plaid error: RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED on /transactions/sync polling

TL;DR

Plaid's /transactions/sync is rate limited: slow the poll loop, honor Retry-After, and use the cursor so each poll only fetches changes instead of re-polling everything.

Error

RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED on /transactions/sync

Steps

1. Back the poll interval off (and honor Retry-After) Expected: the 429s stop.
2. Persist the sync cursor and send it on every poll Expected: each poll is incremental and cheap.
3. Stop polling when the response says there are no more changes Expected: no wasted polls.
4. Monitor poll volume per item Expected: you stay under quota.

When to use

• RATELIMITEXCEEDED on transactions sync
• The poller is too aggressive or cursorless

When not to use

• The item needs re-auth (that is ITEMLOGINREQUIRED, not rate limit)
• A different endpoint is throttled (then pace that one)

Tool compatibility

• Plaid transactions sync
• Bank data polling

Variant phrasings

plaid sync rate limit

Slow the poll, honor Retry-After, and always send the cursor.

transactions sync 429

Same: incremental cursor polls, not full re-polls.

Why it happens

Polling without a cursor re-fetches history every time, which burns quota fast. Agents often drop the cursor because the first poll works without it.

Edge cases

• Plaid may return 429 with a longer backoff during high load; respect it
• Do not poll faster than the data changes

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_DMAFqwRQQqsOVGXNdUYVqw