What if a reader's email changes on our side?

Send an external_id claim in every token, from the first sign-in, and the reader keeps the same account in your help center when their email changes.

HelpCenter.io recognizes an SSO reader by their email address or by their external_id. Use your own stable user ID, the one that never changes, as the external_id. When a token arrives with a new email but a known external_id, HelpCenter.io signs in the reader it already knows.

{
  "jti": "the key HelpCenter.io sent",
  "iat": 1767225600,
  "exp": 1767225900,
  "email": "new.address@example.com",
  "name": "Jane Doe",
  "external_id": "4815"
}

• Add it from the start. A reader created without an external_id stays matched by email only, even if later tokens include one. A changed email then creates a new reader.

• Details stay as they were. HelpCenter.io keeps the email, name and other details a reader was created with, so their comments keep showing the name from their first sign-in.

See JWT claims and validation rules on the developer portal.

Related articles

• Sign readers in with your own login (JWT SSO)