RSConnect API usage endpoint returns NULL user_guid

[bob_smith]

using this endpoint __api__/v1/instrumentation/shiny/usage?limit=25
RSConnect version 1.8.4
The results contain the following elements:

• content_guid
• user_guid
• started
• ended
• data_version

Many of the user_guid are NULL with a value Pairlist of length 0.
How should I interpret the NULLS? I've consulted the API reference, but I couldn't find a description for this field, just a reference to the standard.

[cole]

Hello! Thanks so much for reaching out! I think you're right - we definitely need to make this clearer in the spec and in the documentation here: https://docs.rstudio.com/connect/admin/historical-information/#shiny-application-events

I will share this information with our team and we will work to improve that documentation!

In the meantime, although there may be other meanings I am forgetting off of the top of my head, a NULL in the user_guid usually means that the access to the content was "unauthenticated" / "anonymous." (I.e. if the content allows access by "Anyone - no login required" and the person who viewed the content did not have a RStudio Connect login session active when they viewed the content).

One other tidbit - there is a package called connectapi that might help with some of this work if you are using R! Specifically, there are functions get_usage_static() and get_usage_shiny() that automate paging, etc.

[bob_smith]

Thanks.

That's what I needed.