User Profiles

Every authenticated user in SaaSStinger Lite has a user profile.

A user profile represents the identity of a person using the application. It stores personal information, user preferences, and the user's currently active workspace.

Unlike projects, tasks, and other business resources, a user profile is global. It exists independently of any workspace, allowing a single user to belong to multiple workspaces while maintaining one consistent identity.

What You'll Learn

In this guide you'll learn:

• What a user profile is
• When profiles are created
• What information is stored
• Which fields users can edit
• How profiles relate to workspaces
• How account deletion works
• Best practices for extending user profiles

Overview

Every authenticated account has exactly one profile.

The relationship looks like this:

Firebase Authentication
           │
           ▼
      User Profile
           │
           ├──────────────┐
           ▼              ▼
     Workspace A     Workspace B

The user profile stores identity.

Memberships determine which workspaces the user can access.

Why Separate Authentication from Profiles?

Firebase Authentication is responsible for identifying users.

The user profile stores application-specific information.

Keeping these concerns separate allows SaaSStinger Lite to store additional information without depending on Firebase Authentication.

For example:

• Preferred display name
• Phone number
• Timezone
• Country
• Active workspace

These values belong to the application rather than the authentication provider.

Profile Lifecycle

A profile is created automatically.

Typical lifecycle:

Register
      │
      ▼
Verify Email
      │
      ▼
First Login
      │
      ▼
User Profile Created
      │
      ▼
Workspace Created
      │
      ▼
Dashboard

Developers never need to create user profile documents manually.

Profile Structure

A typical user document contains fields similar to the following.

{
  uid: string

  email: string

  displayName: string

  phoneNumber: string

  phoneCountryCode: string

  countryOfResidence: string

  timezone: string

  activeWorkspaceId: string

  photoURL: null

  createdAt: Timestamp

  updatedAt: Timestamp
}

Each field serves a specific purpose.

Field Reference

uid

The unique identifier assigned by Firebase Authentication.

This value never changes.

It is used throughout the application to associate resources with a specific user.

email

The authenticated email address.

Email addresses cannot be changed from within SaaSStinger Lite.

Keeping email immutable simplifies identity management and prevents inconsistencies across authentication providers.

displayName

The friendly name displayed throughout the application.

Examples include:

• comments
• member lists
• activity feeds
• invitations
• audit logs

Users can update this value at any time.

phoneNumber

Stores the user's contact number.

This field is optional and editable.

phoneCountryCode

Stores the country associated with the phone number.

Keeping the country code separate improves formatting and validation.

countryOfResidence

Stores the user's country.

This information may be used by future application features and integrations.

timezone

Stores the preferred timezone.

Examples:

UTC
Europe/London
Africa/Lagos
America/New_York

Timezones help present dates and times consistently across the application.

Users can update this value from their profile settings.

activeWorkspaceId

One of the most important fields in the profile.

This value identifies the workspace currently selected by the user.

Whenever a user switches workspaces, this field is updated.

The dashboard uses this value to determine which workspace should be loaded.

photoURL

Lite intentionally does not support avatar uploads.

This field remains null.

Instead, SaaSStinger Lite displays generated placeholder avatars based on the user's name.

This keeps the project simple, avoids Firebase Storage dependencies, and remains compatible with the Firebase Spark plan.

Editable Fields

Users can update:

• Display Name
• Phone Number
• Country
• Timezone

These changes are available immediately throughout the application.

Immutable Fields

The following fields cannot be edited by users.

• UID
• Email Address
• Creation Date

These values define the user's identity and should remain stable.

Multiple Workspaces

A single user profile can belong to multiple workspaces.

The relationship is managed through the memberships collection.

User
   │
   ├─────────────┐
   ▼             ▼
Membership   Membership
   │             │
   ▼             ▼
Workspace A  Workspace B

This architecture provides complete separation between identity and organization membership.

Architecture Note

SaaSStinger Lite intentionally separates users from workspaces.

A user represents a person.

A workspace represents an organization.

Memberships connect the two.

Privacy

Profiles are not public.

Only members of the same workspace can view each other's profile information.

This keeps user information private while supporting team collaboration.

Account Deletion

Users can permanently delete their account.

Deleting an account performs several operations.

Firebase Authentication

The authentication account is removed.

The user can no longer sign in.

User Profile

The profile document is deleted.

Memberships

All workspace memberships associated with the user are removed.

The user immediately loses access to every workspace.

Audit Logs

Audit logs are not deleted.

Historical activity remains available to preserve the integrity of the workspace's audit history.

This ensures administrators retain an accurate record of actions that occurred before the account was removed.

Security Note

Retaining audit logs after account deletion helps preserve accountability and historical records while removing the user's ability to authenticate.

Extending User Profiles

When adding new profile fields:

• Keep authentication separate from profile data.
• Store application-specific information in the user document.
• Avoid duplicating information available from Firebase Authentication.
• Consider whether the field belongs to the user or to a workspace.

As a general rule:

Personal preferences belong in the profile.

Organization-specific settings belong in the workspace.

Best Practices

• Keep profiles lightweight.
• Store only user-specific information.
• Do not use profiles to store workspace data.
• Update activeWorkspaceId when switching workspaces.
• Validate all profile updates server-side.

Common Mistakes

Storing Workspace Data in the User Profile

Projects, members, permissions, and organization settings belong to workspaces—not user profiles.

Making Email Editable

Changing email addresses introduces unnecessary complexity.

Authentication providers should remain the source of truth for user identity.

Uploading Avatars in Lite

SaaSStinger Lite intentionally uses placeholder avatars to remain lightweight and Firebase Spark compatible.

Related Articles

• Authentication
• Workspaces
• Members
• Invitations
• RBAC & Permissions

Next Steps

Now that you understand user identities, continue with Workspaces to learn how SaaSStinger Lite organizes data for secure multi-tenant applications.