The modified_at field value is the date of the last modification to the data object in Merge's database. Note that this will likely be different than the date the object was last been updated in the third-party system.

This field value can be leveraged for filters to query data modified before or after a specific date. For example, if you would like to query data that was modified after 01/01/2023, you can use the modified_after timestamp filter. This will query data that has a value within the modified_at field after the date of 2023-01-01. You can also use the modified_before timestamp filter to do the opposite and pull data before.

Note that all Merge timestamps follow standard ISO 8601 format in the UTC timezone.

The modified_at field will be updated when there are changes to common model fields. This includes all data that is part of the standard common model fields for a specific object, but does not include additional fields that are found in remote_data.

Note that changes to remote fields will also trigger the modified_at timestamp to be refreshed.

For more information on what is included in remote_data and not taken into account for modified_at updates, please view this page from our docs and our help desk article.

If you are trying to access fields within remote_data, it is recommended not to use a modified_before or modified_after filter. Since changes to remote_data will not change the modified_at field value, these timestamp filters will not fetch the requested data if they were updated.