Troubleshooting and FAQs

Why are events not appearing in my project?

There are a few common reasons that you may not see events appear in your project:

1. Your library is configured incorrectly

This is the most common reason events may be missing. To debug if this issue, you can try send events to https://webhook.site/:

Warning: Make sure to not use sensitive data while debugging using third-party tools.

1. Visit webhook.site and copy “Your unique URL”.
2. In your PostHog initialization code, replace "https://app.posthog.com" or "https://eu.posthog.com" if using the EU Cloud) with the URL you copied from webhook.site. For example:

posthog.init('<ph_project_api_key>', { api_host: '<https://webhook.site/843c9506-b845-4ce4-af46-d04022279393>' }) // Replace with the URL you copied from webhook.site

3. Send a few events from your app.

If events are not visible in webhook.site, that means you have misconfigured your PostHog library, or incorrectly formatted your events. Consult our installation guide for how to initialize PostHog.

If events are indeed visible in webhook.site, these means that you have configured your PostHog correctly.

2. An app has been configured incorrectly

Another common reason for missing events is that certain plugins have been configured to drop certain or all events. To debug if this is the case, follow the below steps in order:

1. If you're using the Filter Out plugin, ensure that it is configured correctly.
2. Try to temporarily disable the Filter Out plugin.
3. Try to temporarily disable all other enabled plugins.

3. There is a bug the PostHog library

Sometimes, bugs in the PostHog library may be the cause of missing events. However, this is quite uncommon.

To debug if this is the issue, most of our SDKs have an option to enable debug logging. Consult the relevant SDK docs for how to do this.

If you're using the JavaScript web library, you can identify failed requests using the network tab in your browser devtools:

1. Open devtools in your browser and switch to the network tab.
2. Identify the failed requests to app.posthog.com/e (or eu.posthog.com/e if you're using EU Cloud).
3. Right click one of those request and click Copy -> Copy as cURL.
4. See below on how to report your issue and attach your cURL command to get further support.

4. Events are not ingested after being received by PostHog

If your library is configured correctly and successfully sending events to PostHog, events may get lost in the ingestion pipeline – e.g. if there is an active incident.

To confirm if this is the issue, use the following steps:

1. Ensure that PostHog is not experiencing an incident, as this may cause ingestion lags.

2. Check your PostHog app for any ingestion warnings.

3. Send your event as a cURL request directly

   • i) Copy your cURL request.
     • If you're using the JavaScript web library, you can copy the cURL request from the network tab in your browser devtools.
     • If you're using any other library, you can track your outgoing network requests using something like Wireshark and format them as a cURL request.
   • ii) Decode your request.
   • iii) Send your event a cURL request. Wait 1 hour and check if the event is still not visible in PostHog.

Once you have confirmed there is an issue with event ingestion, you can report your issue to get further support.

Does PostHog block bots by default?

Yes, PostHog blocks most known bots by default. Bots we block are listed below:

Want a bot added to this list? Request it via the in-app feedback form, or raise an issue in the posthog-js GitHub repo.

Report your issue

Step 1: Decode your cURL command

1. Your copied cURL command will look similar to this:

curl 'http://localhost:3000/e?ip=1&_=1691496272289&ver=1.53.4' \
  -H 'Origin: http://localhost:3000' \
  --data-raw 'data=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' \
  --compressed

2. Copy the base64 encoded string right after --data-raw 'data=.

3. Visit base64decode.org and paste the encoded string.

4. Click decode and paste the decoded output into this format:

POST https://[your-instance].com/capture/
Content-Type: application/json
Body:
{
    "api_key": "<ph_project_api_key>",
    "event": "event_name",
    "distinct_id": "distinct_id_of_your_user",
    "properties": {
        "key1": "value1",
        "key2": "value2"
    },
    "timestamp": "[optional timestamp in ISO 8601 format]"
}

Step 2: Submit a support ticket

1. Submit a support ticket via the app (or contact the EU-Cloud support). Submit your issue in the below format, and also include the decoded request from step 1.

# Library:
// e.g.
// posthog-python https://posthog.com/docs/libraries/python

# Library initialization:
// e.g.
// from posthog import Posthog
// posthog = Posthog(phc_yourAPIKey, host='app_or_eu.posthog.com')

# What was called:
// e.g.
// posthog.capture(
//     "Bob", 
//     "user_signed_up", 
//     {
//         "login_type": "email", 
//         "is_free_trial": "true"
//     }
// )

# Network request
// [include request from previous step here]

# What was expected to happen:
// e.g.
// To see the network call include the login_type property.

# What actually happened:
// e.g.
// The "login_type" property was missing.