Node

1. 1

   Install the package

   Required

   Install the PostHog Node.js library using your package manager:

   npm

   bashCopy

   npm install posthog-node

   yarn

   bashCopy

   yarn add posthog-node

   pnpm

   bashCopy

   pnpm add posthog-node

   bun

   bashCopy

   bun add posthog-node

2. 2

   Initialize PostHog

   Required

   Initialize the PostHog client with your project token:

   Node.js

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   import { PostHog } from 'posthog-node'
   
   const client = new PostHog(
       '<ph_project_token>',
       {
           host: 'https://us.i.posthog.com'
       }
   )

3. 3

   Send an event

   Recommended

   Once installed, you can manually send events to test your integration:

   Node.js

   javascriptCopy

   client.capture({
       distinctId: 'distinct_id_of_the_user',
       event: 'event_name',
       properties: {
           property1: 'value',
           property2: 'value',
       },
   })

4. 4

   Configure exception autocapture

   Recommended

   You can enable exception autocapture when initializing the PostHog client to automatically capture uncaught exceptions and unhandled rejections in your Node app.

   Node.js

   javascriptCopy

   import { PostHog } from 'posthog-node'
   const client = new PostHog(
       '<ph_project_token>',
       { host: 'https://us.i.posthog.com', enableExceptionAutocapture: true }
   )

   If you are using the Express framework, you will need to import and call with your PostHog client and Express app. This is because Express handles uncaught exceptions internally meaning exception autocapture will not work by default.

5. 5

   Manually capture exceptions

   Optional

   If you need to manually capture exceptions, you can do so by calling the captureException method:

   Node.js

   javascriptCopy

   posthog.captureException(e, 'user_distinct_id', additionalProperties)

   This is helpful if you’ve built your own error handling logic or want to capture exceptions normally handled by the framework.

6. Verify error tracking

   Recommended

   Confirm events are being sent to PostHog

   Before proceeding, let’s make sure exception events are being captured and sent to PostHog. You should see events appear in the activity feed.

   

   Check for exceptions in PostHog (opens in a new tab)

7. 6

   Upload source maps

   Required

   Great, you’re capturing exceptions! If you serve minified bundles, the next step is to upload source maps to generate accurate stack traces.

   Let’s continue to the next section.

   Upload source maps (opens in a new tab)

Still have questions?

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Note: Error tracking requires access the file system to process stack traces. Some providers, like Cloudflare Workers, do not support Node.js runtime APIs by default and need to be included as per their documentation (opens in a new tab).