Overview of Identity Modes

Learn how to control account usage with direct, auto, and managed identity modes.

Identity modes control how Captain Data uses your integration accounts when executing actions. You can choose between three modes depending on your needs for control, automation, and cost.

Available Identity Modes

identity_mode · string

The identity mode to use: direct, auto, or managed

identity_ids · array

Array of specific identity IDs to use (required for direct mode only)

Mode Comparison

Mode	Control Level	Setup Required	Cost	Best For
Direct	Full control	Manual selection	Standard	Specific accounts, compliance
Auto	Automatic distribution	Configure accounts	Standard	High-volume, resilience
Managed	No account management	None	1.5x standard	Hassle-free automation

Managed mode cost: Using managed identity mode costs 1.5× the standard credit cost for all actions. Calculate your costs with: current_cost x1.5.

Direct Mode

Full control over which accounts to use

Use direct mode when you need precise control over which integration accounts execute your actions.

Use Cases

• Actions requiring specific accounts (e.g., linkedin-extract-profile-viewers)
• Using only a subset of your identities (e.g., sales team accounts only)
• Separating company-level calls from user-specific calls
• Compliance requirements for account attribution

Implementation

{
    "identity_mode": "direct",
    "identity_ids": ["identity-1", "identity-2", "identity-3"]
}

Example Request

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.captaindata.com/v4/actions/linkedin-extract-profile-viewers/run/live \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --header 'X-API-Key: <your-api-key>' \
  --data '{
  "parameters": {},
  "identity_mode": "direct",
  "identity_ids": ["id-1", "id-2", "id-3"]
}'

Captain Data will filter out accounts that aren’t valid for the current action. For example, using LinkedIn identity IDs for a Sales Navigator action will result in a NO_VALID_ACCOUNT_CONFIGURED error.

You must provide at least one valid identity ID when using direct mode.

Auto Mode

Automatic distribution across all available accounts

Use auto mode for automatic load balancing across all your valid integration accounts.

Use Cases

• Processing large batches of inputs
• Running parallel actions for better performance
• Actions with strict rate limits (visits, connections)
• Building resilient systems that continue working if some accounts become invalid

Implementation

{
    "identity_mode": "auto"
}

You still need to configure identities and integration accounts yourself. Ensure you have at least one account with the right integration and subscription level for the action.

Managed Mode

Hassle-free automation with Captain Data’s managed accounts

Use managed mode to execute actions without managing any integration accounts yourself.

Benefits

• No account setup required - Works even without any integration accounts
• Automatic load distribution - Optimal performance and parallelism
• No restrictions - Avoid rate limits and account issues
• Simplified workflow - Focus on your business logic, not account management

Implementation

{
    "identity_mode": "managed"
}

Limitation: You cannot use managed mode for actions that require specific accounts (e.g., linkedin-extract-profile-viewers). For these actions, use direct mode with the specific account that owns the data.

Cost consideration: Managed mode uses Captain Data’s account pool and costs 1.5x the standard credit cost for all actions.