---
title: Identify Existing User node
description: Verifies a user exists based on an identifying attribute, such as an email address, then makes the value of a specified attribute available in the shared node state.
component: auth-node-ref
version: 7.4
page_id: auth-node-ref::identify-existing-user
canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/auth-node-ref/latest/identify-existing-user.html
llms_txt: https://docs.pingidentity.com/auth-node-ref/llms.txt
docs_for_agents: https://developer.pingidentity.com/build-with-ai/docs-for-agents.md
keywords: ["Nodes & Trees", "Journeys", "Authentication", "Forgotten Password"]
page_aliases: ["auth-node-identify-existing-user.adoc"]
superseded_by: https://docs.pingidentity.com/auth-node-ref/latest/identify-existing-user.html
section_ids:
  compatibility: Compatibility
  properties: Properties
  example: Example
---

# Identify Existing User node

Verifies a user exists based on an identifying attribute, such as an email address, then makes the value of a specified attribute available in the shared node state.

Use this node in a forgotten password flow to fetch a username to email to the user. To display the username on the screen, use the [Display Username node](display-username.html) instead.

## Compatibility

| Product                                                                                                                                               | Compatible?           |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------- |
| PingOne Advanced Identity Cloud                                                                                                                       | [icon: check, set=fa] |
| ForgeRock Access Management (self-managed)

This functionality requires that you configure AM as part of a Ping Identity Platform deployment. | [icon: check, set=fa] |
| Ping Identity Platform (self-managed)                                                                                                                 | [icon: check, set=fa] |

## Properties

| Property           | Usage                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| ------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Identifier         | The attribute to collect from an IDM object.                                                                                                                                                                    |
| Identity Attribute | The attribute used to identify the object in IDM.When this node serves to recover a username, the identity attribute should be some other attribute that is unique to a user object, such as the email address. |

## Example

The following is an example of a forgotten password flow. The user enters information that the [Identify Existing User node](identify-existing-user.html) uses to try to identify them. Next, AM uses the [Email Suspend node](email-suspend.html) to send an email to the user and suspend authentication. Once authentication resumes, AM sends the user to a different flow to reset their password:

![The Identify Existing User node used when resetting a forgotten password](_images/trees-node-email-suspend-example-platform.png)