Guide
How to get Plaid credentials
Plaid connects Ray to your bank accounts. You need a Client ID and Secret so Ray can securely pull your transactions and balances. The signup is free — but production access takes 1–2 weeks.
Create a Plaid developer account
Sign up for a free Plaid account. You'll get sandbox credentials immediately, but Ray requires production credentials to connect to real banks. Sandbox keys will not work.
plaid.com →Apply for production access
In the Plaid dashboard, go to the production access page and submit your application. Plaid will ask for a use case description — just say "personal finance tracking for a single user". This is the slow part: approval takes 1–2 weeks.
dashboard.plaid.com →Get your production Client ID and Secret
Once approved, go to Keys in the Plaid dashboard. You'll see your Client ID and a Secret for each environment. Copy the production Client ID and production Secret. Do not use the sandbox or development keys — Ray connects to Plaid's production environment only.
dashboard.plaid.com →Paste them into Ray
Run ray setup and paste your Plaid Client ID and Secret when prompted. Ray encrypts and stores them locally.
Connect your bank
Run ray link to open Plaid Link in your browser. Pick your bank, log in, and select the accounts you want Ray to track. Done.
Skip the setup?
Don't want to wait for Plaid approval? The $10/mo Ray Pro plan includes bank access. Run ray setup, pick "Ray Pro", and pay $10/mo — then ray link to connect your bank immediately. No Plaid account needed.