> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.mediarithmics.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.mediarithmics.io/setup-and-monitor/collect-and-manage-your-data/design-your-data-model-and-schema/user-identity/user-identifiers/user-account.md).

# User Account

Identify a registered user with an account ID and the compartment it belongs to.

## Your goal

Identify users who are registered in one of your systems, in a way that keeps accounts from different systems distinguishable on the same person.

## Expected outcome

Every account identifier you send is paired with the compartment representing the system it came from.

## What a UserAccount is

A **UserAccount** identifies a user registered on one of your systems - a CRM, a loyalty programme, or any authentication system. That registration system is external to mediarithmics.

| Property          | Type                | Description                                                    |
| ----------------- | ------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `user_account_id` | String              | Usually the same ID as in the source system, such as your CRM. |
| `compartment_id`  | String              | The compartment associated with the user account.              |
| `creation_ts`     | Timestamp           | The account's creation timestamp.                              |
| `expiration_ts`   | Timestamp, optional | The account's eventual expiration timestamp.                   |

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Always use `user_account_id` together with `compartment_id`** to identify a user by their account. If you do not specify a compartment ID, the default compartment is used - which means two accounts with the same ID from two different systems become the same identifier.
{% endhint %}

## The compartment half of the identifier

A **compartment** is a group that organises specific user account identifiers. Each compartment has a unique ID used to identify the corresponding account identifier - "UTIQ Martechpass" might have compartment ID 20, for instance.

There are two categories:

| Category                                  | What it holds                                                                            |
| ----------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **First-party user account compartments** | Account identifiers created inside your organisation, such as CRM identifiers.           |
| **Shared user account compartments**      | Account identifiers shared from another organisation - including user-based network IDs. |

For a compartment shared at community level: subscribe to it in your community organisation, after which it is automatically shared with your other organisations - but you still need to activate it in your datamart.

Creating and subscribing to compartments is covered in [Compartments](/setup-and-monitor/plan-and-integrate/set-up-the-environment/set-up-compartments.md).

## In the schema

```graphql
type UserAccount {
  id: ID! @TreeIndex(index:"USER_INDEX")
  creation_ts: Timestamp! @TreeIndex(index:"USER_INDEX")
  creation_date: Date! @TreeIndex(index:"USER_INDEX") @Function(params:["creation_ts"], name:"ISODate")

  compartment_id: String! @TreeIndex(index:"USER_INDEX") @ReferenceTable(model_type:"COMPARTMENTS", type:"CORE_OBJECT")
  user_account_id: String! @TreeIndex(index:"USER_INDEX")
}
```

`@ReferenceTable` on `compartment_id` is what gives people building queries an autocomplete on compartment names instead of IDs. See [Schema definition](/setup-and-monitor/collect-and-manage-your-data/design-your-data-model-and-schema/schema-definition.md).

## In an activity

```json
{
  "$user_identifiers": [
    {
      "$type": "USER_ACCOUNT",
      "$compartment_id": 1606,
      "$user_account_id": "c9879698769OIUYOIY9879879"
    }
  ]
}
```

## When importing profiles

A `UserProfile` carries `$user_account_id` and `$compartment_id` of its own, separately from the identifier used to route the import.

{% hint style="warning" %}
When importing profiles, fill `$user_account_id` and `$compartment_id` in the profile itself **even if the values are the same** as the ones used as the identifier - the values are not inherited from the identifier information.
{% endhint %}

The compartment ID and the account in the profile object can legitimately differ from the ones used as the UserPoint identifier. See [Import profiles](/setup-and-monitor/collect-and-manage-your-data/import-data-in-batch/import-profiles.md).

## Verify

* Every account identifier you send carries a compartment ID.
* The compartment exists and is activated on the datamart receiving the data.
* A logged-in test user's UserPoint shows the account under the expected compartment.

## Related pages

<table data-view="cards" data-search="false"><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th data-hidden data-card-target data-type="content-ref"></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Compartments</strong></td><td>Create the compartments this identifier depends on.</td><td><a href="/setup-and-monitor/plan-and-integrate/set-up-the-environment/set-up-compartments.md">Compartments</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>User Email</strong></td><td>The other identifier tied to a person rather than a device.</td><td><a href="/setup-and-monitor/collect-and-manage-your-data/design-your-data-model-and-schema/user-identity/user-identifiers/user-email.md">User Email</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Network IDs</strong></td><td>User-based network IDs, which also use compartments.</td><td><a href="/setup-and-monitor/collect-and-manage-your-data/design-your-data-model-and-schema/user-identity/network-ids.md">Network IDs</a></td></tr></tbody></table>


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