PostHog Analitycs

PostHog + Astro + PartyTown

Open source analytics tools are becoming increasingly popular for a variety of reasons. One such tool is PostHog, which is an open source, self-hosted platform for capturing, storing, and analyzing user interactions on web and mobile applications. PostHog allows developers to track and understand how users are interacting with their applications, and provides insights that can help improve the user experience and drive business growth.

In this blog post, we will look at how PostHog can be integrated with astro.js, a JavaScript library for building interactive, data-driven applications. By combining these two tools, developers can create rich, engaging experiences for their users while also gaining valuable insights into how their applications are being used.

What is PostHog?

PostHog is an open source analytics platform that allows developers to track user interactions with their applications. It is designed to be self-hosted, which means that developers can install it on their own servers and maintain full control over the data that is collected. This is in contrast to other analytics tools that rely on third-party servers to store and process data, which can raise concerns about data privacy and security.

PostHog offers a range of features that make it easy for developers to track and understand user behavior. It includes a simple JavaScript library that can be easily added to any web or mobile application, and it also provides APIs for capturing more complex interactions. PostHog stores all data in a central database, which can be queried and analyzed using a powerful query language and visualization tools.

How to Integrate PostHog with astro.js

Integrating PostHog with astro.js is straightforward and can be done in just a few steps. The first thing you will need to do is install PostHog on your server and set up an account. Then, you will need to add the PostHog JavaScript library to your application. This can be done by including the following script tag in the head of your index.astro file:

!(function (t, e) {
  var o, n, p, r;
  e.__SV ||
    ((window.posthog = e),
    (e._i = []),
    (e.init = function (i, s, a) {
      function g(t, e) {
        var o = e.split(".");
        2 == o.length && ((t = t[o[0]]), (e = o[1])),
          (t[e] = function () {
            t.push([e].concat(Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments, 0)));
          });
      }
      ((p = t.createElement("script")).type = "text/javascript"),
        (p.async = !0),
        (p.src = s.api_host + "/static/array.js"),
        (r = t.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]).parentNode.insertBefore(p, r);
      var u = e;
      for (
        void 0 !== a ? (u = e[a] = []) : (a = "posthog"),
          u.people = u.people || [],
          u.toString = function (t) {
            var e = "posthog";
            return "posthog" !== a && (e += "." + a), t || (e += " (stub)"), e;
          },
          u.people.toString = function () {
            return u.toString(1) + ".people (stub)";
          },
          o =
            "capture identify alias people.set people.set_once set_config register register_once unregister opt_out_capturing has_opted_out_capturing opt_in_capturing reset isFeatureEnabled onFeatureFlags".split(
              " ",
            ),
          n = 0;
        n < o.length;
        n++
      )
        g(u, o[n]);
      e._i.push([i, s, a]);
    }),
    (e.__SV = 1));
})(document, window.posthog || []);
posthog.init("YOUR_KEY", {
  api_host: "THE_HOST",
});

Now you need to install Partytown, and put those webworker to work outside of your main tread, how sweet is that!

# Using NPM
npx astro add partytown
# Using Yarn
yarn astro add partytown
# Using PNPM
pnpm astro add partytown

The inline script in the head of your document, you need to include some tags for astro to take it and call it

<script type="text/partytown">
  "YOUR INLINE CODE"
</script>

console.log("And with only that, you are ready to party!");