Which messaging account identifiers should be preserved?¶

Preserve every verified value needed to distinguish the account, conversation and event, with its service, source and date. A familiar name alone may change, come from contacts or target the wrong provider account.

Capture the identifier set¶

Depending on the service, retain username, profile URL, full telephone number and country code, email, account, user and member IDs, plus channel, group, conversation and message IDs. For groups, add role and membership dates; for messages, reply references, times, states and attachment IDs.

Record display name and image as changeable presentation. Preserve original screenshots, exports or provider records that show how fields relate rather than retyping them.

Keep uncertainty visible¶

The same username can exist across services, while a contact label may not come from the sender. If a number, profile and user ID cannot be shown to belong to one account, do not silently merge them.

Accurate stable values make preservation and provider requests more reliable and support later comparison after a profile changes.