FAQ

The API key

Why do you need an organisation API key?

Because every read this app does — users, group membership, product access, last activity — goes through the organisation admin API, and so does every write. Jira's own APIs cannot supply them at an acceptable permission cost. Without the key there is no app: the scan button is disabled and there is nothing to browse. This is the one credential it asks for, and it is asked for once.

Can I try it without a key, just to see?

Yes — with your own files. Import the admin-console CSV exports: every dashboard figure, every filter, the Guard block, admin roles and the audit views work on an imported snapshot, and the data never needed a credential. What stays locked without the key is acting — revoking, suspending, rules, the token sweep.

Where is the key stored?

In Forge's encrypted secret store, inside your own Atlassian site, and masked in the interface. We never see it. You can remove it any time with Disconnect.

Can I use a key with fewer permissions?

Atlassian's organisation API keys require organisation admin permissions. That is Atlassian's model, not ours.

What if our security policy forbids storing that key?

Use the CSV import: the whole read side — dashboard, filters, Guard, admin roles — works from exports you download yourself, with no credential stored. What you give up is acting from the app and the scheduled scan. Admin Toolkit's User Analysis remains the lighter-weight alternative for a one-off review.

Data and privacy

Does the app store email addresses?

Yes. A licence review needs to identify people, so snapshots include names, email addresses, domains, group membership and last-activity dates. Everything stays inside your Atlassian site and is deleted on uninstall.

How long do you keep the audit log?

180 days, for the entry and for the per-user detail behind it alike. There is no setting; older rows are deleted at the end of every scan. Export CSV keeps evidence past the horizon.

Does a closed Atlassian account get erased?

Yes. The app reports the account IDs it holds to Atlassian daily, and when Atlassian answers that an account is closed, that person's snapshot rows, per-product rows, group membership and audit detail are deleted. The audit entry survives without them, so “what ran, when, and to how many accounts” stays answerable without keeping a closed person's name.

Does any of it leave Atlassian?

No. The only outside address is api.atlassian.com.

Is this a GDPR problem?

It is personal data processing you are already doing as an employer, inside a system you already control. The privacy policy lists every stored field so your privacy team can review it properly.

Does it use AI?

No. Every number comes from your Atlassian data.

Acting on users

Will it delete people's accounts?

No. It can remove group membership, remove product access, or suspend an account. It never deletes an account.

What stops a rule from acting on somebody who just came back?

The rule itself. Before it changes anyone, it re-checks that person against the live APIs — still inactive past the threshold, still in the scoped groups. Someone who returned after the scan is left alone and counted in the run's result. A read that fails is a skip, never a revocation on a guess.

Can it lock me out?

Not if you add yourself to Protected Entities, which is step four of the setup. Protection has no override.

What happens to a suspended user's issues?

Nothing. Assignments, comments and history stay exactly as they are; the person simply cannot sign in.

How do I undo a bulk action?

Group changes: add the group back. Suspension: restore the account. The audit log tells you exactly who was affected, which is what makes undoing possible.

Does removing a licence reduce my Atlassian bill automatically?

It frees the seat. Whether your bill drops depends on your subscription tier and billing cycle with Atlassian. Check the tier as well as the seat count.

What happens if the app licence lapses?

You can still read everything: the last snapshot, every filter, the CSV export, the audit log and all your settings. What stops is starting a new scan, running a bulk action, and running a rule — by schedule or by hand. A warning at the top of the page says so, and the three buttons are greyed out with a line explaining why.

What happens when I uninstall?

The app runs an uninstall handler that empties both of its stores — the SQL tables most sensitive first, then the key-value store — before Atlassian detaches the installation's data and destroys it under its own retention policy. That covers the snapshots, the rules, the audit log and the API key, so export the audit evidence first. See Where your data goes. Access changes already applied stay applied, because they were made in Atlassian.