React

1. 1

   Install the package

   Required

   Install posthog-js (opens in a new tab) and @posthog/react using your package manager:

   npm

   bashCopy

   npm install posthog-js @posthog/react

   yarn

   bashCopy

   yarn add posthog-js @posthog/react

   pnpm

   bashCopy

   pnpm add posthog-js @posthog/react

   bun

   bashCopy

   bun add posthog-js @posthog/react

2. 2

   Add environment variables

   Required

   Add your PostHog project token and host to your environment variables. For Vite-based React apps, use the VITE_ prefix to expose them to the client:

   .env

   bashCopy

   VITE_POSTHOG_PROJECT_TOKEN=<ph_project_token>
   VITE_POSTHOG_HOST=https://us.i.posthog.com

3. 3

   Initialize PostHog

   Required

   Wrap your app with the PostHogProvider component at the root of your application (such as main.tsx if you’re using Vite):

   main.tsx

   jsxCopy

   import { StrictMode } from 'react'
   import { createRoot } from 'react-dom/client'
   import './index.css'
   import App from './App.jsx'
   import
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

4. 4

   Accessing PostHog in your code

   Recommended

   Use the usePostHog hook to access the PostHog instance in any component wrapped by PostHogProvider:

   MyComponent.tsx

   jsxCopy

   import { usePostHog } from '@posthog/react'
   
   function MyComponent() {
       const posthog = usePostHog()
   
       function handleClick() {
           posthog.capture
   
   
   
   

5. 5

   Send events

   Recommended

   Click around and view a couple pages to generate some events. PostHog automatically captures pageviews, clicks, and other interactions for you.

   If you’d like, you can also manually capture custom events:

   JavaScript

   javascriptCopy

   posthog.capture('my_custom_event', { property: 'value' })

6. 6

   Set up exception autocapture

   Recommended

   You can enable exception autocapture for the JavaScript Web SDK in the Error tracking section of your project settings (opens in a new tab).

   When enabled, this automatically captures $exception events when errors are thrown by wrapping the window.onerror and window.onunhandledrejection listeners.

7. 7

   Set up error boundaries

   Optional

   You can use the PostHogErrorBoundary component to capture rendering errors thrown by components:

   JavaScript

   javascriptCopy

   import { PostHogProvider, PostHogErrorBoundary } from '@posthog/react'
   const Layout = () => {
     return (
       <PostHogProvider apiKey
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

8. 8

   Manually capture exceptions

   Optional

   It is also possible to manually capture exceptions using the captureException method:

   JavaScript

   javascriptCopy

   posthog.captureException(error, additionalProperties)

9. 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)

10. 9

    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)

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defaults option

The defaults option automatically configures PostHog with recommended settings for new projects. See SDK defaults (opens in a new tab) for details.

You can also import posthog directly for non-React code or utility functions:

utils/analytics.ts