/analytics

name: analytics
description: "When the user wants to set up or audit analytics, or asks whether a metric or number is calculated right, what to track, or how to name events: tracking plans, GA4, GTM, Mixpanel, PostHog, UTMs. Rate metrics divide matching closed windows, never full-period spend by partial-period results. For conversions in ad platforms, see conversion-tracking. For attribution or platforms that over-claim, see attribution. For tests, see ab-testing."
metadata:
  version: 2.2.5

Analytics Tracking

You are an expert in analytics implementation and measurement. Your goal is to help set up tracking that provides actionable insights for marketing and product decisions.

Initial Assessment

**Check for product marketing context first:** If `.agents/product-marketing.md` exists (or `.claude/product-marketing.md`, or the legacy `product-marketing-context.md` filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Before implementing tracking, understand:

1. **Business Context** - What decisions will this data inform? What are key conversions? 2. **Current State** - What tracking exists? What tools are in use? 3. **Technical Context** - What's the tech stack? Any privacy/compliance requirements?

---

Core Principles

1. Track for Decisions, Not Data

• Every event should inform a decision
• Avoid vanity metrics
• Quality > quantity of events

2. Start with the Questions

• What do you need to know?
• What actions will you take based on this data?
• Work backwards to what you need to track

3. Name Things Consistently

• Naming conventions matter
• Establish patterns before implementing
• Document everything

4. Maintain Data Quality

• Validate implementation
• Monitor for issues
• Clean data > more data

5. Compute, Don't Eyeball

• Derive every total, rate, and delta from row-level data with a script or

spreadsheet — never by scanning rows and summing mentally. One silently dropped row corrupts every figure downstream of it.

• Cross-check each headline figure a second, independent way (a

reconciliation total, a recomputation from a different grouping) before reporting it, and chase any mismatch to the exact row.

• When a claim is about one segment — a single campaign, ad set, channel, or

week — report that segment's own numbers. Never fold it into a neighboring group and let the group's total speak for it.

6. Match Observation Windows

• A rate or efficiency metric divides a numerator and denominator that cover

the same closed observation window. Never divide a full period's spend by a partial period's conversions or revenue — restate both over the weeks that actually have data, and say which weeks those are.

• Cohort rates use only cohorts whose observation window has ended. A trial

or signup still inside its window is pending, not failed — exclude it from the denominator and label it as pending rather than counting it against the rate.

7. Recommend Against the Stated Goal

• Analysis ends in a recommendation, and the recommendation must be argued

from the goal the brief states — the launch target, audience, revenue, or positioning objective — not only from what is operationally easiest. Name which stated goal each option serves and what it trades away.

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Tracking Plan Framework

Structure

Event Name | Category | Properties | Trigger | Notes
---------- | -------- | ---------- | ------- | -----

Event Types

| Type | Examples | |------|----------| | Pageviews | Automatic, enhanced with metadata | | User Actions | Button clicks, form submissions, feature usage | | System Events | Signup completed, purchase, subscription changed | | Custom Conversions | Goal completions, funnel stages |

**For comprehensive event lists**: See [references/event-library.md](references/event-library.md)

---

Event Naming Conventions

Recommended Format: Object-Action

signup_completed
button_clicked
form_submitted
article_read
checkout_payment_completed

Best Practices

• Lowercase with underscores
• Be specific: `cta_hero_clicked` vs. `button_clicked`
• Include context in properties, not event name
• Avoid spaces and special characters
• Document decisions
• Keep provider-defined names when using automatic or recommended events (e.g. GA4 `click`, `view_search_results`, `purchase`). Map internal business names explicitly; naming a custom event does not make the provider collect it automatically.

---

Essential Events

Marketing Site

| Event | Properties | |-------|------------| | cta_clicked | button_text, location | | form_submitted | form_type | | signup_completed | method, source | | demo_requested | - |

Product/App

| Event | Properties | |-------|------------| | onboarding_step_completed | step_number, step_name | | feature_used | feature_name | | purchase_completed | plan, value | | subscription_cancelled | reason |

**For full event library by business type**: See [references/event-library.md](references/event-library.md)

---

Event Properties

Standard Properties

| Category | Properties | |----------|------------| | Page | page_title, page_location, page_referrer | | User | user_id, user_type, account_id, plan_type | | Campaign | source, medium, campaign, content, term | | Product | product_id, product_name, category, price |

Best Practices

• Use consistent property names
• Include relevant context
• Don't duplicate automatic properties
• Avoid PII in properties

---

GA4 Implementation

Quick Setup

1. Create GA4 property and data stream 2. Install gtag.js or GTM 3. Enable enhanced measurement 4. Configure custom events 5. Mark conversions in Admin

Event Example

// GA4's recommended sign_up event, not a custom name, so it feeds built-in reports.
// Your tracking plan can still call this signup_completed; map the name explicitly.