User Tracking

The OpenRouter API supports User Tracking through the optional user parameter, allowing you to track your own user IDs and improve your application’s reporting capabilities.

What is User Tracking?

User tracking enables you to specify an arbitrary string identifier for your end-users in API requests. This optional metadata helps OpenRouter understand your sub-users.

How It Works

Simply include a user parameter in your API requests with any string identifier that represents your end-user. This could be a user ID, email hash, session identifier, or any other stable identifier you use in your application.

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{
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  "model": "openai/gpt-4o",
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  "messages": [
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    {"role": "user", "content": "Hello, how are you?"}
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  ],
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  "user": "user_12345"
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}

Implementation Example

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import { OpenRouter } from '@openrouter/sdk';
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const openRouter = new OpenRouter({
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  apiKey: '{{API_KEY_REF}}',
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});
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const response = await openRouter.chat.send({
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  model: '{{MODEL}}',
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  messages: [
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    {
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      role: 'user',
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      content: "What's the weather like today?",
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    },
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  ],
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  user: 'user_12345', // Your user identifier
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  stream: false,
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});
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console.log(response.choices[0].message.content);

Best Practices

Choose Stable Identifiers

Use consistent, stable identifiers for the same user across requests:

• Good: user_12345, customer_abc123, account_xyz789
• Avoid: Random strings that change between requests

Consider Privacy

When using user identifiers, consider privacy implications:

• Use internal user IDs rather than exposing personal information
• Avoid including personally identifiable information in user identifiers
• Consider using anonymized identifiers for better privacy protection

Be Consistent

Use the same user identifier format throughout your application:

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# Consistent format
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user_id = f"app_{internal_user_id}"