diff --git a/packages/server/src/api/controllers/row/external.ts b/packages/server/src/api/controllers/row/external.ts
index 3881d1dd08..fa494d7b9c 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/api/controllers/row/external.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/api/controllers/row/external.ts
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ export async function save(ctx: UserCtx) {
 
   const table = await sdk.tables.getTable(tableId)
   const { table: updatedTable, row } = inputProcessing(
-    ctx.user,
+    ctx.user?._id,
     cloneDeep(table),
     inputs
   )
diff --git a/packages/server/src/api/controllers/row/internal.ts b/packages/server/src/api/controllers/row/internal.ts
index b80bd339e6..1441fe92a1 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/api/controllers/row/internal.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/api/controllers/row/internal.ts
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ export async function patch(ctx: UserCtx<PatchRowRequest, PatchRowResponse>) {
   const tableClone = cloneDeep(dbTable)
 
   // this returns the table and row incase they have been updated
-  let { table, row } = inputProcessing(ctx.user, tableClone, combinedRow)
+  let { table, row } = inputProcessing(ctx.user?._id, tableClone, combinedRow)
   const validateResult = await sdk.rows.utils.validate({
     row,
     table,
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ export async function save(ctx: UserCtx) {
   // need to copy the table so it can be differenced on way out
   const tableClone = cloneDeep(dbTable)
 
-  let { table, row } = inputProcessing(ctx.user, tableClone, inputs)
+  let { table, row } = inputProcessing(ctx.user?._id, tableClone, inputs)
 
   const validateResult = await sdk.rows.utils.validate({
     row,
diff --git a/packages/server/src/api/controllers/table/utils.ts b/packages/server/src/api/controllers/table/utils.ts
index e77c2b7647..3a5b22b702 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/api/controllers/table/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/api/controllers/table/utils.ts
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ export function importToRows(
 
     // We use a reference to table here and update it after input processing,
     // so that we can auto increment auto IDs in imported data properly
-    const processed = inputProcessing(user, table, row, {
+    const processed = inputProcessing(user?._id, table, row, {
       noAutoRelationships: true,
     })
     row = processed.row
diff --git a/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/index.ts b/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/index.ts
index 8e95a15dca..232ba94808 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/index.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/index.ts
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ import { ObjectStoreBuckets } from "../../constants"
 import { context, db as dbCore, objectStore } from "@budibase/backend-core"
 import { InternalTables } from "../../db/utils"
 import { TYPE_TRANSFORM_MAP } from "./map"
-import { Row, RowAttachment, Table, ContextUser } from "@budibase/types"
-const { cloneDeep } = require("lodash/fp")
+import { Row, RowAttachment, Table } from "@budibase/types"
+import { cloneDeep } from "lodash/fp"
 export * from "./utils"
 
 type AutoColumnProcessingOpts = {
@@ -48,12 +48,12 @@ function getRemovedAttachmentKeys(
  * for automatic ID purposes.
  */
 export function processAutoColumn(
-  user: ContextUser | null,
+  userId: string | null | undefined,
   table: Table,
   row: Row,
   opts?: AutoColumnProcessingOpts
 ) {
-  let noUser = !user || !user.userId
+  let noUser = !userId
   let isUserTable = table._id === InternalTables.USER_METADATA
   let now = new Date().toISOString()
   // if a row doesn't have a revision then it doesn't exist yet
@@ -70,8 +70,8 @@ export function processAutoColumn(
     }
     switch (schema.subtype) {
       case AutoFieldSubTypes.CREATED_BY:
-        if (creating && shouldUpdateUserFields && user) {
-          row[key] = [user.userId]
+        if (creating && shouldUpdateUserFields && userId) {
+          row[key] = [userId]
         }
         break
       case AutoFieldSubTypes.CREATED_AT:
@@ -80,8 +80,8 @@ export function processAutoColumn(
         }
         break
       case AutoFieldSubTypes.UPDATED_BY:
-        if (shouldUpdateUserFields && user) {
-          row[key] = [user.userId]
+        if (shouldUpdateUserFields && userId) {
+          row[key] = [userId]
         }
         break
       case AutoFieldSubTypes.UPDATED_AT:
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ export function coerce(row: any, type: string) {
  * @returns {object} the row which has been prepared to be written to the DB.
  */
 export function inputProcessing(
-  user: ContextUser | null,
+  userId: string | null | undefined,
   table: Table,
   row: Row,
   opts?: AutoColumnProcessingOpts
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ export function inputProcessing(
   }
 
   // handle auto columns - this returns an object like {table, row}
-  return processAutoColumn(user, table, clonedRow, opts)
+  return processAutoColumn(userId, table, clonedRow, opts)
 }
 
 /**