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Move users between Kinde environments and businesses

If you need to move users between Kinde environments or Kinde businesses, you can do this using a JSON export and import routine.

File requirements

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  • User details and passwords need to be in NDJSON (Newline Delimited JSON) format, with a file size up to 20MB supported.
  • If you’ve got large user sets (over 20MB) or are concerned about file size limits, you might consider importing in batches.

Data that can be transferred

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Using the NDJSON format you can export/import users with the following data:

  • First name, last name
  • Permissions
  • Roles
  • Property values
  • Identities
  • Feature flags
  • Scopes
  • Profiles
  • Passwords

Set up the business or environment

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First, set up the business or environment you are moving users to. For example:

Export users from Kinde environment

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In the business or environment you want to export users from - follow this export procedure.

Import users to a Kinde environment

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In the environment you want to import users into - follow this JSON import procedure.

About the NDJSON format

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NDJSON files are line separated JSON objects, with each JSON object representing a user. The following schema can be used for importing NDJSON files, note this schema represents one line within the file.

{
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
  "title": "User",
  "description": "A user object for importing",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "id": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "A unique external identifier for the user (e.g., 'your_external_user_id_001')."
    },
    "password": {
      "type": "object",
      "description": "Password metadata including salt, hash, and algorithm used.",
      "properties": {
        "salt": {
          "type": ["string", "null"],
          "description": "The salt value used when hashing the password, if applicable."
        },
        "salt_format": {
          "type": ["string", "null"],
          "enum": ["hex", "string", null],
          "description": "Format of the salt value. Can be 'hex', 'string', or null if not used."
        },
        "salt_position": {
          "type": ["string", "null"],
          "enum": ["prefix", "suffix", null],
          "description": "Position of the salt relative to the password. Can be 'prefix', 'suffix', or null."
        },
        "hashed_password": {
          "type": "string",
          "description": "The resulting hashed password string."
        },
        "hashing_algorithm": {
          "type": "string",
          "enum": ["crypt", "bcrypt", "sha256", "md5", "wordpress"],
          "description": "The algorithm used to hash the password."
        }
      }
    },
    "first_name": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The user's first name."
    },
    "last_name": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The user's last name."
    },
    "identities": {
      "type": "array",
      "description": "A list of identity records such as email, username, or social.",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "description": "An identity record associated with the user.",
        "properties": {
          "type": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "The type of identity.",
            "enum": [
              "email",
              "phone",
              "username",
              "oauth2:slack",
              "oauth2:apple",
              "oauth2:github",
              "oauth2:facebook",
              "oauth2:twitter",
              "oauth2:twitch",
              "oauth2:gitlab",
              "oauth2:xero",
              "oauth2:linkedin",
              "oauth2:discord",
              "oauth2:bitbucket",
              "oauth2:stripe",
              "oauth2:microsoft",
              "oauth2:clever",
              "oauth2:roblox",
              "oauth2:google"
            ]
          },
          "identity": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "The actual identifier value (e.g., email address, username, or provider user ID)."
          },
          "is_verified": {
            "type": "boolean",
            "description": "Whether this identity has been verified."
          },
          "provider": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "The name of the provider (e.g., 'google') for OAuth identities."
          },
          "profile": {
            "type": "object",
            "description": "Optional key/value pairs returned from the provider.",
            "additionalProperties": true
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "properties": {
      "type": "array",
      "description": "Custom metadata key-value pairs associated with the user.",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "key": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "The name of the property."
          },
          "value": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "The value of the property."
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "feature_flags": {
      "type": "array",
      "description": "A list of feature flags for the user.",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "key": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "The name of the feature flag."
          },
          "value": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "The value of the flag."
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "organizations": {
      "type": "array",
      "description": "Organizations this user is associated with, including roles, permissions and api scopes.",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "external_id": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "An external identifier for the organization (e.g., 'your_external_org_id_001')."
          },
          "roles": {
            "type": "array",
            "description": "List of roles assigned to the user within the organization.",
            "items": {
              "type": "string"
            }
          },
          "permissions": {
            "type": "array",
            "description": "List of specific permissions granted to the user within the organization.",
            "items": {
              "type": "string"
            }
          },
          "scopes": {
            "type": "array",
            "description": "API scopes assigned to the user for this organization.",
            "items": {
              "type": "object",
              "properties": {
                "audience": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "format": "uri",
                  "description": "The audience or API this scope applies to (e.g., 'https://your-api.com')."
                },
                "scope": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "description": "The name of the scope (e.g., 'scope_1')."
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Here’s an single-line example:

{"id":"your_external_user_id_001","password":{"salt":null,"salt_format":null,"salt_position":null,"hashed_password":"$2a$10$t8Jz3hJCCTFk/Acja7bw3OpamB3xuLPhpJlRHb31bXIjfzeTfn8rq","hashing_algorithm":"bcrypt"},"last_name":"One","first_name":"User","identities":[{"type":"username","identity":"userone"},{"type":"email","identity":"userone@example.com","is_verified":true},{"type":"oauth2:google","profile":{"custom_provider_fields":"custom key/values from google"},"identity":"123456","provider":"google","is_verified":true}],"properties":[{"key":"property_1","value":"false"}],"feature_flags":[{"key":"feature_flag_1","value":"true"}],"organizations":[{"external_id":"your_external_org_id_001","roles":["admin","member"],"permissions":["read","write"],"scopes":[{"audience":"https://your-api.com","scope":"scope_1"}]}]}

Example, but a bit easier to read.

{
  "id": "your_external_user_id_001",
  "password": {
    "salt": null,
    "salt_format": null,
    "salt_position": null,
    "hashed_password": "$2a$10$t8Jz3hJCCTFk/Acja7bw3OpamB3xuLPhpJlRHb31bXIjfzeTfn8rq",
    "hashing_algorithm": "bcrypt"
  },
  "last_name": "One",
  "first_name": "User",
  "identities": [
    { "type": "username", "identity": "userone" },
    { "type": "email", "identity": "userone@example.com", "is_verified": true },
    {
      "type": "oauth2:google",
      "profile": {
        "custom_provider_fields": "custom key/values from google"
      },
      "identity": "123456",
      "provider": "google",
      "is_verified": true
    }
  ],
  "properties": [{ "key": "property_1", "value": "false" }],
  "feature_flags": [{ "key": "feature_flag_1", "value": "true" }],
  "organizations": [
    {
      "external_id": "your_external_org_id_001",
      "roles": ["admin", "member"],
      "permissions": ["read", "write"],
      "scopes": [{ "audience": "https://your-api.com", "scope": "scope_1" }]
    }
  ]
}

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