# Advanced ID Stitcher Features


The Profiles ID Stitcher provides advanced features that give you fine-grained control over how identities are connected in your graph, helping you maintain data quality, prevent identity explosion, and enforce business rules about identity relationships.

## Available features

This section describes the advanced features available in the Profiles ID Stitcher.

### Inclusion/exclusion rules

You can define specific rules to control which nodes and edges are included in your ID graph using a warehouse table. These rules provide the highest precedence over any other filtering mechanisms.

**Key capabilities**

- Exclude or include specific identifiers (node control)
- Define specific connections between identifiers (edge control)
- Manage rules through CLI tools
- Handle conflicting rules with configurable priority settings

See [ID Graph Inclusion/Exclusion Rules]({{< ref "profiles/dev-docs/advanced-id-stitcher-features/id-graph-rules.md" >}}) for more details.

### Cardinality rules

Set maximum connection limits between different ID types to prevent over-connected identity graphs and maintain data quality.

**Key capabilities**

- Define directional limits (for example, each email connects to at most 1 `user_id`)
- Prevent identity explosion from shared identifiers
- Maintain audit trail of violations
- Support incremental runs with consistent behavior
- Optimize performance through controlled graph size

See [ID Graph Cardinality Rules]({{< ref "profiles/dev-docs/advanced-id-stitcher-features/id-graph-cardinality-rules.md" >}}) for more details.

### Advanced operations

Control how the ID Stitcher processes data and ensures stable user identifiers across runs.

**Key capabilities**

- Rebuild the entire graph from scratch using `rebase_incremental` mode
- Apply rule changes retroactively to historical data
- Maintain deterministic user IDs across runs
- Understand how anchor nodes ensure ID stability

See [Advanced ID Stitcher Operations]({{< ref "profiles/dev-docs/advanced-id-stitcher-features/advanced-operations.md" >}}) for more details.

## How these features work together

Both features integrate seamlessly with your Profiles pipeline:

- **Input filters** reduce data volume before graph processing.
- **Cardinality rules** enforce connection limits during graph building.
- **Inclusion/exclusion rules** provide final control over specific nodes and edges.

This layered approach ensures you have comprehensive control over your identity graph while maintaining optimal performance and data quality.

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