Primary Key
A primary key is the unique identifier that distinguishes one record from every other in the same table — the anchor that joins, dedupes, and updates depend on.
What is a primary key?
A primary key is the column (or combination of columns) that uniquely identifies each row in a database table. Every row must have a value, no two rows can share the same value, and the value should never change once set. In GTM data, the primary key is what makes deduplication, cross-system joins, and idempotent updates possible.
Why it matters
- Without a stable key, "the same lead" across systems is unknowable
- Joins between tables (contacts ↔ accounts ↔ opportunities) all depend on keys
- Updates and upserts require a key to know whether to insert or modify
Natural vs. surrogate keys
- Natural: a value that already identifies the entity (work email, account domain)
- Surrogate: a system-generated ID (UUID, auto-increment integer)
- Best practice: use surrogate as the primary key + index natural keys for matching
In GTM data
- Contacts: surrogate ID + work email as a unique secondary key
- Accounts: surrogate ID + normalized domain as the cross-system anchor
- Opportunities: surrogate ID + (account, deal name) as a soft-unique pair
How TexAu helps
Use stable keys (work email, normalized domain) inside TexAu workflows for dedup, identity resolution, and CRM upserts — every row written downstream maps to exactly one canonical record.
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