> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.ada.cx/2026-03-26-pre-greeting-context-secure-metadata/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.ada.cx/_mcp/server.

# Pre-greeting context and sensitive metadata for End Users API

Two new capabilities are available on the End Users API for setting user context and passing sensitive values through Ada's public APIs.

## Create end users before a conversation

A new `POST /v2/end-users/` endpoint allows creating an end user with profile data (language, metadata) before starting a conversation. When `POST /v2/conversations/` is called with the returned `end_user_id`, the AI Agent has full user context from the first turn. This eliminates order-of-operations issues where metadata was unavailable at greeting time.

Available for custom channel (Conversations API) integrations only.

## Sensitive metadata

A new `sensitive_metadata` field is available on both `POST /v2/end-users/` and `PATCH /v2/end-users/:id`, nested inside the `profile` object with a `fields` sub-object. Values passed through this field are encrypted at rest, redacted from the dashboard, excluded from LLM context, and automatically deleted after 24 hours. The field is write-only and never returned in API responses. Maximum 20 key-value pairs per request.

Use `sensitive_metadata` for auth tokens, session IDs, or personally identifiable information. This matches the security contract of the Chat SDK's `setSensitiveMetaFields()`.

* `sensitive_metadata` on `POST /v2/end-users/`: available for custom channels only.
* `sensitive_metadata` on `PATCH /v2/end-users/:id`: available for all channels.

For integration patterns and examples, see the [End Users API developer guide](/reference/end-users/developer-guide).