diff --git a/src/app/api/analyze/route.ts b/src/app/api/analyze/route.ts
index dd89730..efe056e 100644
--- a/src/app/api/analyze/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/analyze/route.ts
@@ -191,10 +191,14 @@ export async function POST(req: NextRequest): Promise<NextResponse> {
         
         // Award points to the user for uploading a valid animal image
         // We've already extracted user info in the authentication section above
-        if (userId && userEmail) {
-          console.log('Awarding points to user:', { userId, userEmail });
+        // Use email as ID if needed - this allows points to be accumulated
+        // even if the user ID is not available from the session
+        const pointsUserId = userId || userEmail;
+        
+        if (pointsUserId && userEmail) {
+          console.log('Awarding points to user:', { pointsUserId, userEmail });
           await awardPointsForImage(
-            userId,
+            pointsUserId,
             userEmail,
             buffer,
             ipfsUrl,
@@ -203,7 +207,7 @@ export async function POST(req: NextRequest): Promise<NextResponse> {
           ).catch(err => console.error('Failed to award points for image:', err));
         } else {
           console.log('Unable to award points, missing user data', { 
-            userId,
+            pointsUserId,
             userEmail
           });
         }
diff --git a/src/app/page.tsx b/src/app/page.tsx
index 3b22e8c..b625681 100644
--- a/src/app/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/page.tsx
@@ -43,10 +43,13 @@ const Page: React.FC = (): React.ReactElement => {
         // Prepare session data for API call
         let sessionData;
         if (isAuthenticated && session && session.user) {
+          // Use email as a fallback ID if id is undefined
           sessionData = {
-            userId: session.user.id,
+            userId: session.user.id || session.user.email || '',
             userEmail: session.user.email || ''
           };
+          
+          console.log('Session data being sent to API:', sessionData);
         }
         
         // Analyze the normalized image with session data
diff --git a/src/types/auth.d.ts b/src/types/auth.d.ts
index 525de87..8e2601f 100644
--- a/src/types/auth.d.ts
+++ b/src/types/auth.d.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import "next-auth";
 declare module "next-auth" {
   interface Session {
     user: {
-      id: string;
+      id?: string;
       name?: string | null;
       email?: string | null;
       image?: string | null;