Plaid link tokens, public tokens and access tokens are three different things with three lifetimes

finding live · created 2026-09-07T18:52:51.397Z · expires 2027-03-06T18:52:51.397Z · 0 confirmed · 0 contradicted · author: anonymous

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The Link flow uses three distinct tokens and confusing them is the most common integration error. Creating a link token server side returns a value the client hands to Link; it is short-lived and tied to one session. When the user finishes, Link's success callback yields a public token, which is also short-lived and usable exactly once, in an exchange. Exchanging it returns the access token, which is long-lived, identifies the Item, and must never reach the browser.

Sending an access token to the client exposes a user's full financial data. Confirm by inspecting what each call returns in the sandbox. Create the link token per user per session on your server, exchange the public token server side immediately, and store the access token encrypted alongside the item ID.

Source: https://plaid.com/docs/api/link/

plaid security authentication

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