data staying current.

What you get out of it

Fix it before data goes stale
A pending-disconnect warning arrives while the connection still works. Re-authenticating takes a couple of minutes, and you never have a gap in your transactions. Reconnecting through Plaid Link takes a few minutes, and the earlier you do it, the fewer days of transactions you have to backfill later. Prompt action keeps the feed unbroken.
Avoid reports built on old data
A balance or spending summary that quietly stops updating is dangerous because it looks normal. An alert tells you not to trust the numbers until the bank is reconnected. Reports that quietly stop updating look normal, which is what makes them risky. The alert tells you to distrust the figures until the bank is linked again.
One email, not a flood
Messages are sent once per item per state, so a broken connection does not email you every hour. The alert you receive is meaningful, and you are not tempted to filter it out.
Works for several banks
If you have linked three institutions, the email names the one that needs attention. You do not have to log in to each to find the broken one. The email names the institution that needs you, so you do not log into each bank to find out which link is broken.
Protect bookkeeping and tax records
Gaps in bank data become painful at tax time, when a missing month must be reconstructed by hand. A prompt alert avoids that by keeping the feed continuous. A missing month is hard to rebuild by hand at tax time. A prompt alert keeps the data continuous, which is much easier than patching it afterward.

How it works

What happens, step by step

When Plaid reports a problem with one of your bank connections, ClickRuntime hears about it straight away and also checks each connection once a day.
It looks for connections that need you to log in again or are about to expire.
You get one email per connection per problem, so a single issue doesn't fill your inbox.

Before it runs live

Connect Plaid
Paste your automation's link into the other app's webhook settings

What you get

RunsThe moment it happens

Know when a bank link needs you to log in againjust nowSucceeded

Email · Bank connectionItem eVBnVMp7zdTJLkRNr33Rs6zr7KNJqBFL9DrE6 needs you to log in again.

Build your own

Need it to work differently?

This template is a starting point. Copy the prompt and change it, or describe a different automation from scratch, with your own conditions, more apps or an AI step. Your assistant writes it, tests it and runs it on ClickRuntime.

Your own rules
Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.
Any number of apps
One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.
AI where it helps
Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.
On a schedule or on each event
Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.

Changes you can ask for

Act only on the items that match your own rules, and skip the rest
Add an AI step, for example to summarize, sort or draft a reply
Add another app, for example also send it to Slack
Combine it with other Plaid steps into one automation

Under the hood

The code that runs this automation

This is the Python script that runs each time the automation starts. Your AI assistant writes it for you when you send the prompt, and you allow each step in your assistant. To change how the automation works, describe the change to your assistant and it updates the script for you. For every function it can use, see the script reference.

get_alerted_when_a_bank_connection_breaks.pyexample

from clickruntime import on_event, notify, state

PROBLEMS = {"ERROR": "needs you to log in again", "PENDING_DISCONNECT": "is about to disconnect",
            "PENDING_EXPIRATION": "will expire soon"}

@on_event
def handle(event):
    body = event.json
    code = body.get("webhook_code")
    if body.get("webhook_type") != "ITEM" or code not in PROBLEMS:
        return {"skipped": code}
    if code == "ERROR" and (body.get("error") or {}).get("error_code") != "ITEM_LOGIN_REQUIRED":
        return {"skipped": "other error"}
    key = f"{body['item_id']}:{code}"
    if state.get(key):
        return {"duplicate": True}
    notify.email_me("A Plaid bank connection needs attention",
                    f"Item {body['item_id']} {PROBLEMS[code]}. Open your app and reconnect the bank.")
    state.set(key, True)
    return {"alerted": key}

FAQ

Common questions

What does ITEM_LOGIN_REQUIRED mean?

It means the bank needs you to sign in again through Plaid Link to restore access. It commonly follows a password change or expired consent. Until you do, Plaid cannot fetch new transactions or balances for that account.

Why does it also warn about pending disconnects?

Some banks and regions require consent to be renewed on a schedule. Plaid sends a pending-disconnect notice before access ends, which gives you the chance to renew first and avoid any gap. Renewing early avoids any gap in your data.

What if I cannot receive webhooks?

The fallback is to call Plaid's item endpoint once a day and check the status. That means you hear within a day rather than instantly, which is still early enough for most connection problems. Both routes lead to the same email.

What permissions does it need?

client_id + secret; Item access_token. Nothing else in your accounts is used.

Does it need AI?

No. It runs without AI, so it doesn't use your plan's AI allowance.

How many runs does it use?

One run for each event the app sends.

Can I change how it works?

Yes. Describe the change to your AI assistant, for example a different schedule, channel or filter. It updates the automation, tests it and tells you what changed.

The moment it happens