For Pack Sync Tables, does Coda pass an identifier of the user who makes an update to a Coda row?
We’d like to be able to keep track of who is making changes to records. If we can capture the user ID/email to our API endpoint we could log that.
No, unfortunately that information isn’t available. Part of the Packs security model is that they don’t get any implicit access to user data or identity.
Would an opaque ID for the user be valuable for your use case? Or do you need to tie the identifier back to the user in some way?
Yes the use case here is change tracking, so we’d need a persistent ID we could associate with the user on our system (or they could “opt in” to do so).
The primary benefit is to diagnose user error, i.e. be able to track back to a user who may have made a mistake that caused a process to fail. This would enable us to recognize when specific users might need a different process/instruction or other support.
Is Coda open to the possibility in the future of enabling users to ‘opt in’ to sharing their identity with a Pack or do you see the current model as the go-forward for the long term?
I think that’s within the realm of possibility, but it would likely require creating a lot of new infrastructure and UX, so I wouldn’t expect it in the short term. I think they originally imagined that Pack accounts would be that source of identity, but if I recall you aren’t using that mechanism.
Correct. The main issue is a user needing to re-auth their account for every doc they use. If there was a way to auth individual users for a workspace to use a Pack (vs. per doc) that would be an attractive alternative.
If they do auth their individual account, is that data available to Packs or on the roadmap?
If the user authenticates with their own account, then their credentials will be added to outgoing request and you can use that information to get their identity, etc. You would need to develop some sort of authentication / login system in your application however.