Lesson 5

How to install the SDK and watch your first event land

Create an API key, connect a JavaScript source, and start tracking autocaptured and custom events on your website.

Video comingThe video is being filmed. The steps below are the whole lesson.

In this lesson

  1. 1Paste the key over {YOUR_API_KEY} and paste the snippet into your site's HTML on every page.
  2. 2Open Users, then Events, switch to the Live tab, reload your tracked page and watch the event arrive.
Read the reference docs for this lesson

Setup checklist

The 16 steps to get your data flowing, from connecting a source to seeing a known person in Live. Tick them off as you go; your ticks stay in this browser.

Open the setup checklist (PDF)

0 of 16 ticked

You are done when

  • The JavaScript source shows Type Source and Status Active on the Connections tab.
  • An event from your own page appears in Events, Live after a reload.
  • Table shows Ingested, Created and System rows, and you built one Created event.
  • A record() call arrives in Live carrying the user.
  • The Event type dropdown header shows your provisioned collection count.

Your tech stack and tools

The core stack (everything you actually need)

Highly recommended optional upgrades that level up your work

  • Node.js SDK (This is how your backend sends events, like a signup or a payment)
  • iOS SDK (This is how your iPhone app sends events)
  • Android SDK (This is how your Android app sends events)
  • Stripe (This is how your payments come in. It connects in one click)
  • Live data feed guide (This is the full reference for watching events arrive)

Everything you need is free. Your first 100K events a month are included on every plan.