API Token "Last accessed" vs "Last used"

[Gary Spross]

When viewing API tokens from within an individual users profile, the data point "Last accessed" is provided:

When viewing API tokens from the admin console, the data point "Last used" is provided:

As you can see in the screen captures above, the values are different. The user profile would lead me to believe the API token is in use (or at least was used in the past), but the admin console view indicates that the API token has never been used.

Can someone please explain the difference between these values?

Google's generative AI explains it as follows:

"last used" when referring to an API token indicates the most recent time the token was actually used to make an API call, while "last accessed" would typically refer to the last time the token details were viewed or accessed in the user interface, even if no API call was made at that time

If this explanation is accurate, I don't understand how the API token details would be viewed or accessed without an API call being made...

[ELFAPP Technologies]

Hi @Gary Spross 

Both terms indicate when an API token was used but with a key difference. 'Last accessed' provides the exact timestamp of the most recent API activity, while 'Last used' gives a relative time reference without specifying the precise moment. In short, 'Last accessed' records the actual timestamp, whereas 'Last used' offers an approximate timeframe. This is my observation of it though, others may have a different opinion.

[Gary Spross]

Thanks for responding @ELFAPP Technologies. 

"'Last accessed' provides the exact timestamp of the most recent API activity, while 'Last used' gives a relative time reference without specifying the precise moment. In short, 'Last accessed' records the actual timestamp, whereas 'Last used' offers an approximate timeframe."

I don't agree with this. Looking at the screen captures I provided, if what you indicated were true, then I would at least expect that some value would be present within the "Last used" column since the "Last accessed" shows "22 days ago". Instead the value for "Last used" is "Never used", which is incorrect/entirely misleading based on the "Last accessed" value.

[ELFAPP Technologies]

I would like to emphasize that both of them refer to the same thing eventually which is the lastAccess time. However, the one from the admin hub seems to show only after multiple access is detected from the token as opposed to the one from the personal profile hub which shows almost immediately. I think the best way for you to find out would be to run a simple test to figure out the actual behaviour.

[Gary Spross]

If that's the case, I think that's bad design on Atlassian's part. There should be consistency in the presented/available data. As an admin, I would expect to see the same, if not more granularized, data. Why have a "Last used" time displayed in the admin console? Just display the "Last accessed" time, especially if that's more accurate. It's obviously available.