Combining Existing and New Events in Mixpanel with Email Identification

"If I set the identify value of new events in Mixpanel to the email, and change the identify value of existing events from user_id to the email, will I be able to view both existing and new events as a single user's events combined?"

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kapa.ai
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kapa.ai
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No, you won't be able to view both existing and new events as a single user's events combined by changing the identify value from user_id to email. Mixpanel recommends using an ID that is unique to each user and does not change, for example, a database ID. While using an identifier like email may be more convenient, keep in mind that you cannot merge 2 $user_ids or change a $user_id, so if the user changes their email, they will count as a separate user [source].Moreover, in the Simplified ID Merge API, when a $user_id and $device_id are present in the same event for the first time, a mapping is created to merge the $user_id and $device_id values together, forming an identity cluster. Any data sent with a distinct_id set to any of the values in an ID cluster will be attributed back to the same user in Mixpanel [source].In the Original ID Merge API, the $identify event is used to link an Anonymous ID and your chosen User ID together. This event is triggered when you call .identify(&lt;user_id&gt;) using Mixpanel's Web/Mobile SDKs, it sends the $identify event to your project containing $identified_id set to the user_id in the function, and $anon_id set to the $device_id of the current user [source].Therefore, changing the identify value of existing events from user_id to email won't merge the events under a single user. Instead, it's recommended to use a consistent, unchanging user_id for each user.
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