When a visitor takes an action in your app that has Pendo installed, it generates an event that’s sent through the Pendo Web SDK. These actions include Page load events, Feature click events, focus events, Pendo Track Events, guide events, and more. Pendo records and uses these events to help you better understand how users engage with your app.
After the Pendo install script is initialized in your app, user interactions are stored as raw events. These raw events include the metadata and structure needed to evaluate tagging rules, capture usage, and power analytics. You can also send data directly to Pendo using the API, such as server-side Track Events or metadata updates. These different sources are all stored in your subscription’s event database and processed to become visible in the Pendo UI.
Event types
Events form the foundation of analytics in Pendo, and we start collecting event data from the moment Pendo is installed on your application. Pages, Features, and Track Events are the primary event types surfaced in the Pendo UI.
Note: If you need to exclude certain event types from being collected, see our Analytics agent API documentation for more information.
Pages and Features
Pages and Features are configurations in Pendo that act as labels or filters for your event data. When you "tag" Pages and Features, you define rules that determine which events display in the Pendo UI.
- Page load events are recorded when a visitor loads a URL matching a Page rule. Page rules can consist of an individual URL or a group of URLs.
- Feature click events are captured when a visitor interacts with an element that matches a Feature rule. Feature rules are created with specific CSS selectors. Only click events associated with existing Feature tags display in your analytics.
Because Page and Feature data are collected retroactively, you can modify or delete tags without negatively impacting your Pendo data.
Track Events
Track Events differ from Pages and Features in that they're programmatically sent to Pendo, must be configured by a developer, and aren't captured retroactively. You can use Track Events to capture any interactions that aren't automatically collected as Feature click events or Page load events.
Event properties
Every event has event properties associated with them, which are details about an event at the time it takes place. Global event properties are collected by default on all events, and custom event properties are configured for specific Features and Track Events. You can use event properties in reports and segments to target or analyze how your visitors use your app over time.
You can also configure custom event properties for Pages, but these are currently available to use for tagging purposes only.
Raw events
Raw events are the original, unprocessed event data that Pendo users with the appropriate permissions can access in real time through the Raw Events tab within an app's settings.
To access raw events, go to Settings > Subscription settings > Applications, choose an app from the list, and then select the Raw Events tab.
In the Events table, you can view the browser time, SDK version, Visitor ID, Account ID, event type, remote IP address, browser and operating system, URL, and app associated with each event. For more information on the different types of events surfaced on this page, see Browser Events and Pendo Events.
If you don't see any raw events, it's likely because we're receiving a high volume of events from your app. In this case, you see a banner at the top of the page with a Start Recording option. Select this to instruct the Pendo SDK to start recording raw events in the Pendo UI. If you don't see this option and have confirmed that visitors are using your application, contact Pendo Support for assistance.
Tip: After installing Pendo for the first time, use the Raw Events tab to confirm that events are populating as expected. For more comprehensive testing, use the debugger tool to view detailed event logs.
Pendo processes this data at the top of every hour and updates the UI with the processed event data within 15 minutes after each hour.
Sampling behavior for high-volume apps
Before relying on raw event capture for ongoing troubleshooting, it's important to understand how Pendo handles high event volume.
Pendo samples raw events for high-volume apps to ensure consistent performance. When traffic is high, not all events are recorded, and sampling increases as traffic increases. Sampling is based on individual visitors, which helps preserve event context while reducing overall volume.
During typical usage, expect to see only a subset of total events. In low-traffic scenarios, such as during initial installation or testing in a non-production environment, you're more likely to see full event capture.
This sampling behavior ensures that the most relevant data is available without overwhelming the system or the user interface.
Frustration indicators
Frustration indicators represent potential signs of user friction and are captured alongside specific event types, such as Feature clicks and Page views.
The following types of frustration are available in segments, Data Explorer, visitor and account reports, trends, and a visitor's activity log for web apps:
- Rage clicks. Multiple rapid interactions in a concentrated area. (Also supported for mobile apps.)
- Error clicks. Interactions that immediately result in a JavaScript error.
- Dead clicks. Interactions that don't result in a visible response or page update.
- U-turns. A visitor navigates to a Page and returns to the previous Page within a short time.
Note: Additional frustration indicators are available in Session Replay. For more information, see Replays of potential frustration.
You can mark rage, error, or dead clicks as expected behavior for a Feature. This prevents them from being flagged as frustration indicators throughout Pendo.
To manage or reverse ignored frustrations, go to the Feature's details page under Details > Ignore Frustration. You must have Feature edit permissions to take these actions.