Get external_id used in SSO through the API

Product Support

AI-generated summary

In a support discussion titled ‘Get external_id used in SSO through the API’, henriqueberlesi seeks to retrieve the external_id from SSO via the Discourse API to match forum sign-ups with app sign-ups. They note the absence of this field in the standard user JSON response and mention that the single_sign_on_record is not documented in the API reference. simon advises using the /admin/users/{user_id}.json endpoint, which includes the single_sign_on_record field. henriqueberlesi confirms they were querying the regular user route instead, and after following simon’s suggestion — navigating to the admin user page and appending .json to the URL — successfully retrieved the needed data. They thank simon for the solution.

1

We are trying to match the sign ups in our forum with our app sign ups.

In my opinion, it seems easier to populate a database when the SSO happens, but this wasn’t implemented yet.

So, is it possible to get the user’s external_id used in SSO through the Discourse API?

Here is a standard Json for a random user:

"user": {
    "moderator": false,
    "can_change_bio": false,
    "primary_group_flair_bg_color": null,
    "uploaded_avatar_id": null, 
    "title": null,
    "watched_category_ids": [],
    "trust_level": 0,
    "id": 1234,
    "custom_avatar_template": null,
    "muted_category_ids": [],
    "watching_first_post_tags": [],
    "featured_user_badge_ids": [],
    "tracked_category_ids": [],
    "watched_tags": [],
    "mailing_list_posts_per_day": 1,
    "locale": null,
    "watched_first_post_category_ids": [],
    "recent_time_read": 0,
    "primary_group_flair_url": null,
    "user_option": {
        "user_id": 1234,
        "email_digests": true,
        "external_links_in_new_tab": false,
        "like_notification_frequency": 1,
        "enable_quoting": true,
        "mailing_list_mode": false,
        "mailing_list_mode_frequency": 1,
        "email_direct": true,
        "theme_key_seq": 0,
        "theme_key": theme_key,
        "new_topic_duration_minutes": 2880,
        "disable_jump_reply": false,
        "include_tl0_in_digests": false,
        "dynamic_favicon": false,
        "email_always": false,
        "automatically_unpin_topics": true,
        "email_in_reply_to": true,
        "homepage_id": null,
        "allow_private_messages": true,
        "email_private_messages": true,
        "digest_after_minutes": 10080,
        "email_previous_replies": 2,
        "auto_track_topics_after_msecs": 240000,
        "notification_level_when_replying": 2
    },
    "groups": [
        {
            "name": group_name,
            "display_name": display_name
            "automatic_membership_retroactive": false,
            "has_messages": false,
            "bio_raw": null,
            "messageable_level": 0,
            "flair_bg_color": null,
            "incoming_email": null,
            "visibility_level": 0,
            "flair_url": null,
            "id": 1,
            "automatic": true,
            "full_name": null,
            "mentionable_level": 0,
            "public_exit": false,
            "primary_group": false,
            "flair_color": null,
            "grant_trust_level": null,
            "bio_cooked": null,
            "automatic_membership_email_domains": null,
            "membership_request_template": null,
            "public_admission": false,
            "allow_membership_requests": false,
            "title": null,
            "user_count": 1234,
            "default_notification_level": 3
        }
    ],
    "badge_count": 0,
    "can_edit_username": true,
    "can_edit_name": true,
    "gravatar_avatar_template": null,
    "admin": false,
    "last_posted_at": null,
    "can_send_private_messages": true,
    "can_edit_email": true,
    "user_api_keys": null,
    "name": name,
    "profile_view_count": 0,
    "time_read": 0,
    "custom_fields": {},
    "staged": false,
    "created_at": created_at,
    "second_factor_enabled": false,
    "primary_group_flair_color": null,
    "invited_by": null,
    "can_be_deleted": true,
    "primary_group_name": null,
    "system_avatar_upload_id": null,
    "last_seen_at": null,
    "username": username,
    "custom_avatar_upload_id": null,
    "post_count": 0,
    "user_fields": {
        "1": null
    },
    "can_delete_all_posts": true,
    "can_edit": true,
    "has_title_badges": false,
    "card_badge": null,
    "muted_usernames": [],
    "muted_tags": [],
    "system_avatar_template": "",
    "group_users": [
        {
            "user_id": 1234,
            "notification_level": 3,
            "group_id": 1
        }
    ],
    "tracked_tags": [],
    "gravatar_avatar_upload_id": null,
    "avatar_template": "",
    "can_send_private_message_to_user": true,
    "pending_count": 0
}
2

The /admin/users/{user_id}.json route returns the single_sign_on_record.

3

That’s exactly the endpoint I’m sending the request but I can’t find the field single_sign_on_record.

Also I believe that this is not documented in the API reference right? But I’m getting other fields like user_options that doesn’t show in the reference either.

If it helps, this is a standard Json from a random user:

"user_badges": [],
"user": {
    "moderator": false,
    "can_change_bio": false,
    "primary_group_flair_bg_color": null,
    "uploaded_avatar_id": null, 
    "title": null,
    "watched_category_ids": [],
    "trust_level": 0,
    "id": 1234,
    "custom_avatar_template": null,
    "muted_category_ids": [],
    "watching_first_post_tags": [],
    "featured_user_badge_ids": [],
    "tracked_category_ids": [],
    "watched_tags": [],
    "mailing_list_posts_per_day": 1,
    "locale": null,
    "watched_first_post_category_ids": [],
    "recent_time_read": 0,
    "primary_group_flair_url": null,
    "user_option": {
        "user_id": 1234,
        "email_digests": true,
        "external_links_in_new_tab": false,
        "like_notification_frequency": 1,
        "enable_quoting": true,
        "mailing_list_mode": false,
        "mailing_list_mode_frequency": 1,
        "email_direct": true,
        "theme_key_seq": 0,
        "theme_key": theme_key,
        "new_topic_duration_minutes": 2880,
        "disable_jump_reply": false,
        "include_tl0_in_digests": false,
        "dynamic_favicon": false,
        "email_always": false,
        "automatically_unpin_topics": true,
        "email_in_reply_to": true,
        "homepage_id": null,
        "allow_private_messages": true,
        "email_private_messages": true,
        "digest_after_minutes": 10080,
        "email_previous_replies": 2,
        "auto_track_topics_after_msecs": 240000,
        "notification_level_when_replying": 2
    },
    "groups": [
        {
            "name": group_name,
            "display_name": display_name
            "automatic_membership_retroactive": false,
            "has_messages": false,
            "bio_raw": null,
            "messageable_level": 0,
            "flair_bg_color": null,
            "incoming_email": null,
            "visibility_level": 0,
            "flair_url": null,
            "id": 1,
            "automatic": true,
            "full_name": null,
            "mentionable_level": 0,
            "public_exit": false,
            "primary_group": false,
            "flair_color": null,
            "grant_trust_level": null,
            "bio_cooked": null,
            "automatic_membership_email_domains": null,
            "membership_request_template": null,
            "public_admission": false,
            "allow_membership_requests": false,
            "title": null,
            "user_count": 1234,
            "default_notification_level": 3
        }
    ],
    "badge_count": 0,
    "can_edit_username": true,
    "can_edit_name": true,
    "gravatar_avatar_template": null,
    "admin": false,
    "last_posted_at": null,
    "can_send_private_messages": true,
    "can_edit_email": true,
    "user_api_keys": null,
    "name": name,
    "profile_view_count": 0,
    "time_read": 0,
    "custom_fields": {},
    "staged": false,
    "created_at": created_at,
    "second_factor_enabled": false,
    "primary_group_flair_color": null,
    "invited_by": null,
    "can_be_deleted": true,
    "primary_group_name": null,
    "system_avatar_upload_id": null,
    "last_seen_at": null,
    "username": username,
    "custom_avatar_upload_id": null,
    "post_count": 0,
    "user_fields": {
        "1": null
    },
    "can_delete_all_posts": true,
    "can_edit": true,
    "has_title_badges": false,
    "card_badge": null,
    "muted_usernames": [],
    "muted_tags": [],
    "system_avatar_template": "",
    "group_users": [
        {
            "user_id": 1234,
            "notification_level": 3,
            "group_id": 1
        }
    ],
    "tracked_tags": [],
    "gravatar_avatar_upload_id": null,
    "avatar_template": "",
    "can_send_private_message_to_user": true,
    "pending_count": 0
}````
4

That looks like the data that’s returned from the regular user route, not the /admin/users/{user_id}.json route. To double check, go to the /admin/users page on your forum. Click on the username of a user you know has logged in through SSO. On that user’s page, add .json to the URL in your browser’s address bar. You should see a json response with a single_sign_on_record property.

5

Oh, I see!

Using this method I was able to retrieve the proper user information that I was looking for.

Thanks for your help, @simon!