Entity types are distinct profile data stores within a Registration application. A JSON schema defines the profile attributes to be stored for user records and any global validation rules or constraints that should be applied.
The Default Schema
Every Registration application is provisioned with a default entity type called user. This schema should only be expanded upon; deleting attributes from the default user schema may result in unexpected behavior. In particular, the following attributes are part of the default schema and are pertinent to the functionality implemented by the registration process:
- The profiles plural aggregates the user data returned from the different social providers. Each provider linked to a user account will be added as a separate object to the profiles plural, but will share a common structure.
- The clients plural stores information about when and where a user has authenticated (including at initial registration). This includes the client ID in use on the site where the login occurred, the timestamp of the user’s first login on that site, and the timestamp of the user’s last login on that site. Each time a user logs into a new site, a new entry will be added with its client ID. Subsequent logins on the same site will not create an additional object, but instead update the last login value.
- The janrain object stores metadata information needed for integrations with other systems such as Salesforce Marketing Cloud or other parts of the Identity Cloud platform.
Note. The attributes in the default user entity type provisioned with new applications is occasionally updated, so not all customers will have the attributes listed above.
Adding Entity Types
In most cases the default user entity type is used for all site registrations. Occasionally you may want to utilize multiple entity types for the purpose of keeping registrations of different user types or customer verticals separate. We recommend that you consult with the Akamai Professional Services team if you are considering taking this approach.
Additional entity types may be created with the entityType.create API. Once an entity type has been created, you can add and remove schema attributes associated with it by using the entityType.addAttribute and entityType.removeAttribute endpoints.
Alternatively, entity types and be managed by using Console's Registration Builder.
Schema Attribute Types
The following attribute types are available for storing different types of user data.
Type | Primitive | JSON Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
boolean | Yes | Boolean | |
date | Yes | String | Subject to the Timestamp format. |
dateTime | Yes | String | Subject to the Timestamp format. |
decimal | Yes | Number | |
id | Yes | Number | Not an externally usable type. |
integer | Yes | Number | |
ipAddress | Yes | String | |
json | Yes | (any type) | The JSON type is unstructured data; it only has to be valid parsable JSON. |
object | No | Object | |
password | Yes | String | The default password encoding is bcrypt. |
plural | No | Array | Primitive child attributes of plurals can have the constraint. |
string | Yes | String | |
uuid | Yes | String | Not an externally usable type. |
Note. All primitive types can have the constraints unique and required. For more information on constraints, please see the Constraints section.
Objects
Objects are used for nesting related attributes under a parent attribute within the schema. For example, in the default schema the primaryAddress object holds address1, city, zip, and other related attributes. When making API calls targeting an attribute within an object, you must refer to the parent and child attributes by using "dot" notation, with a period separating the parent attribute name and the child attribute name. For example: primaryAddress.city.
Plurals
Plurals are a special object type used for storing an indefinite number of nested objects or attributes of a like construct. Common use cases include opt-in lists, addresses, and subscriptions. Plurals are not supported by the Registration UI or OAuth API endpoints and require a custom integration with the user profile.
Reserved Attributes
The following attributes are read-only, automatically generated, and required in all schemas.
Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
created | Automatically-generated timestamp marking the entity’s creation. |
id | A unique identifier for for an entity. The ID is automatically created during registration and is unique to the entity. |
lastUpdated | Automatically-updated timestamp marking the last change made to an entity. |
parent_id | The ID used when implementing plurals. |
uuid | Unique identifier for the entity. |
Timestamp Formats
The registration schema accepts date and dateTime values in ISO 8601 format. For example, the following are acceptable dates:
- 1984-06-07
- 1998-01-01
- 2005-12-31
And the following are acceptable dateTime values:
- 1984-06-23 00:00:00 +0000
- 1984-06-23T00:00:00 +0000
Note that all timestamps are rendered using the UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) standard, and include the "+0000" time zone offset tag at the end of the timestamp.
Supported Password Hashing Algorithms
Akamai follows best practices to ensure that user credentials are stored in the Identity Cloud in a secure manner. For migrating custom or non-standard password hashes, please contact your Akamai representative.