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Connect Plaid to VS Code

Give VS Code governed access to Plaid’s 5 tools through Runlayer, with identity, policy, scanning, and audit on every call.

Book a demo VS Code setup guide

Set up

Add Plaid to VS Code in four steps

Admins approve the server once. Everyone in VS Code then gets it through the same governed connection.

  1. 1

    Add Plaid to Runlayer

    Plaid isn’t in the Runlayer catalog yet, so an admin adds it by its MCP server URL.

    Adding a connector manually
  2. 2

    Connect VS Code to Runlayer

    Runlayer’s CLI installs the Runlayer Plugin natively in VS Code; users can also add it over MCP. With direct tool listing turned on for your deployment, Plaid’s 5 tools show up in VS Code’s own tool list (VS Code 1.103 or newer).

    VS Code setup guide
  3. 3

    Sign in to Plaid

    Sign in the way Plaid requires. Runlayer holds the credentials so they stay out of the client’s configuration.

  4. 4

    Use Plaid from VS Code

    Plaid’s approved tools appear in VS Code. Every call is checked against policy and recorded.

Tools

5 Plaid tools in VS Code

Runlayer policy decides which of these VS Code users can call.

  • Debug item

    Diagnose a Plaid item by retrieving its state information.

  • Get link analytics

    Retrieves Plaid Link analytics data for analyzing user conversion and error rates.

  • Get tools introduction

    Returns a list of all available tools with a brief introduction for each.

  • Get usages

    Retrieves usage metrics for Plaid products and services.

  • List teams

    Retrieve teams associated with the user and present them as a selectable list.

Control

What Runlayer can see and stop in VS Code

Some controls apply to every client at the gateway. Others depend on what VS Code exposes to Runlayer.

  • Gateway policy (available)

    Every Plaid call from VS Code passes through Runlayer, where your policies can allow, alert, mask, or block it.

  • Audit trail (available)

    Each call is recorded with the user, VS Code as the client, the tool, and the policy and scanner decisions.

  • Client hooks (available)

    Capture supported prompts, reasoning, local and MCP tool calls, responses, and scanner decisions in real time.

  • Stop a call before it runs (available)

    Runlayer can deny a tool call before VS Code runs it.

  • Block output after it runs (available)

    Runlayer can block a tool’s output before VS Code’s model sees it.

  • Redact output in place (available)

    Runlayer can mask sensitive parts of a tool’s output in VS Code and pass the rest through.

Frequently asked questions

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