Why might a UserID disappear or a user become inactive in Pushwoosh?

A UserID in Pushwoosh can become inactive or appear to be 'deleted' if it no longer has any associated devices (HWIDs). Here's a breakdown of how this can happen and what to check:

Core Principle: UserIDs and Devices (HWIDs)

• A UserID (e.g., a unique customer identifier, an email address) remains active in Pushwoosh as long as it is linked to at least one registered device.
• A device, identified by its Hardware ID (HWID), can be a mobile device token, a web browser token, or even an email address when used for email messaging channels.

How a UserID Can Become Inactive

If all devices (HWIDs) previously associated with a specific UserID are either unregistered or re-associated with a different UserID, the original UserID will no longer have any active device links. In this scenario, the UserID is considered inactive, and you won't be able to target it for messages. Associated data like tags may also become inaccessible via that UserID.

This typically occurs due to how devices (HWIDs) are managed and associated with UserIDs via API calls or SDK methods:

1. Reassigning Devices to a Different UserID: If all devices previously linked to UserID_A are subsequently associated with UserID_B (e.g., via a /registerUser API call or setUserId SDK method for each device, specifying UserID_B), then UserID_A will lose all its device associations and become inactive.

2. Unlinking or Unregistering Devices: If devices are unregistered from Pushwoosh, or their UserID association is explicitly removed (e.g., set to null or an empty string), and these are the last remaining devices for a particular UserID, that UserID will become inactive.

3. Specifics for Email Channel: When using methods like /registerEmail (where the email address often serves as the HWID), it's crucial to ensure the UserID associated with this email HWID is consistently maintained. If an operation inadvertently changes the UserID for that email HWID to a different UserID, or removes the UserID association entirely, the original UserID might become inactive if that email was its only linked 'device'.

Troubleshooting Steps:

• Review Your Integration Logic: Carefully examine the parts of your application or backend system that handle:
  • User registration and login.
  • Device registration (e.g., using /registerDevice API or SDK equivalents).
  • UserID assignment (e.g., using /registerUser API, setUserId SDK method, or /registerEmail API).
• Check API Calls: Ensure that your API calls are not unintentionally unlinking all devices from a UserID or reassigning all of a user's devices to a different UserID.
• Consistent UserID Usage: Verify that you are consistently using the correct UserID when registering or updating devices, especially if an email address serves as both the HWID and the UserID.
• Re-activating a User: If a user has become inactive, you will typically need to re-register their device(s) and ensure they are associated with the correct UserID using the appropriate Pushwoosh API methods or SDK functions.