---
title: Choosing an attribute mapping method
description: You can select if and how PingFederate should query a local datastore to help fulfill the attribute contract in conjunction with attribute values from the single sign-on (SSO) token.
component: pingfederate
version: 13.0
page_id: pingfederate:administrators_reference_guide:pf_choosing_attribute_mapping_method
canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingfederate/13.0/administrators_reference_guide/pf_choosing_attribute_mapping_method.html
revdate: July 8, 2024
section_ids:
  before-you-begin: Before you begin
  about-this-task: About this task
  steps: Steps
  result: Result
---

# Choosing an attribute mapping method

You can select if and how PingFederate should query a local datastore to help fulfill the attribute contract in conjunction with attribute values from the single sign-on (SSO) token.

## Before you begin

To determine whether you need to look up additional values, compare the attribute contract against the adapter contract or the authentication policy contract. If the attribute contract does not contain the required information, determine whether a local datastore can supply it.

Alternatively, you can configure datastore queries as part of the fulfillment configuration for the applicable APC if you use authentication policies to route users through a series of authentication sources and end each successful policy path with an APC.

## About this task

You make selections on the **Adapter Data Store** tab for service provider (SP) adapter mapping or the **Attribute Retrieval** tab for authentication policy contract (APC) mapping.

|   |                                                                                                              |
| - | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
|   | To learn more about authentication policies, see [Authentication policies](pf_authentication_policies.html). |

## Steps

* If the attribute contract contains all the attributes that your application requires, click **Use only the attributes available in the SSO assertion**.

* To set up a datastore query, click **Use the SSO assertion to look up additional information**, and then follow a series of sub tasks to complete the configuration. See [Choosing a datastore](pf_choosing_datastore.html) for step-by-step instructions.

## Result

If you are editing a currently mapped adapter instance or APC, you can change the mapping method, which might require additional configuration changes in subsequent tasks.