A Track Event is a specific type of event that you can configure to gain insights into user interactions within your app. Track Events programmatically notify Pendo that a particular action occurred at a specific time and associate this event to a designated visitor and account. Pendo supports up to 5,000 different named Track Events for each application.
Note: Deleted Track Events don't count toward the 5,000 Track Event limit.
Understand Track Events
Track Events can take the form of both server and client side, and they capture interactions that aren't automatically captured as Feature click events or Page load events.
| Client side | Server side | |
| Examples |
Browser errors, download completions, or other events that aren't automatically captured as click events or load events. |
Actions like API calls or emails sent to users. |
| Sending method | Sent through Javascript in the front-end code of your application. | Sent as REST API calls. |
| User associations | Visitor and Account IDs are automatically associated with these Track Events through the Pendo agent. | The API call must include the relevant Visitor and Account IDs, which must match the web events for those users. |
| Authentication | Handled through the install script automatically. | Required to use a shared secret key. |
You can also send Track Events through a Twilio Segment integration or through Pendo for Mobile. For more information, see Send Twilio Segment data to Pendo and Low-code tracking versus Track Events.
Event properties are an important part of Track Events, as they provide extra details about a Track Event at the time it's generated. For example, if you set up a Track Event for when a visitor registers for a new plan, you can use event properties to tell you the name of that plan they registered for.
By default, Track Events aren’t considered when we calculate a visitor’s time spent in your app. This can be changed using the Count Track Events as time in app application setting. For more information, see Time on page and app calculations.
Note: If event property data exceeds Pendo's size limits (25KB by default), the entire map is discarded and replaced with a system-generated property named error. This field helps identify processing failures and is visible in the breakdown table on the Track Event's details page.
Configure Track Events in your app
Before you can view Track Event data in Pendo, you must first configure Track Events within your app, which requires assistance from your development team.
Track Event configuration differs from Page and Feature tagging in the following ways:
- Configuration is a prerequisite to accessing data on Track Events, which means there's no historical data associated with Track Events.
- Following configuration, Track Events appear in Pendo in real time, removing the need for manual tagging. (Standard Pendo data processing time applies.)
For instructions on how to set up Track Events, see Configure Track Events.
View and manage Track Events in Pendo
You can view Track Event data by opening Product > Track Events in the left-side menu. The Track Events page lists all Track Events that Pendo has received and provides data based on the filters set at the top of the page.
Add or remove columns in the table by selecting the Manage columns icon that's located in the top-right corner of the table.
To refine the table results, use the top filters or search by name and description.
Tip: You can also view Track Event data in Data Explorer reports, paths, funnels, retention reports, visitor reports, account reports, and the visitor timeline.
Track Event details
Select a Track Event from Product > Track Events to open the details page for that specific Track Event and view additional data.
The Track Event's name, app, assigned Product Area, and description display in the top-left of the page. If needed, you can:
- Select the Track Event name to modify the name. If you choose to edit the event name, the updated name is only reflected in the Pendo UI. You must still send the event to us using the same name that was initially configured.
- Assign a new Product Area by selecting the dropdown arrow next to the Product Area name.
- Add a description or update an existing description by selecting the text that appears below the app and Product Area. The description must be 280 characters or less.
Actions
In the top-right corner of the page, you can:
- Delete the Track Event by selecting the Delete Track Event trash icon. When deleting a Track Event, you can't create a new Track Event with the deleted name. If you accidentally delete an event and want it re-enabled, contact Pendo Support.
- Favorite the Track Event by selecting the star icon. You can also favorite it by selecting the star icon in the Track Events list in Product > Pages.
- Create an ongoing or time-bound usage goal by selecting Create goal. For more information, see Event goals.
Metrics
Below the filters, you can find the Key metrics section that reviews the following based on your selected segment, date range, and account at the top of the page:
- Unique visitors. Total number of visitors who generated the Track Event in the specified date range.
- Unique accounts. Total number of accounts that had at least one visitor generate the Track Event in the specified date range.
- Track Events. Total number of times that the Track Event was generated in the specified date range.
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Visitor acquisition. Total number of new visitors who generated this Track Event. This is only available if your plan includes Pendo Analytics.
Account acquisition. Total number of new accounts that generated this Track Event. This is only available if your plan includes Pendo Analytics. - Visitor adoption. Percentage of visitors who generated the Track Event, calculated by dividing the total number of these visitors by the total number of active visitors in the app. This is only available if your plan includes Pendo Analytics.
- Account adoption. Percentage of unique accounts that generated the Track Event, calculated by dividing the total number of these accounts by the total number of active accounts in the app. This is only available if your plan includes Pendo Analytics.
Area chart
Below these metrics, an area chart displays all Track Events over the selected date range by default. Use the dropdown arrows in the chart title to modify the date range and data displayed.
In the first dropdown menu, select the frequency: Hourly, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly (options vary depending on your date range selected at the top of the page). In the second dropdown menu, choose one of the following options:
- Track Events. Total number of times that the Track Event was generated within the selected date range.
- Accounts. Total unique accounts with at least one visitor who generated the Track Event within the selected date range.
- Account adoption. Percentage of unique accounts that generated the Track Event, calculated by dividing the total number of these accounts by the total number of active accounts in the app. (Only available if your plan includes Pendo Analytics.)
- Account acquisition. Total unique accounts that generated the Track Event for the first time ever. (Only available if your plan includes Pendo Analytics.)
- Visitors. Total unique visitors who generated the Track Event within the selected date range.
- Visitor adoption. Percentage of visitors who generated the Track Event, calculated by dividing the total number of these visitors by the total number of active visitors in the app. (Only available if your plan includes Pendo Analytics.)
- Visitor acquisition. Total unique visitors who generated the Track Event for the first time ever. (Only available if your plan includes Pendo Analytics.)
After selecting the data from the second dropdown menu, hover over a data point in the chart to view the associated data and trending information based on the previous datapoint. If the trending information is "N/A", this indicates that the previous value was 0.
At the top-right corner of the area chart, you have two actions:
- Create goal. Set an ongoing or time-bound usage goal to measure adoption of this Track Event. For more information, see Event goals.
- View in Data Explorer. Generate a pre-filled Data Explorer report to analyze the chart data. With this report, you can compare segments and date ranges, apply advanced filters, drill into visitor and account details, customize visuals, and save the report to a dashboard for ongoing insights.
Top visitors and accounts
You can also view the Top visitors and Top accounts who generated the Track Event in the lists below the area chart. Select View all visitors or View all accounts at the top of these lists to view a report that lists all associated visitors or accounts, which you can then export to a CSV file.
Event breakdown
At the bottom of the page, the Event breakdown table lists each unique combination of event properties associated with the visitors who generated the Track Event. This means that if the same event properties are sent by the same visitor 10 times, only one row of data populates with a Total Events count of 10. The quantity specified next to the table header represents the total number of unique event property combinations, rather than the total number of Track Event generations.
This table contains up to 5,000 rows, and you can export the full dataset to CSV by selecting the Download CSV icon.
You can modify the table columns to your preference by using the Manage columns icon located in the top-right corner of the table.
Important: Avoid using the property name error in your Track Events. Pendo uses this field internally to flag processing issues with oversized payloads, which might overwrite or conflict with any custom field named error.
Use Track Event rules in segments
You can build segments based on Track Event usage in Pendo, such as visitors who have never generated a specific Track Event or visitors who have generated an event more than 10 times within a specific timeframe.
To do this, open the segment builder, add a rule, select Track Events at the bottom of the Product Usage section, and then update the additional dropdown options to your preference.
You can also select Use Event Property to add an event property filter to the segment rule. Options include global event properties, any configured custom event properties, and metadata that's enabled as historical metadata.
Note: If you intend to use the segment for guide eligibility, you can't use event properties and are limited to the “used” or “not used” options. For more information, see Ineligible segments for guide targeting.
View additional resources
Visit the Pendo Academy for a high-level explanation of when to use Track Events and how to configure them.
After you've configured Track Events, you can watch the Using Track Events video to learn how to use them for Pendo analytics and guides.