Contact created using Form Submit API

[shirau2]

Hi Hubspot support,
I am using Hubsport Web API for Form Submit: https://developers.hubspot.com/docs/methods/forms/submit_form
Sometimes it creates a new Contact, sometimes it updates an existing Contact.
For example, First and Last names are updated, while email contains all values from previous submissions.
My questions are:

1. What is the contact behavior on Form Submit?
2. When a new contact is created and when existing is updated?
3. What is Contact unique property? IP address? HubSpot tracking cookie? Email?
4. Why some fields are updated (names) and some concatenated (email) from prev submissions? Can this be changed?

Thanks you

[IsaacTakushi · Accepted solution]

Welcome, @shirau2.

Happy to help clarify:

1. I'm not sure what you're asking here. Could you specify the behavior you are wondering about?
2. A new contact will be created if the email value passed does not exist in the account and the hutk cookie token is already associated with an existing user token.
3. The email is the unique property, but a visitor can update their email address (updating a contact instead of creating a new one) if they submit a form and the same hutk cookie is passed.
4. Usually, properties (including email) will be updated with form submissions using the same hutk cookie, but it depends on exactly how the data is passed. This behavior cannot be changed, but if you share a link to a specific example, I can explain further.

[IsaacTakushi · Accepted solution]

Hey, @shirau2.

It depends on the situation. The email value matters as well.

For example:

• If a new submission uses the same email and the same hutk cookie as a previous submission, then the existing contact will be updated.
• If a new submission uses the same email and a different hutk cookie as a previous submission, then the existing contact will be updated (through the email address).
• If a new submission uses a different email and the same hutk cookie as a previous submission, then the existing contact's email will be updated.
• If a new submission uses a different email and a different hutk cookie as a previous submission (cookies cleared), then a new contact record will be created.

You can also disable cookie tracking on forms so that submissions using different email addresses will always create new contact records, regardless of hutk cookie.

[shirau2]

Thanks for such detailed response - it really helped.
Just wanted to verify that contact is created or updated according to HULK cookie.
Meaning that on the same machine contact will be updated until he has the same HULK cookie value and
new contact will be created when HULK cookie is cleared.
Is this correct?

Thank you

[IsaacTakushi · Accepted solution]

Welcome, @shirau2.

Happy to help clarify:

1. I'm not sure what you're asking here. Could you specify the behavior you are wondering about?
2. A new contact will be created if the email value passed does not exist in the account and the hutk cookie token is already associated with an existing user token.
3. The email is the unique property, but a visitor can update their email address (updating a contact instead of creating a new one) if they submit a form and the same hutk cookie is passed.
4. Usually, properties (including email) will be updated with form submissions using the same hutk cookie, but it depends on exactly how the data is passed. This behavior cannot be changed, but if you share a link to a specific example, I can explain further.