Spectacle.js's identify method | Spectacle.js

User identification with Spectacle

The identify function in Spectacle links a user's actions and pageviews to identifiable information, such as a name or email address. This function is essential for tracking user behavior in a meaningful way, allowing you to associate data with specific individuals.

Using `identify` effectively

We recommend using a unique userId from your database and including the email address as a trait. This is particularly useful if a user later changes their email address. You can pass as many user traits as needed to enrich the data.

spectacle.identify([userId], [traits]);

When calling identify(), the userId should be the universal identifier used in your database.

If you don't have a universal userId, you can omit it and identify users with traits like name and email.

Parameters

userId (String, optional): The identifier used in your database to recognize this user. If you don’t have this, you can skip it and just record traits.
traits (Object, optional): A dictionary of traits describing the user, such as name, email, etc.

Example usage

spectacle.identify('THE_USER_ID', { email: 'john@doe.com' });

Or without a userId:

spectacle.identify({ email: 'john@doe.com' });

The identify function should be called whenever a visitor identifies themselves by filling out a form, signing up, or logging in.

Special traits for identify

Spectacle recognizes certain special traits in the identify call, which are displayed in the customer view within the app. Below are the special traits and an example of how to use them:

Trait	Type	Description
email	String	The user’s email address.
firstName	String	The user’s first name.
lastName	String	The user’s last name.
companyId	String	Unique id of the company if the user belongs to one in your internal data.
companyName	String	The full name of the company the user belongs to.

Example with special traits

Spectacle.identify('YOUR_USER_ID', { 
  email: 'john@doe.com',
  firstName: 'John',
  lastName: 'Doe',
  comanyId: '123456789',
  companyName: 'Acme Inc.',
  yourCustomTrait: 'someValue'
});

Auto-reset

When a user is already identified with a userId, passing a different userId will automatically generate a new anonymous id as well. This is done to prevent customer journeys from getting mixed for users that have multiple accounts with you.