How exactly does user_id work and what is the difference between the top level user_id and the ones in identities?

[markd]

Hi @zacharyholland,

Welcome to the Community!

You have it right: The prefix on the root user_id is the provider which provided the details used to construct the original user profile. The component after the | is the user’s unique identifier within that provider. In this case google-oauth2 means a profile that was constructed from a Google Social login user.

The identities array allow you to link other identities / logins to the same user profile.