Protocols/MSNP/Passport Unique ID
| MSNP Protocol |
| Introduction • Terms • Clients |
| Reference |
| Error List • Commands • Relying Party Suite • Spotlife |
| Services |
| XMPP • HTTP Gateway • Tabs • Activities |
| Documentation |
| Development Tools • MSNP Grid |
| Polygamy • URLs used by MSN |
| Documents |
| Protocol Versions |
| Version 21 |
| Version 18 |
| Version 16 |
| Version 15 |
| Version 14 |
| Version 13 |
| Version 12 |
| Version 11 |
| Version 9 |
| Version 8 |
| Version 2 |
| MSNC |
| Introduction • P2P • Object Descriptor • Display Pictures • File Transfer |
| Scenarios |
| Microsoft Messenger for Mac |
| MSNP on WebTV (MSNTV) |
Passport Unique ID (PUID)
A passport account is associated with an e-mail address (which can be changed), but also an immutable and unique ID: The Passport Unique ID (PUID). This ID is not the same as the Contact ID (CID).
You can view your PUID on the Account Services page of MSN (under the "Credentials" category): https://accountservices.msn.com/uiviewpuid.srf?lc=1033&id=9.
If you're writing a Messenger client, you can retrieve this value in several ways:
Passport 3.0 (Tweener)
If your client uses Passport 3.0 to authenticate, the PUID can be found in the server's response between <psf:PUID> and </psf:PUID>. It contains 16 hexadecimal digits.
0003000083617063
If your language does not support 64 bit integers, you can split this value into two 32 bit integers (0x00030000 and 0x83617063 respectively).
Initial Member Profile
The initial member profile received from the NS also contains the PUID. The NS will send the PUID in two parts, the High and Low bit of a 64 bit integer. If you are using a language that supports 64 bit integers you can use bitshifting and bitwise-OR two contact the two fields.
MSG Hotmail Hotmail length MemberIdHigh: 196608 MemberIdLow: -2090766237
About the PUID
The Passport Unique ID has several purposes. For example, you can store passport account related information using this ID (remember, the ID will not change even if the user changes their e-mail address, therefor their settings would automatically migrate to the new address).
The PUID is also used in notifications (Protocols/MSNP/NOT) received from the NS. You can use the PUID to verify the notification is really for the user (although it is highly unlikely you are sent a wrong Protocols/MSNP/NOT).