Understanding Record IDs
Business data records have two ID fields for identification, retrieval, and tracing: an id field and an externalID field.
An additional ID field may also be found, but only on customer records: the uuid field.
| Field for Record Identification | Data Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
id | positive integer | A unique key of a record; internal to the Tulip platform and generated upon the record’s creation. Also referred to as internal ID |
externalId | string | A record’s identifier that is external to the Tulip platform. For example, the externalId of a Product record might correspond to a SKU code for that product in a client’s system, while the externalId for a Country record would correspond to that country’s ISO 3166-1 code.When included, it must always be sent in the request within quotes denoting a string. |
uuid* | string | A universally unique identifier of a record, generated upon the record’s creation. This identifier is read only and will always be unique. *Limited to customer records only. |
An externalID value is required to be unique for all data entities that are hosted in Tulip; however, the Bulk API service does not check for or enforce external ID uniqueness. The client must ensure to send records with unique externalIDs particularly when creating new records.
Note:
Either theidorexternalIdfield must be specified on bothGET(record retrieval) andPUT(record updating) routes. See Bulk Data Operations with Internal & External IDs.