Metadata
Stytch Members may contain metadata - arbitrary JSON objects for recording application-specific information.
Metadata restrictions
Metadata objects may contain a maximum of 20 top-level keys.
- Metadata objects cannot exceed 4KB in size
Metadata permissions
Stytch Members contain two types of metadata - trusted_metadata and untrusted_metadata.
Direct API integrations can read and write to both trusted_metadata and untrusted_metadata.
Frontend SDK integrations can read and write to untrusted_metadata, but only read trusted_metadata.
Secure fields, such as a Member's role, billing_status, or stripe_customer_id should only be stored in trusted_metadata by using a direct API integration. Fields that a Member can be allowed to edit directly - such as display_theme or preferred_locale may be stored in untrusted_metadata.
Do not store any sensitive information (passport numbers, credit card details, etc.) as metadata.
Metadata update behavior
Metadata update payloads will be merged with the existing metadata at the top level only. Send a top-level value of null to delete an existing field. To delete all metadata from an object, send a top-level value of null for every existing field. Stytch will not merge deeply nested objects or arrays. To add a field to a deeply nested object, or update an array, replace the entire top-level key.
Example: adding a new field
Initial:
{
"trusted_metadata": {
"key1": "value1"
}
}
Update:
{
"trusted_metadata": {
"key2": "value2"
}
}
Result:
{
"trusted_metadata": {
"key1": "value1",
"key2": "value2"
}
}
Example: replacing an existing field
Initial:
{
"untrusted_metadata": {
"key1": "value1"
}
}
Update:
{
"untrusted_metadata": {
"key1": "value2"
}
}
Result:
{
"untrusted_metadata": {
"key1": "value2"
}
}
Example: updating a deeply nested field
Initial:
{
"trusted_metadata": {
"key1": [{ "deep": "value1" }],
"other_key": "other_value"
}
}
Update:
{
"trusted_metadata": {
"key1": [{ "deep": "value1" }, { "deep": "value2" }]
}
}
Result:
{
"trusted_metadata": {
"key1": [{ "deep": "value1" }, { "deep": "value2" }],
"other_key": "other_value"
}
}
Example: deleting a field
Initial:
{
"untrusted_metadata": {
"key1": [{ "deep": "value1" }],
"other_key": "other_value"
}
}
Update:
{
"untrusted_metadata": {
"key1": null
}
}
Result:
{
"untrusted_metadata": {
"other_key": "other_value"
}
}
Example: deleting all fields
Initial:
{
"trusted_metadata": {
"key1": [{ "deep": "value1" }],
"other_key": "other_value"
}
}
Update:
{
"trusted_metadata": {
"key1": null,
"other_key": null
}
}
Result:
{
"trusted_metadata": {}
}