low severityPlaid API institutions tool
API call to /institutions/get_by_id with include_status=true returns null status or no status data in Sandbox/low-traffic institutions; unexpected absence of connectivity health info leads to failed assumptions in agent logic.
Root cause
Institution status is intentionally unavailable in Sandbox environment and returns null for low-traffic institutions to avoid inaccurate data; developers may mistake this expected behavior for a bug when expecting status in non-Production or low-volume scenarios.
Plaid APIinstitutions/get_by_idinclude_statusnull statusSandboxlow-trafficINSTITUTION_ERROR