# Pre-chat authentication using the Connect Customer StartChatContact API
<a name="pre-chat-auth"></a>

Customers who authenticate in your website or mobile application before starting a chat can be recognized as authenticated when a chat is initiated. You can do this by using the [StartChatContact](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/connect/latest/APIReference/API_StartChatContact.html) API.

After an authenticated customer starts a chat, set their status using the parameters in the [StartChatContact](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/connect/latest/APIReference/API_StartChatContact.html) API, as shown in the following code snippet:

```
"SegmentAttributes": {
    "connect:CustomerAuthentication" : { 
        "ValueMap": {
            "Status": {
                "ValueString": "AUTHENTICATED"
            }
        }
    },
    "CustomerId": "{{12345}}"
```

`CustomerId` is an optional field to identify the customer. This can be either an Connect Customer Customer Profiles ID or a custom identifier from an external system, such as a CRM.