Identify and specify Google Chat users
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This page explains the ways Google Chat apps can identify or specify
Chat users.
To do any of the following, a Chat app
must specify a user:
How Chat identifies users
The Google Chat API generates a
User resource
for each person that uses Chat. The following are two important
User fields:
name is the resource name for the resource, formatted as users/{user},
where {user} represents a unique and stable identifier. users/app can
be used as
an alias for the calling Chat app.type is the type of user. This type tells Chat whether the
user is a Chat app or a person. For
Chat apps, the value is BOT. For people, the value is
HUMAN.
Specify a user in a call to the Google Chat API
To specify a user, use the following values for the {user} value:
For users in your Google Workspace organization, use one of the
following approaches:
- The
name of the
User resource
in the Chat API, such as users/123456789.
- The
{person_id} for the name of a
Person resource in the People API,
where the resourceName is people/{person_id}—for example,
users/123456789 in the Chat API represents the same person
as people/123456789 in the People API.
- The
id for a User resource in the Directory API—for example,
users/123456789 in the Chat API represents the same person
as users/123456789 in the Directory API.
For a user in an external Google Workspace organization, or a user
who uses a Google Account, use an email alias—for example,
users/EMAIL_USERNAME@WORKSPACE_DOMAIN.com
or users/EMAIL_USERNAME@gmail.com.
Identify a user from an interaction event
Every time a user interacts with a Chat app,
Chat sends an
interaction event with information about the
interaction and the user. For example, when a
user mentions a Chat app in a message, the
Chat app receives information about the interaction,
including what the message says, and who sent it. Chat apps
reference users when retrieving information about Chat resources.
To identify the user who interacted with a Chat app,
get the value of the name property on the
User resource,
which you can get from
Event.user.name.
The following JSON example shows the expected format of the user identity in an
interaction with a Chat app:
{
...,
"user": {
"name": "users/12345678901234567890",
"displayName": "Sasha",
"avatarUrl": "https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/.../photo.jpg",
"email": "sasha@example.com"
}
}
A message is a specific type of interaction. To identify a user who sent
a message to a Chat app,
get the value of the name property on the
User resource, using either of the
following:
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC.
[null,null,["Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle Chat apps can identify users through a unique \u003ccode\u003eUser\u003c/code\u003e resource with a \u003ccode\u003ename\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003etype\u003c/code\u003e field to distinguish between bots and humans.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can specify a user in API calls using their resource name, Person resource ID, Directory API ID, or email alias depending on their location and account type.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eChat apps receive user information during interactions through the \u003ccode\u003eUser\u003c/code\u003e resource within the event data, allowing identification and actions based on user details.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUser identification enables features like mentioning users in messages, adding them to spaces, managing memberships, sending private messages, and subscribing to events.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eResources such as the \u003ccode\u003eUser\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003ePerson\u003c/code\u003e objects, along with API guides, are available for further understanding and implementing user management in Chat apps.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Google Chat apps specify users to perform actions like @-mentioning, adding users to spaces, finding direct messages, retrieving membership details, sending private messages, and subscribing for membership change events. Users are identified via a `User` resource, with a unique `name` (e.g., `users/123456789`) and `type` (`BOT` or `HUMAN`). External users are specified using email aliases. Interactions with the Chat app include the user's `name` in the `Event.user.name` property.\n"],null,["# Identify and specify Google Chat users\n\nThis page explains the ways Google Chat apps can identify or specify\nChat users.\n\nTo do any of the following, a Chat app\nmust specify a user:\n\n- Create a message that [@ mentions a user](/workspace/chat/format-messages#messages-@mention).\n- Invite or add a user to an [existing space](/workspace/chat/create-members), or add a user to a [new space](/workspace/chat/set-up-spaces).\n- [Find direct messages](/workspace/chat/find-direct-message-in-spaces) between the Chat app and a specified user, or between two users.\n- [Get a user's membership details in a space](/workspace/chat/get-members).\n- [Send a private message](/workspace/chat/private-messages) to a user.\n- [Subscribe to a user](/workspace/chat/events-overview) using the Google Workspace Events API to get events about their membership changes.\n\nHow Chat identifies users\n-------------------------\n\nThe Google Chat API generates a\n[`User` resource](/workspace/chat/api/reference/rest/v1/User)\nfor each person that uses Chat. The following are two important\n`User` fields:\n\n- `name` is the resource name for the resource, formatted as `users/{user}`, where `{user}` represents a unique and stable identifier. `users/app` can be used as an alias for the calling Chat app.\n- `type` is the type of user. This type tells Chat whether the user is a Chat app or a person. For Chat apps, the value is `BOT`. For people, the value is `HUMAN`.\n\nSpecify a user in a call to the Google Chat API\n-----------------------------------------------\n\nTo specify a user, use the following values for the `{user}` value:\n\n- For users in your Google Workspace organization, use one of the\n following approaches:\n\n - The `name` of the [`User` resource](/workspace/chat/api/reference/rest/v1/User) in the Chat API, such as `users/123456789`.\n - The `{person_id}` for the name of a [`Person` resource](/people/api/rest/v1/people) in the People API, where the `resourceName` is `people/{person_id}`---for example, `users/123456789` in the Chat API represents the same person as `people/123456789` in the People API.\n - The `id` for a `User` resource in the Directory API---for example, `users/123456789` in the Chat API represents the same person as `users/123456789` in the Directory API.\n- For a user in an external Google Workspace organization, or a user\n who uses a Google Account, use an email alias---for example,\n `users/`\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eEMAIL_USERNAME\u003c/var\u003e`@`\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eWORKSPACE_DOMAIN\u003c/var\u003e`.com`\n or `users/`\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eEMAIL_USERNAME\u003c/var\u003e`@gmail.com`.\n\nIdentify a user from an interaction event\n-----------------------------------------\n\nEvery time a user interacts with a Chat app,\nChat sends an\n[interaction event](/workspace/chat/receive-respond-interactions) with information about the\ninteraction and the user. For example, when a\nuser mentions a Chat app in a message, the\nChat app receives information about the interaction,\nincluding what the message says, and who sent it. Chat apps\nreference users when retrieving information about Chat resources.\n\nTo identify the user who interacted with a Chat app,\nget the value of the `name` property on the\n[`User` resource](/workspace/chat/api/reference/rest/v1/User),\nwhich you can get from\n[`Event.user.name`](/workspace/chat/api/reference/rest/v1/Event).\n\nThe following JSON example shows the expected format of the user identity in an\ninteraction with a Chat app: \n\n {\n ...,\n \"user\": {\n \"name\": \"users/12345678901234567890\",\n \"displayName\": \"Sasha\",\n \"avatarUrl\": \"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/.../photo.jpg\",\n \"email\": \"sasha@example.com\"\n }\n }\n\nA message is a specific type of interaction. To identify a user who sent\na message to a Chat app,\nget the value of the `name` property on the\n[`User` resource](/workspace/chat/api/reference/rest/v1/User), using either of the\nfollowing:\n\n- [`spaces.messages.sender.name`](/workspace/chat/api/reference/rest/v1/spaces.messages)\n- [`Event.user.name`](/workspace/chat/api/reference/rest/v1/Event)\n\nRelated topics\n--------------\n\n- [Add a user to a space](/workspace/chat/api/guides/v1/members/create-members).\n- [Manage members in a space](/workspace/chat/list-members).\n- [@ mention a user in a message](/workspace/chat/format-messages#messages-@mention)."]]
