EXAMPLE Django

pip install posthog

POSTHOG_PROJECT_TOKEN=your_posthog_project_token
POSTHOG_HOST=https://us.i.posthog.com

python manage.py migrate

python manage.py runserver

django/
├── manage.py                    # Django management script
├── requirements.txt             # Python dependencies
├── .env.example                 # Environment variable template
├── .gitignore
├── posthog_example/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── settings.py              # Django settings with PostHog config
│   ├── urls.py                  # URL routing
│   ├── wsgi.py                  # WSGI application
│   └── asgi.py                  # ASGI application
└── core/
    ├── __init__.py
    ├── apps.py                  # AppConfig with PostHog initialization
    ├── views.py                 # Views with event tracking examples
    ├── urls.py                  # App URL patterns
    └── templates/
        └── core/
            ├── base.html        # Base template
            ├── home.html        # Home/login page
            ├── burrito.html     # Burrito page with event tracking
            ├── dashboard.html   # Dashboard with feature flag example
            └── profile.html     # Profile page

import posthog
from django.conf import settings

class CoreConfig(AppConfig):
    name = 'core'

    def ready(self):
        posthog.api_key = settings.POSTHOG_PROJECT_TOKEN
        posthog.host = settings.POSTHOG_HOST

import os

# PostHog configuration
POSTHOG_PROJECT_TOKEN = os.environ.get('POSTHOG_PROJECT_TOKEN', '<ph_project_token>')
POSTHOG_HOST = os.environ.get('POSTHOG_HOST', 'https://us.i.posthog.com')

MIDDLEWARE = [
    # ... other middleware
    'posthog.integrations.django.PosthogContextMiddleware',
]

import posthog

def login_view(request):
    # ... authentication logic
    if user:
        with posthog.new_context():
            posthog.identify_context(str(user.id))
            posthog.tag('email', user.email)
            posthog.tag('username', user.username)
            posthog.capture('user_logged_in', properties={
                'login_method': 'email',
            })

import posthog

def consider_burrito(request):
    user_id = str(request.user.id) if request.user.is_authenticated else 'anonymous'

    with posthog.new_context():
        posthog.identify_context(user_id)
        posthog.capture('burrito_considered', properties={
            'total_considerations': request.session.get('burrito_count', 0),
        })

import posthog

def dashboard_view(request):
    user_id = str(request.user.id) if request.user.is_authenticated else 'anonymous'

    show_new_feature = posthog.feature_enabled(
        'new-dashboard-feature',
        distinct_id=user_id
    )

    return render(request, 'core/dashboard.html', {
        'show_new_feature': show_new_feature
    })

import posthog

def profile_view(request):
    try:
        risky_operation()
    except Exception as e:
        posthog.capture_exception(e)

posthog.init('<ph_project_token>', {
    api_host: 'https://us.i.posthog.com',
    tracing_headers: ['your-backend-domain.com'],
})

POSTHOG_PROJECT_TOKEN=
POSTHOG_HOST=https://us.i.posthog.com
DJANGO_SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key-here
DEBUG=True

# Core app for PostHog Django example

"""
Django AppConfig that initializes PostHog when the application starts.

This ensures the SDK is configured once when Django starts, making it available throughout the application.
"""

from django.apps import AppConfig
from django.conf import settings


class CoreConfig(AppConfig):
    default_auto_field = 'django.db.models.BigAutoField'
    name = 'core'

    def ready(self):
        """
        Initialize PostHog when Django starts.

        This method is called once when Django starts. We configure the
        PostHog SDK here so it's available everywhere in the application.

        Note: Import posthog inside this method to avoid import issues
        during Django's startup sequence.
        """
        import posthog

        # Configure PostHog with settings from Django settings
        posthog.api_key = settings.POSTHOG_PROJECT_TOKEN
        posthog.host = settings.POSTHOG_HOST

        # Honor the POSTHOG_DISABLED setting (useful for testing)
        if settings.POSTHOG_DISABLED:
            posthog.disabled = True

        # Optional: Enable debug mode in development
        if settings.DEBUG:
            posthog.debug = True

        # Register the auth signal that identifies the login request's context.
        from . import signals  # noqa: F401

"""PostHog identity for the login request.

The middleware reads request.user once, before any view runs. On a login request
the visitor is still anonymous at that point, so the request's context has no
distinct ID, and calling login() inside the view does not change that. This
signal runs inside the login request and identifies the ambient context, so
every capture later in that same request is attributed to the user who just
logged in. Requests made after login don't need this: the middleware sees the
authenticated user from the start.
"""

import posthog
from posthog import identify_context
from django.contrib.auth.signals import user_logged_in
from django.dispatch import receiver


@receiver(user_logged_in)
def identify_posthog_user(sender, request, user, **kwargs):
    identify_context(str(user.pk))

    # PII belongs in person properties, never in event properties.
    posthog.set(
        distinct_id=str(user.pk),
        properties={
            'email': user.email,
            'username': user.username,
            'name': user.get_full_name() or user.username,
            'is_staff': user.is_staff,
            'date_joined': user.date_joined.isoformat(),
        },
    )

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>{% block title %}PostHog Django example{% endblock %}</title>
    <style>
        * {
            box-sizing

{% extends 'core/base.html' %}

{% block title %}Burrito - PostHog Django example{% endblock %}

{% block content %}
<div class="card">
    <h1>Burrito consideration tracker</h1>
    <p>This page demonstrates custom event tracking with PostHog.</p>
</div>

<div class="card" style="text-align: center;">
    <h2>Times considered</h2>
    <div class="count" id="burrito-count">{{ burrito_count }}</div>
    <button onclick="considerBurrito()" style="font-size: 18px; padding: 15px 30px;">
        Consider a burrito
    </button>
</div>

<div class="card">
    <h3>How event tracking works</h3>
    <p>Each time you click the button, a <code>burrito_considered</code> event is sent to PostHog:</p>
    <pre style="background: #f3f4f6; padding: 15px; border-radius: 5px; overflow-x: auto; margin-top: 15px;"><code>from posthog import new_context, identify_context, capture

with new_context():
    identify_context(user_id)
    capture('burrito_considered', properties={
        'total_considerations': count,
    })</code></pre>
</div>
{% endblock %}

{% block scripts %}
<script>
async function considerBurrito() {
    try {
        const response = await fetch('{% url "consider_burrito" %}', {
            method: 'POST',
            headers: {
                'X-CSRFToken': '{{ csrf_token }}',
                'Content-Type': 'application/json',
            },
        });

        const data = await response.json();

        if (data.success) {
            document.getElementById('burrito-count').textContent = data.count;
        }
    } catch (error) {
        console.error('Error:', error);
    }
}
</script>
{% endblock %}

{% extends 'core/base.html' %}

{% block title %}Dashboard - PostHog Django example{% endblock %}

{% block content %}
<div class="card">
    <h1>Dashboard</h1>
    <p>Welcome back, <strong>{{ user.username }}</strong>!</p>
</div>

<div class="card">
    <h2>Feature flags</h2>
    <p>Feature flags allow you to control feature rollouts and run A/B tests.</p>

    {% if show_new_feature %}
    <div class="feature-flag">
        <h3>New feature enabled!</h3>
        <p>
            This section is only visible because the <code>new-dashboard-feature</code>
            flag is enabled for your user.
        </p>
        {% if feature_config %}
        <p><strong>Feature config:</strong> {{ feature_config }}</p>
        {% endif %}
    </div>
    {% else %}
    <div style="background: #f3f4f6; padding: 15px; border-radius: 8px; margin-top: 15px;">
        <p>
            The <code>new-dashboard-feature</code> flag is not enabled for your user.
            Create this flag in your PostHog project to see it in action.
        </p>
    </div>
    {% endif %}
</div>

<div class="card">
    <h3>How feature flags work</h3>
    <pre style="background: #f3f4f6; padding: 15px; border-radius: 5px; overflow-x: auto;"><code># Check if a feature flag is enabled
show_feature = posthog.feature_enabled(
    'new-dashboard-feature',
    distinct_id=user_id,
    person_properties={
        'email': user.email,
        'is_staff': user.is_staff,
    }
)

# Get feature flag payload for configuration
config = posthog.get_feature_flag_payload(
    'new-dashboard-feature',
    distinct_id=user_id,
)</code></pre>
</div>
{% endblock %}

{% extends 'core/base.html' %}

{% block title %}Login - PostHog Django example{% endblock %}

{% block content %}
<div class="card">
    <h1>PostHog Django example</h1>
    <p>Welcome! This example demonstrates PostHog integration with Django.</p>
</div>

<div class="card">
    <h2>Login</h2>
    <p>Login to see PostHog analytics in action.</p>

    <form method="post" style="margin-top: 20px;">
        {% csrf_token %}
        <input type="text" name="username" placeholder="Username" required>
        <input type="password" name="password" placeholder="Password" required>
        <button type="submit">Login</button>
    </form>

    <p style="margin-top: 15px; color: #666; font-size: 14px;">
        Tip: Create a user with <code>python manage.py createsuperuser</code>
    </p>
</div>

<div class="card">
    <h3>What this example demonstrates</h3>
    <ul style="padding-left: 20px;">
        <li><strong>User identification</strong> - Users are identified with <code>identify_context()</code> on login</li>
        <li><strong>Pageview tracking</strong> - Middleware extracts session and user context</li>
        <li><strong>Event tracking</strong> - Custom events captured with <code>capture()</code> in context</li>
        <li><strong>Feature flags</strong> - Conditional features with <code>posthog.feature_enabled()</code></li>
        <li><strong>Error tracking</strong> - Exceptions captured with <code>capture_exception()</code></li>
    </ul>
</div>
{% endblock %}

{% extends 'core/base.html' %}

{% block title %}Profile - PostHog Django example{% endblock %}

{% block content %}
<div class="card">
    <h1>Profile</h1>
    <p>This page demonstrates error tracking with PostHog.</p>
</div>

<div class="card">
    <h2>User information</h2>
    <table style

"""
URL configuration for the core app.

This module defines all the URL patterns for the PostHog example views.
"""

from django.urls import path
from . import views

urlpatterns = [
    # Home login page
    path('', views.home_view, name='home'),

    # Authentication
    path('logout/', views.logout_view, name='logout'),

    # Dashboard with feature flags
    path('dashboard/', views.dashboard_view, name='dashboard'),

    # Burrito example for event tracking
    path('burrito/', views.burrito_view, name='burrito'),
    path('api/burrito/consider/', views.consider_burrito_view, name='consider_burrito'),

    # Profile with error tracking
    path('profile/', views.profile_view, name='profile'),
    path('api/trigger-error/', views.trigger_error_view, name='trigger_error'),

    # Group analytics example
    path('api/group-analytics/', views.group_analytics_view, name='group_analytics'),
]

"""Django views demonstrating PostHog integration patterns"""

import posthog
from posthog import capture
from django.shortcuts import render, redirect
from django.contrib.auth import authenticate, login, logout
from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_required
from django.contrib import messages
from django.http import JsonResponse
from django.views.decorators.http import require_POST


def home_view(request):

#!/usr/bin/env python
"""Django's command-line utility for administrative tasks."""
import os
import sys


def main():
    """Run administrative tasks."""
    os.environ.setdefault('DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE', 'posthog_example.settings')
    try:
        from django.core.management import execute_from_command_line
    except ImportError as exc:
        raise ImportError(
            "Couldn't import Django. Are you sure it's installed and "
            "available on your PYTHONPATH environment variable? Did you "
            "forget to activate a virtual environment?"
        ) from exc
    execute_from_command_line(sys.argv)


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

# PostHog Django example project

"""
ASGI config for PostHog example project
"""

import os

from django.core.asgi import get_asgi_application

os.environ.setdefault('DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE', 'posthog_example.settings')

application = get_asgi_application()

"""Django settings for PostHog example project"""

import os
from pathlib import Path

try:
    from dotenv import load_dotenv
    load_dotenv()
except ImportError:
    pass

BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent

SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('DJANGO_SECRET_KEY', 'django-insecure-example-key-change-in-production')

DEBUG = os.environ.get('DEBUG', 'True').lower() == 'true'

ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['localhost', '127.0.0.1']


# PostHog configuration
POSTHOG_PROJECT_TOKEN = os.environ.get('POSTHOG_PROJECT_TOKEN', '<ph_project_token>')
POSTHOG_HOST = os.environ.get('POSTHOG_HOST', 'https://us.i.posthog.com')
POSTHOG_DISABLED = os.environ.get('POSTHOG_DISABLED', 'False').lower() == 'true'


INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'django.contrib.admin',
    'django.contrib.auth',
    'django.contrib.contenttypes',
    'django.contrib.sessions',
    'django.contrib.messages',
    'django.contrib.staticfiles',
    'core.apps.CoreConfig',
]

MIDDLEWARE = [
    'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
    'posthog.integrations.django.PosthogContextMiddleware',
]

ROOT_URLCONF = 'posthog_example.urls'

TEMPLATES = [
    {
        'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates',
        'DIRS': [],
        'APP_DIRS': True,
        'OPTIONS': {
            'context_processors': [
                'django.template.context_processors.debug',
                'django.template.context_processors.request',
                'django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth',
                'django.contrib.messages.context_processors.messages',
            ],
        },
    },
]

WSGI_APPLICATION = 'posthog_example.wsgi.application'

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
        'NAME': BASE_DIR / 'db.sqlite3',
    }
}

AUTH_PASSWORD_VALIDATORS = [
    {'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.UserAttributeSimilarityValidator'},
    {'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.MinimumLengthValidator'},
    {'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.CommonPasswordValidator'},
    {'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.NumericPasswordValidator'},
]

LANGUAGE_CODE = 'en-us'
TIME_ZONE = 'UTC'
USE_I18N = True
USE_TZ = True

STATIC_URL = 'static/'

DEFAULT_AUTO_FIELD = 'django.db.models.BigAutoField'

"""
URL configuration for PostHog example project
"""

from django.contrib import admin
from django.urls import path, include

urlpatterns = [
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
    # Include the core app URLs for PostHog examples
    path('', include('core.urls')),
]

"""
WSGI config for PostHog example project
"""

import os

from django.core.wsgi import get_wsgi_application

os.environ.setdefault('DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE', 'posthog_example.settings')

application = get_wsgi_application()

Django>=4.2,<5.0
posthog  # Always use latest version
python-dotenv>=1.0.0