---
title: Identify Users
description: Connect anonymous events to specific users.
---

By default, OpenPanel tracks visitors anonymously. To connect these events to a specific user in your database, you need to identify them.

## How it works

When a user logs in or signs up, you should call the `identify` method. This associates their current session and all future events with their unique ID from your system.

```javascript
op.identify({
  profileId: 'user_123'
});
```

## Adding user traits

You can also pass user traits (like name, email, or plan type) when you identify them. These traits will appear in the user's profile in your dashboard.

```javascript
op.identify({
  profileId: 'user_123',
  firstName: 'Jane',
  lastName: 'Doe',
  email: 'jane@example.com',
  company: 'Acme Inc'
});
```

### Standard traits

We recommend using these standard keys for common user information so they display correctly in the OpenPanel dashboard:

- `firstName`
- `lastName`
- `email`
- `phone`
- `avatar`

## Best Practices

1.  **Call on login**: Always identify the user immediately after they log in.
2.  **Call on update**: If a user updates their profile, call identify again with the new information.
3.  **Unique IDs**: Use a stable, unique ID from your database (like a UUID) rather than an email address or username that might change.