---
title: client.identity
summary: null
url: >-
  https://www.fastly.com/documentation/reference/vcl/variables/client-connection/client-identity
---

**Type:** STRING  
**Access:** can be read and set, but not unset

**Available in:** all subroutines

This variable is used by the Client director to determine which backend to pick.
Given the same `client.identity`, the same backend will be chosen every time.
Defaults to the client IP address.