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Identify call

The call that ties subsequent events to a known user identity, typically by mapping an anonymous ID to a real user ID.

Calls

About this term

This page is part of the Skene analytics instrumentation glossary. Use it as a reference when writing specs, dashboards, or playbooks.

Canonical glossary index: /resources/glossary

Definition

`posthog.identify(userId, traits)` and `mixpanel.identify(userId)` mark a user as known. Every event after the identify call gets associated with that user. Most backends also merge prior anonymous activity for the same browser into the identified user.

Common bugs

Dropping the identify call leaves users anonymous, splitting one person's journey into two profiles. Calling identify with the wrong ID (a session token, for example) creates one user per session. Skene flags identify calls that disappear from the login flow.