Overview

Autocapture, turned on the moment you connect a source, records page views, clicks, form activity, and sessions with no extra code. It can't see what those actions meant to your business though. A click is just a click until you tell Intempt it was "Purchase completed" or "Trial started." That's what a custom event is: you name the action and send it, with whatever data describes it. You can send one from anywhere in your codebase: a frontend button handler, a webhook, or a backend job.

How it works

The JavaScript SDK exposes two methods for sending a custom event:

• track(params) sends a bare event plus data. Both eventTitle and data are required, and data can't be an empty object.
• record(params) does the same thing, but also lets you attach a userId and/or accountId (plus their attributes) in the same call, so the event carries identity context immediately instead of relying on a separate identify() call.

// track(): a bare event, no identity attached
intempt.track({
  eventTitle: 'Purchase completed',
  data: {
    orderId: 'order_123',
    amount: 99.99,
    currency: 'USD'
  }
});

// record(): the same event, with a user attached in one call
intempt.record({
  eventTitle: 'Purchase completed',
  userId: 'jane.doe@example.com',
  data: {
    orderId: 'order_123',
    amount: 99.99,
    currency: 'USD'
  }
});

📘 Good to know

data is required on track() and must be a non-empty object, an empty {} throws. If you don't have identity context yet, use track() and call identify() separately; if you already know who the user is, record() saves the extra call.

A handful of event titles are reserved and throw if you use them: auto-track, view page, leave page, change on, click on, submit on, identify, consent. Pick a name that describes the business action instead, like "Trial started" rather than "click on."

Getting started

1. Make sure a source with the SDK snippet is already connected. See Basic Intempt installation if you haven't done this yet.

2. Decide the moment in your code where the business action actually happens: a successful API response, a form submission handler, a webhook payload. Not just a click on a button that might fail validation afterward.

3. Call track() or record() at that moment, passing an eventTitle that names the action and a data object with the details you'll want later in segments, journeys, or reports.

function completeCheckout(order) {
  return submitOrder(order).then((confirmedOrder) => {
    intempt.track({
      eventTitle: 'Purchase completed',
      data: {
        orderId: confirmedOrder.id,
        amount: confirmedOrder.total,
        currency: confirmedOrder.currency
      }
    });
  });
}

4. Trigger the action once in your app, then check the Events table to confirm it arrived.

📘 Media pending

Screenshot of the Events table with a custom event showing hasn't been captured yet.

Real-world examples

• E-commerce purchase. Fire this from your order-confirmation handler, after payment succeeds, not on checkout button click.

intempt.track({
  eventTitle: 'Purchase completed',
  data: { orderId: 'order_123', amount: 99.99, currency: 'USD' }
});

• SaaS trial started. Fire this when a trial account is actually provisioned, so you're not counting abandoned sign-up forms.

intempt.record({
  eventTitle: 'Trial started',
  userId: 'jane.doe@example.com',
  data: { plan: 'pro', trialDays: 14 }
});

• Plan upgraded. Useful for triggering upgrade-confirmation journeys or filtering reports to expansion revenue.

intempt.record({
  eventTitle: 'Plan upgraded',
  userId: 'jane.doe@example.com',
  data: { fromPlan: 'starter', toPlan: 'pro', mrrDelta: 49 }
});

• Demo requested. Send this from your form's submit handler once the request is accepted server-side, not on every keystroke.

intempt.track({
  eventTitle: 'Demo requested',
  data: { companySize: '51-200', useCase: 'analytics' }
});

• Video completed. Useful for content and onboarding funnels where watch-through matters more than a page view.

intempt.track({
  eventTitle: 'Video completed',
  data: { videoId: 'onboarding-101', durationSeconds: 184 }
});

• Support ticket submitted. Lets you segment or follow up with users who hit friction, independent of whatever page they were on.

intempt.record({
  eventTitle: 'Support ticket submitted',
  userId: 'jane.doe@example.com',
  data: { category: 'billing', priority: 'high' }
});

• Subscription cancelled. Fire this from the cancellation confirmation step, with enough context to understand why.

intempt.record({
  eventTitle: 'Subscription cancelled',
  userId: 'jane.doe@example.com',
  data: { plan: 'pro', reason: 'too_expensive', tenureDays: 210 }
});

Where to go next

• JavaScript SDK reference for the full track()/record() parameter tables and error handling.
• iOS SDK reference and Android SDK reference for the native equivalents.
• Identifying users across sessions for attaching identity to events with identify() and alias().
• Complete guide to event tracking for how custom events fit alongside autocapture and verification.
• Creating an event to turn raw custom events into named, reusable events for segments and journeys.