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# providerIdentifier

A purpose identifier for coordinated reads and writes.

```
var providerIdentifier: String { get }
```

## Discussion

This property contains a unique string that can be used as a purpose identifier for file coordination. The File Provider extension should use this identifier when performing coordinated reads and writes, to help prevent deadlocks.

Pass this identifier to the file coordinator’s `setPurposeIdentifier:` method before performing a coordinated read or write.

This method returns the containing app’s bundle identifier.

> Note:
> While this property is available on macOS 11+, you don’t need to use it when creating a file provider extension that adopts the ``doc://com.apple.fileprovider/documentation/FileProvider/NSFileProviderReplicatedExtension`` protocol.

---

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