---
updatedAt: 2026-06-12T21:09:14.000Z
agentTools:
projectIndex: https://developer.alloy.com/public/llms.txt
---
# Creating Entities and Accounts
# Creating Entities
The first step in integrating Alloy for any ongoing monitoring use case is to create **[Entities](/docs/ongoing-terminology#entity)**. If you're using Alloy for onboarding and ongoing monitoring, your onboarding integration is responsible for this step, and Entities will automatically be created when submitting new applications **[through a Journey](https://developer.alloy.com/public/docs/integration)** or Workflow.
Alloy strongly recommends using **[External Entity IDs](/docs/using-external-entity-ids)** to uniquely identify Entities, so you can re-use them later instead of referencing Alloy's assigned Entity Token. The identifier you choose for External Entity ID should be the best identification for a specific Person or Business record in your system of record - for example, a CIF Number or User ID. If you don’t assign an External Entity ID until after onboarding, you can update Alloy later to **[sync it to the Entity record retroactively](https://developer.alloy.com/public/docs/assigning-an-external-entity-id-later)**.
If you aren't using Alloy for onboarding, or if you need to backfill Entities which were onboarded outside of Alloy, you can do so by submitting `person_created` or `business_created `**[Events](https://developer.alloy.com/public/docs/events-api#event-types)**, depending on the Entity type. As noted above, you should assign an `external_entity_id` upon Entity creation so that you can re-use it later when submitting other event types.
### Examples
Person Created:
```json Request
{
"event_type": "person_created",
"event_status": "successful",
"event_lifecycle_id": "X12-43jf-8743jkfdsa",
"data": {
"external_entity_id": "cf88a0a1-34d6-492d-b617-c8b43785e7b7",
"timestamp": "2024-03-25T22:23:07.712Z",
"name_first": "John",
"name_last": "Doe",
"birth_date": "1990-01-01",
"document_ssn": "666666666",
"phones": [{
"phone_number": "+19344281891"
}],
"emails": [{
"email_address": "example@alloy.com"
}],
"addresses": [{
"line_1": "41 E. 11th",
"line_2": null,
"city": "New York",
"state": "NY",
"postal_code": "10003",
"country_code": "US",
"type": "primary"
}],
"meta": {},
"supplemental_data": {}
}
}
```
```json Response
{
"status_code": 201,
"event_request_token": "EV-6E6Yj33Iz3DmTcglFFwa",
"_links": {
"self": {
"href": "/v1/events/EV-6E6Yj33Iz3DmTcglFFwa"
}
},
"event": {
"event_type": "person_created",
"event_status": "PROCESSED",
"data": {
"entity_token": "P-TfkFe6lCPkElc9Xktd3V",
"external_entity_id": "cf88a0a1-34d6-492d-b617-c8b43785e7b7",
"created_at": 1711405410009,
"person_details_updated_at": 1711405409394,
"gender": null,
"birth_date": "*********",
"name_first": "John",
"name_middle": null,
"name_last": "Doe",
"document_ssn": "*********",
"document_license": null,
"document_passport": null,
"addresses": [{
"line_1": "123 Allen St",
"line_2": "Apt 1",
"city": "New York",
"state": "NY",
"postal_code": "10002",
"country_code": "US",
"type": "primary"
}],
"emails": [{
"email_address": "example@alloy.com"
}],
"phones": [{
"phone_number": "+1934428189"
}],
"type": "person",
"_embedded": {
"document_ssns": [
{
"document_ssn": "*********",
"created_at": 1711405409394
}
],
"birth_dates": [
{
"birth_date": "*********",
"created_at": 1711405409394
}
]
},
"_links": {
"self": {
"href": "/v1/entities/persons/P-TfkFe6lCPkElc9Xktd3V"
}
}
},
"evaluations": [],
"journey_applications": []
}
}
```
Business Created:
```json Request
{
"event_type": "business_created",
"event_status": "successful",
"event_lifecycle_id": "X12-43jf-8432favmjjja",
"data": {
"external_entity_id": "e3065d04-95aa-47a1-915c-84b575ff3855",
"business_name": "Operative Inc.",
"timestamp": "2024-03-25T22:06:56.771Z",
"business_federal_ein": "586179405",
"emails": [{
"email_address": "example@alloy.com"
}],
"addresses": [
{
"line_1": "123 Allen St",
"line_2": "Suite 1",
"city": "New York",
"state": "NY",
"postal_code": "10002",
"country_code": "US",
"type": "business_primary"
}
],
"supplemental_data": {},
"meta": {}
}
}
```
```json Response
{
"status_code": 201,
"event_request_token": "EV-YtbNK8AxWHJbMukXONsh",
"_links": {
"self": {
"href": "/v1/events/EV-YtbNK8AxWHJbMukXONsh"
}
},
"event": {
"event_type": "business_created",
"event_status": "PROCESSED",
"data": {
"entity_token": "B-4x8WzjvGz5Oz8RWA6MvY",
"external_entity_id": "e3065d04-95aa-47a1-915c-84b575ff3855",
"created_at": 1711404359986,
"business_name": "Operative Inc.",
"business_alternate_name": null,
"business_federal_ein": "586179405",
"business_registry_id": null,
"addresses": [
{
"line_1": "123 Allen St",
"line_2": "Suite 1",
"city": "New York",
"state": "NY",
"postal_code": "10002",
"created_at": 1711404359538,
"type": "business_primary",
"evaluation_token": null
}
],
"emails": [
{
"email_address": "example@alloy.com"
}
],
"phones": [],
"type": "business",
"_links": {
"self": {
"href": "/v1/entities/businesses/B-4x8WzjvGz5Oz8RWA6MvY"
}
}
},
"evaluations": [],
"journey_applications": []
}
}
```
# Creating Accounts
If you're using Alloy to monitor transactions, in addition to creating Entity records, you'll also need to create an **[Account](/docs/ongoing-terminology#account)**. You can create Accounts using the `bank_account_created` event type.
The `entities[]` array is a required field when creating new Account records, so you'll always need to create Entities first before creating a Account record. For real-time integrations, Alloy recommends creating an Account as soon as it's booked to your core and the account number (or equivalent unique identifier) is known.
**Note**: although creating Accounts is not required for certain types of ongoing monitoring (such as Logins), they must be created in order to use Alloy for monitoring transactions. If you're considering sending transaction data to Alloy for monitoring in the future, you may want to consider building Account creation into your integration in advance to make implementing transaction monitoring easier in the future.
When creating an account, you’ll need to supply an `external_account_id` as your unique identifier for the Account record, similar to the Entity’s `external_entity_id`.
### Examples
Bank Account Created:
```json Request
{
"event_type": "bank_account_created",
"event_status": "successful",
"event_lifecycle_id": "X99-43jf-434klj",
"data": {
"external_account_id": "8b75f5e2-b671-450c-9fb2-5aa05c286309",
"external_entity_id": "e3065d04-95aa-47a1-915c-84b575ff3855",
"timestamp": "2024-03-25T22:40:02.982Z",
"account_class": "deposit",
"account_name": "John Doe Business",
"product_name": "Alloy Business Checking",
"product_code": "DDA01",
"account_number": "76396628",
"routing_number": "000123456789",
"opening_date": "2023-03-22T00:00:00Z",
"closing_date": null,
"maturity_date": null,
"cif_number": null,
"card_network": "visa",
"country_code": "US",
"currency": "USD",
"status": "Active",
"status_detail": "Account is active",
"account_balance": 500000,
"entities": [
{
"account_holder_type": "primary",
"external_entity_id": "e3065d04-95aa-47a1-915c-84b575ff3855"
},
{
"account_holder_type": "secondary",
"external_entity_id": "9e82d5e7-ada0-4957-a8fd-4d937c99bae8"
}
],
"meta": {},
"supplemental_data": {}
}
}
```
```json Response
{
"status_code": 201,
"event_request_token": "EV-feHKM66JaWfuJJ5BTApy",
"_links": {
"self": {
"href": "/v1/events/EV-feHKM66JaWfuJJ5BTApy"
}
},
"event": {
"event_type": "bank_account_created",
"event_status": "PROCESSED",
"data": {
"cif_number": null,
"product_code": "DDA01",
"product_name": "Alloy Business Checking",
"opening_date": "2023-03-22T00:00:00.000Z",
"meta": {
"somedata": "string"
},
"routing_number": "000123456789",
"card_network": "visa",
"account_name": "John Doe Business",
"account_class": "deposit",
"country_code": "US",
"entities": [
{
"entity_token": "P-TfkFe6lCPkElc9Xktd3V",
"external_entity_id": "9e82d5e7-ada0-4957-a8fd-4d937c99bae8",
"account_holder_type": "secondary"
},
{
"entity_token": "B-4x8WzjvGz5Oz8RWA6MvY",
"external_entity_id": "e3065d04-95aa-47a1-915c-84b575ff3855",
"account_holder_type": "primary"
}
],
"currency": "USD",
"account_number": "76396628",
"account_balance": "500000.00",
"credit_limit": null,
"status": "Active",
"status_detail": "Account is active",
"as_of_date": "2024-03-25T00:00:00.000Z",
"external_account_id": "8b75f5e2-b671-450c-9fb2-5aa05c286309",
"external_entity_id": "e3065d04-95aa-47a1-915c-84b575ff3855",
"account_token": "A-Rbdws17NItHaEy3HrHkL"
},
"evaluations": [],
"journey_applications": []
}
}
```