About Identities

SDK function calls are restricted using identities. An identity defines who is calling a function and what actions they are authorized to take. Each function in the SDK can only be called by specific identities. Notes in the SDK reference indicate restrictions on the identities that can call a function.

The SDK uses the following identities:

Site visitor

An anonymous site visitor who hasn't logged in. Functions that can be called by this identity usually involve operations specific to a particular visitor. These include accessing a list of products, creating and managing a cart, or accessing a login page to authenticate as a member.

Site member

A site member who has logged in. Functions that can be called by this identity usually involve operations specific to a registered member. These include accessing or managing personal data.

Wix user

A Wix user is someone who is logged into their account on .wix.com. Users can be site owners or site collaborators, as well as app owners and collaborators who create test sites. Users who create a site are automatically designated as the owner of that site.

Functions that can be called by this identity usually involve site maintenance operations. These include managing site products, media, and marketing campaigns.

Site owners can invite collaborators and assign them specific user roles to control permissions. In this case, the SDK functions that the app can access when making calls as a collaborator are limited by the collaborator's user roles.

Learn more about authenticating as a Wix user.

Wix app

Wix apps are packages of reusable functionality that users can add to their sites. When an app is installed or updated on a Wix site, Wix generates an app instance with a unique ID. This ID represents the installed version of the app on that particular site. An SDK function call authenticated with the Wix app identity is a call made by an app for a specific app instance.

Functions that can be called by this identity usually involve site-level operations. These include managing the site's data collections, contacts, or products.

Each function in the SDK requires certain permissions when called by a Wix App. To check which permissions a function requires, refer to its API reference.

Learn more about configuring app permissions.

API key

An admin with customized administrative access to a Wix account's sites and projects. API keys are created and managed in the API Keys Manager where you can assign a set of permissions that determine the types of APIs each key can access.

Functions that can be called by this identity usually involve administrative operations at the site or account level. These include managing members or business data. API keys can also be used to call many of the same functions a site visitor or site member can call.

Functions with restricted identities

By default, SDK functions can be called using any identity. In cases when there are restrictions on which identities can call a function, one of the following notes appears in the reference:

Admin Method You can only call this method when authenticated as a Wix app or Wix user identity.

Note: Only logged-in members can call this function without elevated permissions. To call this function as a different identity, elevated permissions are required.

Elevated SDK calls

In some app extensions, your app's API calls have visitor, member, or Wix user authentication by default. In these cases, you can use the SDK to elevate specific calls to use Wix app authentication.

Learn more about elevated permissions.

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