Users

In most cases, a user is a person who is known to PolicyCenter and who is listed in the PolicyCenter database (such as policy underwriters, claims adjusters, and billing clerks). Within the context of Cloud API authentication, this is also referred to as an internal user.

In some cases, a user can represent a service. This occurs for caller applications which are services which are mapped to user accounts for the purpose of managing access.

Do not confuse internal users with external users. External users are users known to PolicyCenter but who are not listed in the PolicyCenter database (such as account holders, policy holders, and service vendors).

For information on working with services and external users, see the Cloud API Developer Guide.

Creating users

To create a user, use the following endpoint:

POST /admin/v1/users

Note: When a user is created through Cloud API, the user's password is set to a value that cannot be used for authentication. (The password is set to a value that is not a valid Base64 string, but the authentication framework can authenticate passwords only when they are valid Base64 strings.) In order for the new user to authenticate, the password must first be changed to a valid Base64 string through some other method, such as through the user interface.

Create a minimal user

The minimum creation criteria for a user is the username. For example, the following request creates a user with the user name "amartin".

{
  "data": {
    "attributes": {
      "username": "amartin"
    }
  }
}

The following is the response payload.

POST /admin/v1/users

{
    "data": {
        "attributes": {
            "active": true,
            "displayName": "",
            "externalUser": false,
            "id": "pc:SatEdbNuwVSfc2BvbG4g4",
            "organization": {
                "displayName": "Enigma Fire & Casualty",
                "id": "systemTables:1",
                "type": "Organization",
                "uri": "/admin/v1/organizations/systemTables:1"
            },
            "useOrgAddress": true,
            "useProducerCodeSecurity": false,
            "userType": {
                "code": "other",
                "name": "Other"
            },
            "username": "amartin",
            "vacationStatus": {
                "code": "atwork",
                "name": "At work"
            }
        },
        "checksum": "8b01f84c8076ba3f8c235cb2483cdbfb",
        "links": {
            "self": {
                "href": "/admin/v1/users/pc:SatEdbNuwVSfc2BvbG4g4",
                "methods": [
                    "get",
                    "patch"
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

Create a typical user

You can specify additional information about a user as specified in the User schema. For example, the following payload creates a user with the following attributes:

First name: Adriana
Last name: Diaz
User name: adiaz
Employee number: ACME-02027
Roles: audit examiner (audit_examiner) and audit supervisor (audit_supervisor)

POST /admin/v1/users

{
  "data": {
    "attributes": {
        "firstName": "Adriana",
        "lastName": "Diaz",
        "username": "adiaz",
        "employeeNumber": "ACME-02027",
        "roles" : [
            {
                "id": "audit_examiner"
            },
            {
                "id": "audit_supervisor"
            }

        ]
    }
  }
}

When you create a user, you can also specify the user's roles, authority profile, and producer codes (if the user is bound by producer code security).

For more information on working with user roles, see User roles.
For more information on working with authority profiles, see Authority profiles.
For more information on working with a user's producer codes, see Producer codes.

Assigning a user to a group

You cannot assign a user to a group using the /admin/v1/users endpoint. You must use the /admin/v1/groups/{groupId}/users endpoint. For more information, see Assigning users to groups.

Updating users

Use the following endpoint to modify an existing user:

PATCH /admin/v1/users/{userId}

For example, the following request updates the first name of user xc:2156

PATCH /admin/v1/users/xc:2156

{
  "data": {
    "attributes": {
      "firstName": "Alex"
    }
  }
}

Deleting users

Use the following endpoint to delete an existing user:

DELETE /admin/v1/users/{userId}

For example, the following request deletes user xc:2156:

DELETE /admin/v1/users/xc:2156

<no request body>