Looker offers an API to automate tasks and interact with the Looker instance. Using the API requires credentials to ensure only authorized entities can use the API. Over time, we’ve changed how you retrieve these credentials.
The new credentials behavior is associated with the Allow creating legacy API-only users legacy feature (for more details see the Legacy Features docs page):
- From release 4.0 to 4.22, the legacy feature is off by default, which means you cannot create API-only users. This is different from most legacy features which default to on for a period of time.
- As of release 5.0, you cannot create API-only users
Old Behavior
Previously, there was a distinction between normal users and API users:
To generate API keys, you would need to create an API-specific user.
New Behavior
Now, API credentials are now associated with normal users. You can generate API keys by editing the user and asking for keys:
Any API calls using those credentials then take on the permissions of that user.