Differences between the Service Desk Customers in the 'People and Access' tab and in the 'Customers' section
Platform Notice: Cloud - This article applies to Atlassian products on the cloud platform.
Summary
Jira Service Management was designed to have two locations where a service project's customers are listed:
- In the Project > 'Customers' section:
- In the Project Settings > Access > 'People and Access' tab, specifically users with the Service Desk Customers project role:
Essentially, there is no difference between the customers in the 'Customers' section and those in the 'People and Access' tab. As this is by design, we have a feature request suggesting the ability to manage customers in a single location to avoid confusion and improve product usability. See also JSDCLOUD-9228 - Have only one place to manage the Customers in Jira Service Desk.
Explanation
Since there's no solution or workaround for this behavior, it's important to understand how and why these customers are placed in each location.
When a customer is manually added by an Admin or Agent in either the 'Customers' section or the 'People and Access' tab, they will appear in both. Even if added in only one location, the entry is mirrored across both. However, if a customer creates their account through the Help Center or via email, they will only appear in the 'Customers' section and not in the 'People and Access' tab.