Tool Identities

Map users across different tools to a unified identity.

Table of contents

1. Overview
2. The Problem
3. The Solution
4. How It Works
   1. Automatic Matching
   2. Manual Linking
5. Identity Sources
6. Benefits
   1. Complete Attribution
   2. Accurate Analytics
   3. Simplified Notifications
7. API Access
   1. List Identities
   2. Get Identity Details
   3. Link Account
8. Best Practices

Overview

Game development teams use many different tools - Perforce for version control, Jira for tasks, Slack for communication. Each tool has its own user system. Tool Identities let you map these separate accounts to a single person, giving you a complete picture of who did what across your entire pipeline.

The Problem

Without identity mapping:

• John commits as jdoe in Perforce
• John’s Jira account is john.doe@company.com
• John’s Slack handle is @johnd

ButterStack sees these as three different people, fragmenting the asset lineage.

The Solution

Tool Identities link these accounts:

ButterStack Identity: John Doe
├── Perforce: jdoe
├── Jira: john.doe@company.com
├── Slack: U123456 (@johnd)
├── Discord: 987654321
└── Jenkins: john.doe

Now all activity is attributed to a single person.

How It Works

Automatic Matching

ButterStack automatically attempts to match identities based on:

1. Email address - Same email across tools
2. Username patterns - Similar usernames (jdoe, j.doe, john.doe)
3. Full name - Matching display names

Manual Linking

For accounts that can’t be auto-matched, manually link them in the project settings:

1. Go to Project Settings > Team Members
2. Find the person
3. Click Link Identity
4. Select the tool and enter the account identifier

Identity Sources

Benefits

Complete Attribution

See all of a person’s activity in one place:

• Commits they made
• Tasks they completed
• Builds they triggered
• Assets they modified

Accurate Analytics

Team metrics reflect actual individuals, not fragmented accounts:

• Commits per person
• Build success rates by author
• Time from task to deployment

Simplified Notifications

Notify the right person regardless of which tool originated the event. A failed build in Jenkins can ping the correct person in Slack.

API Access

List Identities

GET /api/v1/projects/:project_id/identities

Get Identity Details

GET /api/v1/projects/:project_id/identities/:identity_id

Link Account

POST /api/v1/projects/:project_id/identities/:identity_id/link
{
  "tool": "perforce",
  "account_id": "jdoe"
}

Best Practices

1. Review Auto-Matches - Periodically check that automatic matches are correct
2. Onboard New Members - Link all tool accounts when someone joins the team
3. Clean Up Departed Members - Mark identities as inactive when people leave
4. Use Consistent Naming - Encourage consistent usernames across tools to improve auto-matching