User Stamps & System Users

User Stamps automatically track the relationship between your records and the users who interact with them. Instead of manually creating connection fields to track who created or updated a record, Knack handles this for every data table you create.

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Currently, User Stamps & System Users are available exclusively for newly created apps, whether built from scratch or generated via AI. Support for existing apps and template apps is coming soon.

What You'll Learn

• What User Stamps are and how they work
• How user actions are recorded for logged-in and anonymous users
• What System Users are and how to manage them
• How to use User Stamps in your app's pages and elements

What Are User Stamps?

User Stamps are built-in, automatic connections between your data tables and the users in your app. They simplify app building by ensuring that essential audit and ownership data is always captured and easily accessible.

When you create a new data table in a supported app, Knack automatically generates three connection fields that link your data records to the built-in "All Users" table:

• Created By: Records the user who initially created the record.
• Updated By: Records the user who most recently modified the record.
• Owned By: Designates the user who is considered the owner of the record. By default, this is the user who created the record, but you can update it using Conditional Rules or Batch Updates if you need to transfer ownership.

How User Actions Are Recorded

Knack automatically captures the appropriate user based on their authentication status in your Live App:

• Logged-in users: Their name is automatically captured in the Created By, Updated By, and Owned By fields, as well as in the record history.
• Not logged-in users: Their actions are recorded under the default System User called Public (Not Logged-In).
• Pre-existing records: For records created before User Stamps was enabled, the user fields default to the App Builder system user.

Viewing User Stamps

To view these automatic connections, navigate to the Connections section of your data table and look under the Advanced category. You'll see the Created By, Updated By, and Owned By connections linking to the All Users table.

Every user role table you create will also automatically have a connection to the primary "All Users" table, streamlining user management and data relationships.

System Users

To support User Stamps, Knack includes a set of System Users. These are specialized, automated accounts that represent system actions and processes within your app. They ensure that even when a record is created or updated by an automated process (like a task or API call), there's still a clear record of who performed the action.

You can view and manage System Users by navigating to Settings > System Users in the Builder.

The default System Users include:

• Account Owner: Applied when no other user is specified.
• App Builder: Applied to actions performed within the Builder by the app's builders.
• Automation: Applied to actions performed through Tasks, Flows, API calls, and integrations.
• Knack AI: Applied to records created or updated by Knack's AI features.
• Knack Support Team: Used to identify records modified by Knack's internal support team.
• Public (Not Logged-In): Used for records created in the Live App by unauthenticated visitors.
• Shared Builder: Applied to actions performed by Shared Builders.
• System: Applied to records modified by Knack's underlying platform for core operations.

You can customize the display names of these System Users to better match your app's terminology.

Managing System Users in the All Users Table

System Users appear in your "All Users" table alongside regular users. By default, they may be hidden to keep your user list clean.

Navigate to the All Users table and click the settings gear icon in the top right. You can show or hide System Fields and System Users independently:

• Show/Hide System Fields: Toggles the visibility of the automatic system fields (Created By, Updated By, Owned By) as columns in the Builder view.
• Show/Hide System Users: Toggles the visibility of the automated system accounts in the list of users.

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Bulk Actions on User/Role Tables Exclude System Users. When performing a bulk Update or Delete action on a User/Role table using Select All, the action will complete successfully, but System Users are excluded from the operation. The UI will confirm that all records were updated or deleted; however, System User records will remain unchanged. This is expected behavior.

Using User Stamps in Your App

The real power of User Stamps is how you can use them within your app's pages and elements. Because Created By, Updated By, and Owned By function exactly like standard connection fields, you can incorporate them into your Live App just as you would any other data.

For example, when configuring a Table element on a page, you can add the Created By and Updated By fields as columns to display audit information directly to your users.

You can also use these fields for filtering, sorting, and conditional rules, allowing you to create dynamic elements that only show users the records they created or own.

Record History Integration

If you have Record History enabled for your app, User Stamp fields are automatically included in the history logs, giving you a complete, built-in audit trail of who modified what and when.