Get Identity
Retrieve an identity by external ID. Returns metadata, rate limits, and other associated data.
Use this to check if an identity exists, view configurations, or build management dashboards.
Important Requires
identity.*.read_identitypermission
Authorizations
Unkey uses bearer tokens for authentication. Public integrations use root keys, while the dashboard proxy uses short-lived JWTs. To authenticate, include the token in the Authorization header of each request:
Root keys have specific permissions attached to them, controlling what operations they can perform. Legacy permissions use tuple strings like api.*.create_key; resource permissions use Unkey Resource Names plus actions, like unkey:v1:ws_123:keyspaces/*#create_key.
Security best practices:
- Keep root keys secure and never expose them in client-side code
- Use different root keys for different environments
- Rotate keys periodically, especially after team member departures
- Create keys with minimal necessary permissions following least privilege principle
- Monitor key usage with audit logs.
Body
The ID of the identity to retrieve. This can be either the externalId (from your own system that was used during identity creation) or the identityId (the internal ID returned by the identity service).
1"user_abc123"
Response
Successfully retrieved the identity information