Backend SDK: ExternalAccount.id returns identification ID (idn_), unusable with deleteUserExternalAccount

[nspady]

Preliminary Checks

• I have reviewed the documentation: https://clerk.com/docs

• I have searched for existing issues: https://github.com/clerk/javascript/issues

• I have not already reached out to Clerk support via email or Discord (if you have, no need to open an issue here)

• This issue is not a question, general help request, or anything other than a bug report directly related to Clerk. Please ask questions in our Discord community: https://clerk.com/discord.

Reproduction

No external reproduction needed — reproducible with any Clerk Backend SDK project. See description for steps.

Publishable key

pk_test_ZGlzdGluY3QtcGlnLTgyLmNsZXJrLmFjY291bnRzLmRldiQ

Description

Bug Description

The @clerk/backend SDK's ExternalAccount.fromJSON() maps data.id (which is an identification ID with idn_ prefix) to this.id, but completely ignores the external_account_id field from the raw API response (which has an eac_ prefix). This means deleteUserExternalAccount() always fails with a 404 because it receives an idn_ ID instead of the eac_ ID it expects.

Steps to reproduce

1. Have a user who signed up via Google OAuth
2. Call clerk.users.getUser(userId) via the Backend SDK (@clerk/backend)
3. Log user.externalAccounts[0].id — it returns an idn_ prefixed ID (e.g., idn_3ABXLLckIF5kLikvzAVRxuuN31M)
4. Attempt to delete: clerk.users.deleteUserExternalAccount({ userId, externalAccountId: user.externalAccounts[0].id })
5. Clerk returns 404: external_account_not_found / "The External Account was not found."

Root Cause

The raw JSON response from GET /v1/users/{userId} includes both fields on each external account object:

{
 "id": "idn_3ABXLLckIF5kLikvzAVRxuuN31M",
 "external_account_id": "eac_3ABXLObDmeHsnLsLgOd5panvOPJ",
 "identification_id": "idn_3ABXLLckIF5kLikvzAVRxuuN31M",
 "provider": "oauth_google",
 ...
}

The SDK's ExternalAccount.fromJSON() (source) maps:

• data.id → this.id (gets idn_ value)
• data.identification_id → this.identificationId (also idn_)
• data.external_account_id is never mapped

Meanwhile, deleteUserExternalAccount() builds the path as /users/{userId}/external_accounts/{externalAccountId} and expects the eac_ prefixed ID.

Expected behavior

ExternalAccount.id should return the external account resource ID (eac_ prefix), or the class should expose externalAccountId as a separate property, so that deleteUserExternalAccount() works with the ID from getUser().

Actual behavior

ExternalAccount.id returns the identification ID (idn_ prefix), which causes deleteUserExternalAccount() to fail with 404.

Workaround

Make a raw fetch to GET /v1/users/{userId} and use the external_account_id field from the JSON response:

const rawResponse = await fetch(`https://api.clerk.com/v1/users/${userId}`, {
 headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${secretKey}` },
})
const rawUser = await rawResponse.json()
const eacId = rawUser.external_accounts[0].external_account_id // "eac_xxx"
await clerk.users.deleteUserExternalAccount({ userId, externalAccountId: eacId }) // works

Environment

System:
 OS: macOS Darwin 25.2.0
 Node: v24.12.0

npmPackages:
 @clerk/backend: 2.5.0