Skip to main content

Web tracker

The d8a web tracker provides a GA4 gtag-style API that sends GA4 gtag-compatible requests directly to a d8a collector. Use it when you want GA4-style tracking without relying on Google-hosted tags.

Beta

The web tracker is currently in beta - feel free to report any problems via GitHub Issues.

Quick start​

Add the snippet to your page:

<script async src="https://global.t.d8a.tech/d/web-tracker.min.js"></script>
<script>
  window.d8aLayer = window.d8aLayer || [];
  window.d8a = window.d8a || function(){d8aLayer.push(arguments);};

d8a('js', new Date());
d8a('config', '<property_id>', {
server_container_url: 'https://global.t.d8a.tech/<property_id>/d/c'
});
</script>

note

By default, send_page_view is enabled, so the tracker will send a page_view. Enhanced measurement is also enabled by default (see Enhanced measurement). The d8a() function also exposes convenience methods (d8a.config, d8a.event, d8a.set, d8a.consent) that behave the same as the string-command form.

Configuration​

  • server_container_url: Required. Tracking URL for this property (the tracker uses this as the final endpoint).
    • Example (d8a Cloud): https://global.t.d8a.tech/80e1d6d0-560d-419f-ac2a-fe9281e93386/d/c
    • Example (Self-Hosted): https://example.org/d/c
  • For all available options, see Configuration.

Events​

The tracker supports sending events using d8a('event', '<event_name>', { ... }). Here are some of the most commonly used events:

Page view​

Automatically sent when a property is configured (unless send_page_view: false). You can also send it manually:

d8a('event', 'page_view', {
  page_title: 'Homepage',
  page_location: 'https://example.com/',
});

Add to cart​

Track when users add items to their shopping cart:

d8a('event', 'add_to_cart', {
  currency: 'USD',
  value: 29.99,
  items: [
    {
      item_id: 'SKU_123',
      item_name: 'Product Name',
      price: 29.99,
      quantity: 1,
    },
  ],
});

Purchase​

Track completed purchases:

d8a('event', 'purchase', {
  transaction_id: 'T_789456',
  value: 149.97,
  currency: 'USD',
  tax: 12.0,
  shipping: 9.99,
  coupon: 'WELCOME10',
  items: [
    {
      item_id: 'PROD_001',
      item_name: 'Classic Blue Denim Jeans',
      item_brand: 'FashionCo',
      item_category: 'Apparel',
      item_category2: 'Men',
      item_category3: 'Pants',
      item_variant: 'Blue',
      price: 79.99,
      quantity: 1,
      discount: 8.0,
      coupon: 'WELCOME10',
      index: 0,
    },
    {
      item_id: 'PROD_002',
      item_name: 'Wireless Bluetooth Headphones',
      item_brand: 'TechSound',
      item_category: 'Electronics',
      item_category2: 'Audio',
      item_category3: 'Headphones',
      item_variant: 'Black',
      price: 59.99,
      quantity: 1,
      discount: 0,
      index: 1,
    },
  ],
});

Custom events​

You can send any custom event name:

d8a('event', 'newsletter_signup', {
  newsletter_type: 'weekly',
  source: 'homepage',
});

For a complete list of recommended events and their parameters, see the GA4 recommended events documentation.

Enhanced measurement​

The tracker can automatically capture GA4-style events (enabled by default):

  • Site search: Fires view_search_results when the URL query string contains a known search parameter.
    • Default keys: q,s,search,query,keyword
  • Outbound clicks: Fires click with link_url, link_domain, outbound=1.
  • File downloads: Fires file_download with link_url, file_name, file_extension.

You can configure (or disable) these via d8a('config', ...) or d8a('set', ...). For all available configuration options, see Enhanced measurement settings.

Example (disable all auto events):

<script>
  d8a('config', '<property_id>', {
    server_container_url: 'https://global.t.d8a.tech/<property_id>/d/c',
    site_search_enabled: false,
    outbound_clicks_enabled: false,
    file_downloads_enabled: false,
  });
</script>
note

Enhanced measurement is intentionally lightweight:

  • Site search triggers at most once per page load (no SPA tracking beyond that).
  • Click-driven enhanced measurement events flush promptly to reduce drop-off on navigation.
  • The tracker does not support automatic SPA page views, scroll tracking, form interactions, or video engagement. The default gtag.js implementations for these are often too generic or unreliable for production needs. We recommend implementing these via a Tag Manager (like GTM) or custom event listeners for precise control.

Cookies​

The tracker manages two first-party cookies (unless consent explicitly denies analytics storage):

  • _d8a: Client ID cookie (value format: C1.1.<a>.<b>).
  • _d8a_<property_id>: Session context cookie (value format: S1.1...).

For details, see Cookies.

Engagement​

The tracker emits user_engagement events to tell the backend whether the user was actually engaged.

When analytics_storage consent changes after at least one property is configured, the tracker emits a lightweight user_engagement ping marked with ep.consent_update=1.

Each event includes _et (engagement time in milliseconds): time accumulated only while the page is active, visible, and focused.

When the accumulated _et for the current session reaches the engagement threshold (default: 10 seconds, configurable via session_engagement_time_sec), the tracker updates the Session context cookie to mark the session as engaged. After that, subsequent events from that session include seg=1.