CollectedAt

CollectedAt is a field name commonly used in data schemas, APIs, logs, and analytics to record the timestamp when a data item was collected from its source or produced by a collection process. It is typically part of metadata attached to records or events.

In practice, collectedAt indicates the moment of data acquisition and is distinct from times associated with data after ingestion, such as creation, processing, or update times. It helps distinguish when the data was observed from when it was stored or transformed, aiding data freshness checks, latency calculations, and lineage tracing.

Regarding data types and formats, collectedAt is usually stored as a datetime value. Preferred formats include UTC-based timestamps, such as ISO 8601 strings (for example, 2024-11-28T12:34:56Z) or numeric representations like Unix epoch milliseconds. Consistency across sources and systems is important for reliable comparisons and sorting.

Best practices include documenting the precise meaning of collectedAt for a given dataset, ensuring time zone handling is explicit, and choosing a consistent naming convention (for example, collectedAt in camelCase, or collected_at in snake_case). If multiple collection sources exist, consider recording an explicit source identifier and method of collection. Validate presence where appropriate, and distinguish collectedAt from related fields such as createdAt, updatedAt, and observedAt.

Common use cases include data ingestion pipelines, event logs, sensor data, and web-scraped datasets. Pitfalls to avoid include clock drift, late or out-of-order collection, and inconsistent time zones, which can affect ordering, aggregation, and quality metrics.

See also: createdAt, updatedAt, observedAt, retrievedAt, processedAt.