User Types

Every user in ThunderID has a user type that represents a category of users in your organization. The user type determines:

• Which attributes the user has in their profile and the data types of those attributes.
• Which attributes must be unique across all users of that type.
• Which attributes are credentials (stored securely and never returned in responses).
• Whether users of this type can self-register through an application's registration flow.

User Types and Organization Units

User types work alongside Organization Units (OUs) to model your real-world organization:

• The user type defines what a user looks like; their attributes, constraints, and registration rules.
• The organization unit defines where a user belongs; their place in your organizational hierarchy.

Each user type belongs to a single OU. Users of that type can only exist under that OU or one of its descendants. Learn more in Organization Units.

ThunderID ships with one default user type. Learn more about its schema in User Type Reference.

User Type	Description	Organization Unit	Self-Registration
Person	Internal or admin-managed users, such as staff or service accounts.	Default	Not allowed

Create a User Type

1. Navigate to User Types in the ThunderID Console and click Create User Type.
2. Enter a Name for the user type. The name is used as the type identifier and must be unique.
3. Select the Organization Unit this user type should belong. A user of this type can only be created under this OU or one of its descendants in the hierarchy. See Organization Units for more information.
4. Select whether to allow self-registration. Enabling this allows users of this type to sign up through the registration flow assigned to your application.
5. Set the attributes that the user type should have, including data types and constraint modifiers. See User Type Reference for details on available settings and attribute options.
6. Click Create User Attribute.

Update a User Type

1. Navigate to User Types and open the user type you want to edit.
2. Add, remove, or update attribute definitions.
3. Click Save.

warning

Updating a user type schema replaces the entire attribute definition. Changes do not retroactively validate existing users. New users created after the change must conform to the updated schema. Removing a required attribute from the schema does not remove that attribute's data from existing users.

Delete a User Type

1. Open the user type from the User Types list.
2. Click Delete and confirm.

warning

Deletion fails if users of this type exist. Delete or reassign all users of this type before removing the schema.

Related Guides

• User Type Reference - Schema settings, attribute types, and constraint modifiers
• Manage Users - Create and manage users of each type
• Organization Units - Understand the OU structure that binds user types.
• Flows - Configure registration flows for self-service sign-up