Analyze business objects (beta)

Business object analytics (beta) lets you analyze the business objects in your product, such as orders, tasks, or projects, the same way that you analyze Pages and Features. Use it to answer questions about the entities inside your product, not only the screens visitors view.

Use cases

Visitor and account analytics tell you who did something in your product. Objects add the other half of the picture: what they were working on.

Use objects to:

• Measure conversion and time to completion, so you can see how objects move through a funnel, where they drop off, and how long each stage takes.
• Understand engagement for the entities visitors actually use, not only the pages they visit.
• Compare values against each other by visitors, event count, or time spent.
• Track adoption of new entities as the number of active values changes over time.
• Diagnose frustration, such as U-turns, rage clicks, and error clicks, on individual values.
• Share object metrics on dashboards alongside your other analytics.

How it works

An object represents an entity your product works on, such as an order, task, or project, defined by an event property whose value identifies a specific entity (for example, orderId or taskId). An object can span many visitors and accounts rather than belonging to any single one. Object analytics works best for high-volume entities that appear across many events, such as large numbers of orders, documents, or devices.

For example, a project-management app sends a projectId on every event that happens inside a project. After setting up an object called Projects, a Pendo user can see how many projects were active last month, which ones had the most engagement, and how a specific project is trending, without building a separate report for each one.

Objects work alongside the rest of your analytics:

• You analyze objects with familiar tools. Objects use the same metrics and analytics surfaces you already use for Pages, Features, and Track Events.
• Objects complement visitor and account analytics. They add to your existing analysis rather than replacing it.
• Objects build on your event data. An object is based on an event property, whether one Pendo already collects or a new one you send going forward, so there's no separate analytics pipeline to set up. Objects use event data collected after you add the object, so historical events aren't included.
• Objects work with funnels. Measure how objects move through a sequence of steps to see where they drop off and how long each stage takes.

Before you begin

Before you get started setting up an object, you must have:

• The Analytics module included in your subscription.
• Permission to edit event properties, which lets you add, edit, or remove objects. Subscription admins have this permission by default.
• A way to send the object's ID to Pendo on your events: in your page URLs, on a Track Event, or through the web SDK. See Send your object's ID to Pendo for the options.
• (Recommended, not required) A basic understanding of how event properties work, since every object is built from an event property. If you plan to identify your object from the URL, understanding URL rules helps too. For more information, see Event properties and URLs for Page tagging.

To only view object data, a user needs viewer access to analytics, not permission to edit event properties.

Send your object's values to Pendo

Pendo tracks an object by the values of its identifying event property, such as the order IDs carried by orderId. Those values have to reach Pendo on your events before Pendo can collect activity for the object. The Set up tracking step of the wizard offers three methods, and you can use more than one, as long as they all send the same event property:

• URL rules. Use this when the values appear in your page URLs (for example, /orders/A-1024). Add a rule to capture them, with no code changes required.
• Web SDK. Use this when the values aren't in the URL. Send the event property on a Track Event with pendo.track, or add it to captured events with the Pendo Web SDK's onEventCaptured. For Track Event setup steps, see Configure Track Events. For onEventCaptured, see the web SDK documentation for event properties.
• Mobile SDK. Use this for mobile apps, where URL rules don't apply. Send the event property on Track Events from the mobile SDK.

Pendo starts collecting activity for an object after tracking is set up. Earlier activity isn't included.

You can also add descriptive metadata to an object, such as status or type, to filter and compare your object data. For more information, see Send object metadata.

Create an object

Each subscription has an object limit, with up to five objects included by default. Your actual limit can be higher based on your plan. Creating an object is a three-step process: name the object, set up tracking, and confirm the details.

1. In the left-side menu, go to Product > Object analytics.
2. Select Create object. If the button is inactive, you've reached your subscription's object limit.
   • To request a higher limit, contact your Pendo account representative or our support team.
   • If you don't have permission to manage objects, the button doesn't appear.
3. On the Name your object step, enter a Display name (used as the object's label throughout Pendo) and an optional Description.
4. Under Object identifier, answer whether you already have an event property for this object:
   • Yes. Select the event property that identifies the object from the data Pendo already collects. Only event properties with a string or integer type are listed.
   • No. Enter the Field name of the event property you'll send on your events, such as orderId. If it closely matches an event property Pendo already collects, select Use this property to build the object from that data instead. You can't use accountId, visitorId, or visitorPriority, in any letter casing, as the identifier.
5. Select Next to go to the Set up tracking step. Choose one or more tracking methods: URL rules, Web SDK, or Mobile SDK.
   • On the URL rules tab, add the rules and skip values that capture the object's values from your page URLs. For syntax, examples, and how to test your rules, see Set up URL rules. To reuse rules from your tagged Pages, select Copy existing page parameter rules.
   • On the Web SDK and Mobile SDK tabs, follow the instructions and code sample for sending the event property from your code. Select Hide instructions or Show instructions to collapse or expand them.
6. Select Next to go to the Confirm details step. Review the Details card, then select Save. Before you save, the Activity row reads No. After you save, it reads No data received yet until events carrying the object's property arrive.

Set up URL rules

URL rules tell Pendo how to extract the object's ID from a URL, so they only work if that ID actually appears in your page URLs.

Add one rule for each URL pattern, and Pendo applies the first rule that matches. You can add up to 20 rules and up to 20 skip values. The URL rules step includes built-in formatting help with the same patterns and examples shown here.

Write a URL rule

Follow these conventions:

• Start each rule with // so it matches whether the URL uses http or https.
• Mark the part of the URL you want to capture with *value*. Each rule needs exactly one *value*.
• Use these tokens to match the rest of the URL:
  • * and ** apply to path parts only. Use * for a single part and ** for the rest of the path.
  • ~contains: matches a path part, the server name, or the fragment after # that contains specific text.
  • ~or: matches a path part that exactly equals one of several alternatives, separated by a vertical bar. Each alternative is matched literally, not as a pattern.

For more about how Pendo matches URLs, see URLs for Page tagging.

Add skip values

Skip values are values Pendo won't capture. Enter a string or number. Add a skip value for anything a rule would capture that isn't a real object, such as new in /orders/new while an order is being created.

Test your rules

Before you save, use Test URLs to check how your rules match the URLs you expect. Select Add a test URL and enter a URL. The Matched rule column shows which rule matched, and the Status column shows one of three results:

• Matched. A rule matched and captured a value. The Parsed value column shows it.
• Not matched. No rule matched this URL.
• Skipped. A rule matched, but the value is in your skip values.

Test URLs aren't saved. When your test URLs show the values you expect, continue to the Confirm details step and select Save to finish creating the object.

View your objects

The object list shows every object in the subscription and how each one is trending against the previous period.

Above the table, use the global filters to change the date range, segment, or account filter. On multi-app subscriptions, this page doesn't include an app filter, because each object's URL rules already determine which app and pages it covers.

The table title shows how many objects you've added out of the maximum, for example Objects (3 of 5 used).

Default columns include:

• Name. The object's display name. Select an object to open its details.
• Total objects. The number of distinct values tracked for the object in the selected date range. Because each row is a different object, this column keeps the generic label; on the object's detail page the same metric is named after the object, for example Total Orders.
• Metric columns. Visitors, Objects per visitor, and Visitors per object, each with a percentage chip that compares to the previous period. Accounts and Objects per account are included when account analytics is turned on for your subscription.
• Created. The date and time the object was created.

Use Manage columns to show or hide columns. Hidden by default are Description (what you entered when you created the object, or None if you didn't add one) and, on multi-app subscriptions, Apps (the apps where the object's URL rules apply). Hover over the Total objects or Apps column header to see a description of what it shows.

Admins see row actions for Edit URL rules and Remove object property.

View object metadata

When object metadata is available, go to Settings > Metadata > Object metadata to view a searchable, read-only table of object metadata fields. The table shows the object, field name, display name, and type. Select a linked object name to open its detail page. To create object metadata fields and send values through the Pendo Web SDK or the API, see Send object metadata.

Analyze an object

Selecting an object opens its detail page. The header shows the object's title, description, the date it was created, and a breadcrumb link back to Object analytics. The built-in account object doesn't show a description editor. Admins see Edit tracking and Remove as object in the header.

Filter the object's analytics

Under the header, a filter row lets you narrow the object's analytics by:

• Apps, Product Areas, or events. Restrict the analysis to specific applications, product areas, or individual events. In the Activity tab, scoping only to product area is supported for rollup granularities. Second- and millisecond-level activity still requires an app selection.
• Event types. Filter to only view Pages, Features, or Track Events.
• Property. Add up to five event property filters (Add filter).
• Object metadata. If metadata is available for the current object property, select Add filter and choose Object metadata to filter by metadata associated with that object.

Overview tab

The Overview tab has three sections:

• Details. A collapsible card that shows the object's setup:
  • Field name. The event property that identifies the object.
  • URL rules. How many URL rules and skip values are set up, or None. Admins can select the pencil icon to edit URL rules inline.
  • Activity. Data received when events carrying the object's property have arrived, or No data received yet. Because Pendo can't detect SDK-based tracking directly, this row reports whether data has arrived rather than which tracking methods are set up.
  • Metadata. The object metadata fields that are set up, or None. Select Show instructions for the code needed to send metadata. For more information, see Send object metadata.

• Metrics. A metric grid and chart comparing key metrics against the previous period. Metric names use the object's name. For an object named Orders, the grid shows Total Orders, Visitors, Accounts, Average time per Order, Average visitors per Order, and Average Orders per visitor by default.

  If account analytics isn't turned on for your subscription, the Accounts metric is omitted. When Account is itself selected as the object, redundant account metrics, including the account count and average accounts per object, are also omitted.

  Select the Manage metrics icon to change which metrics appear. Select the Add metrics to dashboard icon to add the current view to an existing dashboard.

• Object breakdown. A table of this object's individual values, ordered by how much event activity each one has (Total Events). Select a value to open it on its own.

Selecting an object value from the object breakdown opens a view scoped to that single value. The header shows Filtered to {value}, and all metrics and events on the page apply to that value only. Use the breadcrumb to return to the full object.

Events tab

The Events tab shows how visitors interact with events tied to this object.

• The chart title reads Top events by number of {field_name}. If you filter by event type, the title updates to match.
• Below the chart, a table lists all events in scope. Use Search events to filter by name, and the Lifecycle role filter to narrow by role. Use the star icon to favorite those events.
• Select the checkboxes in two or more rows, then choose the three dots in the top-right corner of the table and select Create report > Funnel to build a funnel scoped to those events, so you can see where objects drop off and how long each stage takes.

Build a funnel by object

Funnels measure how many items move through a sequence of steps and where they drop off. By default, a funnel measures visitors, but you can measure it by object instead to see how your business objects progress through a sequence.

To build one, create a funnel the way you normally would, then set Funnel by to your object. Funnel by is set to Visitor by default, so select your object to measure the funnel by that object instead. Build the rest of your query as usual.

For the full steps to create and configure a funnel, see Funnels.

Add objects to a dashboard

You can add object metrics to any dashboard using two widgets in the catalog under Analytics:

• Object analytics key metrics. Shows key metrics for an object, including distinct values, average visitors per value, and total time per value.
• Object analytics chart. Charts one or more object metrics over time. Set the object, time range, segment, metrics, and chart display settings.

To add a widget:

1. Open the dashboard you want to edit and select Add widget.
2. In the widget catalog, choose Object analytics key metrics or Object analytics chart.
3. Configure the object, time range, and segment. Widgets default to the last 30 days and the Everyone segment.
4. Select Save to add the widget to the dashboard.

When you apply a Product Area filter to the dashboard, both widgets re-scope to the product areas you select. For more information, see Filter your dashboard in Dashboards.

Manage or remove an object

Subscription admins and event property managers can edit an object's URL rules from either the object list or the object's detail page:

1. Select the pencil icon (Edit URL rules) next to the object.
2. Update the URL rules or skip values.
3. Select Save.

To remove an object:

1. Select the trash icon (Remove object property) in the list, or Remove as object property on the detail page.
2. In the Remove object property? confirmation, select Remove.

Removing an object doesn't stop Pendo from collecting data. Pendo keeps collecting the underlying event data, but no longer treats the property as an object, which means:

• The object no longer appears on the Business object analytics page.
• You can't use it in a funnel.
• If the property has a large number of unique values (high cardinality), you can't use it in other reports.

Pendo doesn't process this data retroactively, so if you recreate the object later, the data collected while it was turned off won't be available.

Analyze objects through the Pendo MCP server

If the Pendo MCP server is turned on for your subscription, you can query analytics for the objects you track from your own AI tools, the same way you can in Pendo. This includes active-value counts, metric breakdowns, time series, event breakdowns by object, and object metadata.

For more information, see Pendo MCP tools for AI agents.

Troubleshooting

• The Create object button is inactive or missing. If the button is inactive, you've reached the object limit for your subscription. Remove an object you no longer need, or contact your Pendo representative to raise the limit. If the button doesn't appear at all, you don't have permission to manage objects; ask a subscription admin.
• A newly created object shows no data. Objects measure events that carry the object's property, collected from the time the object was created. Check the Activity row of the object's Details card: if it reads No data received yet, confirm that the property is being sent on the events in scope, and that at least one URL rule matches the pages where those events happen.
• A frustration metric shows a red trend even though the number went down. Frustration metrics (U-turns, rage clicks, dead clicks, error clicks) invert trend colors so that an increase is flagged as worse. A decrease is a positive change.
• A user without management access sees "Ask your admin to set one up." Object management requires subscription admin or permission to edit event properties. Someone with that access needs to add the first object before other users can analyze it.

Related resources

• Event properties: how event properties are captured and used.
• Tag Features and Pages, or set up Track Events, so your events carry the properties you want to turn into objects.
• Build a segment that combines object metrics with your visitor and account data.
• Create a dashboard and add object widgets to share object trends with your colleagues.