# The Importance of "Identity" Fields ### About this export | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | **content_type** | lesson | | **platform** | contentstack-academy | | **source_url** | https://www.contentstack.com/academy/courses/data-insights-data-ingestion-profile-construction/data-insights-course-3--the-importance-of-identity-fields | | **course_slug** | data-insights-data-ingestion-profile-construction | | **lesson_slug** | data-insights-course-3--the-importance-of-identity-fields | | **markdown_file_url** | /academy/md/courses/data-insights-data-ingestion-profile-construction/data-insights-course-3--the-importance-of-identity-fields.md | | **generated_at** | 2026-04-28T06:55:44.149Z | > Part of **[Data Ingestion & Profile Construction](https://www.contentstack.com/academy/courses/data-insights-data-ingestion-profile-construction)** on Contentstack Academy. **Academy MD v3** — structured for retrieval; no quiz or assessment keys. #### Video details #### At a glance - **Title:** 13-data-insights-importance-of-identity-fields - **Duration:** 2m 30s - **Media link:** https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/6luUta7L - **Publish date (unix):** 1752873256 #### Streaming renditions - application/vnd.apple.mpegurl - audio/mp4 · AAC Audio · 114055 kbps - video/mp4 · 180p · 180p · 145867 kbps - video/mp4 · 270p · 270p · 165550 kbps - video/mp4 · 360p · 360p · 178700 kbps - video/mp4 · 406p · 406p · 191694 kbps - video/mp4 · 540p · 540p · 230255 kbps - video/mp4 · 720p · 720p · 292367 kbps - video/mp4 · 1080p · 1080p · 470432 kbps #### Timed text tracks (delivery) - **thumbnails:** `https://cdn.jwplayer.com/strips/6luUta7L-120.vtt` #### Transcript So now I have a way to map likelihood to rain from this new stream that we're going to create based on the CSV to the new likelihood to rain field, however, every stream has to have at least one identity key in order to map it up to that profile. So if I were to just publish this and import my CSV, it would say, okay, I found likelihood to rain and that score is 85 for Jon Snow. But I don't have any context of that Jon Snow is the sort of owner of that particular event until I've created a mapping from the new stream that we're going to create to the email field. If I go into fields and email again, as an example, there's a whole bunch of mappings, none of which are represented by this new stream that we're going to create. So I need to also create, oops, a, oh boy, misclicked, go back in here. So I need to also create a new mapping for the new stream that we're going to add. That's why I copied it over here. So I also want to say that, okay, in the demo custom CSV stream that we're about to create, I also want to make sure that I map email to email, I think we called it email, yeah. So email to email, just like it is. So it's going to do some, and I don't know if you know all the logic actually off the top of your head, Eric, that the email function actually does, I think it's pretty basic validation. Yeah, it basically, there's a giant regular expression under the hood of that, that validates that it's an email. Got it. It's basically, if it has that regular expression that says that it's a valid email, then it's an email. Perfect. So we're going to make sure that we do that just so that it's consistent and mapped the same way that all the other sources are. So now I can create that mapping. So now at this point, I've created some changes, I've added a new field, I've mapped that new field to the new stream, and I've also made the association from the new stream that has an email to give it a path essentially to map it to that master profile. #### Subtitles (WebVTT) ```webvtt WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:20.360 So now I have a way to map likelihood to rain from this new stream that we're going to create 2 00:00:20.360 --> 00:00:27.000 based on the CSV to the new likelihood to rain field, however, every stream has to have 3 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:30.840 at least one identity key in order to map it up to that profile. 4 00:00:30.840 --> 00:00:35.660 So if I were to just publish this and import my CSV, it would say, okay, I found likelihood 5 00:00:35.660 --> 00:00:39.060 to rain and that score is 85 for Jon Snow. 6 00:00:39.060 --> 00:00:45.180 But I don't have any context of that Jon Snow is the sort of owner of that particular event 7 00:00:45.180 --> 00:00:50.220 until I've created a mapping from the new stream that we're going to create to the email 8 00:00:50.220 --> 00:00:51.220 field. 9 00:00:52.060 --> 00:00:58.780 If I go into fields and email again, as an example, there's a whole bunch of mappings, 10 00:00:58.780 --> 00:01:03.380 none of which are represented by this new stream that we're going to create. 11 00:01:03.380 --> 00:01:18.020 So I need to also create, oops, a, oh boy, misclicked, go back in here. 12 00:01:18.020 --> 00:01:22.220 So I need to also create a new mapping for the new stream that we're going to add. 13 00:01:22.220 --> 00:01:24.560 That's why I copied it over here. 14 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:28.820 So I also want to say that, okay, in the demo custom CSV stream that we're about to create, 15 00:01:28.820 --> 00:01:34.940 I also want to make sure that I map email to email, I think we called it email, yeah. 16 00:01:34.940 --> 00:01:37.100 So email to email, just like it is. 17 00:01:37.100 --> 00:01:40.020 So it's going to do some, and I don't know if you know all the logic actually off the 18 00:01:40.020 --> 00:01:44.660 top of your head, Eric, that the email function actually does, I think it's pretty basic validation. 19 00:01:45.260 --> 00:01:51.900 Yeah, it basically, there's a giant regular expression under the hood of that, that validates 20 00:01:51.900 --> 00:01:52.900 that it's an email. 21 00:01:52.900 --> 00:01:53.900 Got it. 22 00:01:53.900 --> 00:01:59.140 It's basically, if it has that regular expression that says that it's a valid email, then it's 23 00:01:59.140 --> 00:02:00.140 an email. 24 00:02:00.140 --> 00:02:01.140 Perfect. 25 00:02:01.140 --> 00:02:04.700 So we're going to make sure that we do that just so that it's consistent and mapped the 26 00:02:04.700 --> 00:02:07.620 same way that all the other sources are. 27 00:02:07.620 --> 00:02:10.100 So now I can create that mapping. 28 00:02:10.100 --> 00:02:14.020 So now at this point, I've created some changes, I've added a new field, I've mapped that new 29 00:02:14.020 --> 00:02:17.060 field to the new stream, and I've also made the association from the new stream that has 30 00:02:17.060 --> 00:02:21.780 an email to give it a path essentially to map it to that master profile. ``` ```transcript [00:00] So now I have a way to map likelihood to rain from this new stream that we're going to create [00:20] based on the CSV to the new likelihood to rain field, however, every stream has to have [00:27] at least one identity key in order to map it up to that profile. [00:30] So if I were to just publish this and import my CSV, it would say, okay, I found likelihood [00:35] to rain and that score is 85 for Jon Snow. [00:39] But I don't have any context of that Jon Snow is the sort of owner of that particular event [00:45] until I've created a mapping from the new stream that we're going to create to the email [00:50] field. [00:52] If I go into fields and email again, as an example, there's a whole bunch of mappings, [00:58] none of which are represented by this new stream that we're going to create. [01:03] So I need to also create, oops, a, oh boy, misclicked, go back in here. [01:18] So I need to also create a new mapping for the new stream that we're going to add. [01:22] That's why I copied it over here. [01:24] So I also want to say that, okay, in the demo custom CSV stream that we're about to create, [01:28] I also want to make sure that I map email to email, I think we called it email, yeah. [01:34] So email to email, just like it is. [01:37] So it's going to do some, and I don't know if you know all the logic actually off the [01:40] top of your head, Eric, that the email function actually does, I think it's pretty basic validation. [01:45] Yeah, it basically, there's a giant regular expression under the hood of that, that validates [01:51] that it's an email. [01:52] Got it. [01:53] It's basically, if it has that regular expression that says that it's a valid email, then it's [01:59] an email. [02:00] Perfect. [02:01] So we're going to make sure that we do that just so that it's consistent and mapped the [02:04] same way that all the other sources are. [02:07] So now I can create that mapping. [02:10] So now at this point, I've created some changes, I've added a new field, I've mapped that new [02:14] field to the new stream, and I've also made the association from the new stream that has [02:17] an email to give it a path essentially to map it to that master profile. ``` #### Key takeaways - Connect **The Importance of "Identity" Fields** back to your stack configuration before moving to the next module. - Capture one concrete artifact (screenshot, Postman call, or code snippet) that proves the step works in your environment. - Re-read the delivery versus management boundary for anything you changed in the entry model. ## Supplement for indexing ### Content summary The Importance of "Identity" Fields. The Importance of "Identity" Fields in Data Ingestion & Profile Construction (data-insights-data-ingestion-profile-construction). ### Retrieval tags - The - Importance - Identity - Fields - data-insights-data-ingestion-profile-construction - lesson 05 - The Importance of "Identity" Fields - data-insights-data-ingestion-profile-construction lesson ### Indexing notes Index this lesson as a primary chunk tagged with lesson_id "05" and topics: [The, Importance, Identity, Fields]. Parent course slug: data-insights-data-ingestion-profile-construction. Use asset_references URLs as thumbnail hints in search results when present. Never surface LMS quiz content or assessment answers from this file. ### Asset references | Label | URL | | --- | --- | | Video thumbnail: The Importance of "Identity" Fields | `https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/6luUta7L/poster.jpg?width=720` | ### External links | Label | URL | | --- | --- | | Contentstack Academy home | `https://www.contentstack.com/academy/` | | Training instance setup | `https://www.contentstack.com/academy/training-instance` | | Academy playground (GitHub) | `https://github.com/contentstack/contentstack-academy-playground` | | Contentstack documentation | `https://www.contentstack.com/docs/` |