PostHog integration for the JavaScript Node

---
name: integration-javascript_node
description: PostHog integration for server-side Node.js applications using posthog-node
metadata:
  author: PostHog
  version: 1.9.4
---

# PostHog integration for JavaScript Node

This skill helps you add PostHog analytics to JavaScript Node applications.

## Workflow

Follow these steps in order to complete the integration:

1. `basic-integration-1.0-begin.md` - PostHog Setup - Begin ← **Start here**
2. `basic-integration-1.1-edit.md` - PostHog Setup - Edit
3. `basic-integration-1.2-revise.md` - PostHog Setup - Revise
4. `basic-integration-1.3-conclude.md` - PostHog Setup - Conclusion

## Reference files

- `references/node.md` - Node.js - docs
- `references/posthog-node.md` - PostHog Node.js SDK
- `references/identify-users.md` - Identify users - docs
- `references/basic-integration-1.0-begin.md` - PostHog setup - begin
- `references/basic-integration-1.1-edit.md` - PostHog setup - edit
- `references/basic-integration-1.2-revise.md` - PostHog setup - revise
- `references/basic-integration-1.3-conclude.md` - PostHog setup - conclusion

The example project shows the target implementation pattern. Consult the documentation for API details.

## Key principles

- **Environment variables**: Always use environment variables for PostHog keys. Never hardcode them.
- **Minimal changes**: Add PostHog code alongside existing integrations. Don't replace or restructure existing code.
- **Match the example**: Your implementation should follow the example project's patterns as closely as possible.

## Framework guidelines

- posthog-node is the Node.js server-side SDK package name – do NOT use posthog-js on the server
- Include enableExceptionAutocapture: true in the PostHog constructor options
- Add posthog.capture() calls in route handlers for meaningful user actions – every route that creates, updates, or deletes data should track an event with contextual properties
- Add posthog.captureException(err, distinctId) in the application's error handler (e.g., Express error middleware, Fastify setErrorHandler, Koa app.on('error'))
- In long-running servers, the SDK batches events automatically – do NOT set flushAt or flushInterval unless you have a specific reason to
- For short-lived processes (scripts, CLIs, serverless), set flushAt to 1 and flushInterval to 0 to send events immediately
- Reverse proxy is NOT needed for server-side Node.js – only client-side JavaScript needs a proxy to avoid ad blockers
- Remember that source code is available in the node_modules directory
- Check package.json for type checking or build scripts to validate changes

## Identifying users

Identify users during login and signup events. Refer to the example code and documentation for the correct identify pattern for this framework. If both frontend and backend code exist, pass the client-side session and distinct ID using `X-POSTHOG-DISTINCT-ID` and `X-POSTHOG-SESSION-ID` headers to maintain correlation.

## Error tracking

Add PostHog error tracking to relevant files, particularly around critical user flows and API boundaries.