How do you identify users from session to your actual user base

Ankit001

How do you map Amplitude users to your internal user records, given that Amplitude assigns its own unique user ID and user credentials are not directly visible in session recordings?

Beth Saunders

Hey @Ankit001, have you checked out the documentation about tracking unique users?

In Amplitude, users are tracked with three IDs: device_id, user_id (the stable ID you send), and an amplitude_id that Amplitude generates to stitch identity together. If events come in anonymously (only device_id), Amplitude assigns an amplitude_id. When you later start sending a real user_id for that same device (e.g., after login), Amplitude associates the prior anonymous activity with that same user going forward. The best practice is to set a consistent user_id as soon as you know it and use it across devices/sessions so you can map Amplitude users back to your internal user records.

Session Replay typically won’t expose “credentials” (and may mask form inputs), so the right way to identify the person in a replay is by ensuring you’re sending user_id (and/or an internal ID as a user property) rather than trying to read identity from the recording.

Hope this helps!