DotCMS SDK Analytics Installation Guide

This skill provides step-by-step instructions for installing and configuring the @dotcms/analytics SDK in the Next.js example project at /core/examples/nextjs.

Overview

The @dotcms/analytics SDK is dotCMS's official JavaScript library for tracking content-aware events and analytics. It provides:

• Automatic page view tracking
• Conversion tracking (purchases, downloads, sign-ups, etc.)
• Custom event tracking
• Session management (30-minute timeout)
• Anonymous user identity tracking
• UTM campaign parameter tracking
• Event batching/queuing for performance

🚨 Important: Understanding the Analytics Components

CRITICAL: useContentAnalytics() ALWAYS requires config as a parameter. The hook does NOT use React Context.

Component Roles

1. <DotContentAnalytics /> - Auto Page View Tracker

   • Only purpose: Automatically track pageviews on route changes
   • NOT a React Context Provider
   • Does NOT provide config to child components
   • Place in root layout for automatic pageview tracking

2. useContentAnalytics(config) - Manual Tracking Hook

   • Used for custom event tracking
   • ALWAYS requires config parameter
   • Import centralized config in each component that uses it

Correct Usage Pattern

// 1. Create centralized config file (once)
// /src/config/analytics.config.js
export const analyticsConfig = {
  siteAuth: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_DOTCMS_ANALYTICS_SITE_KEY,
  server: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_DOTCMS_ANALYTICS_HOST,
  autoPageView: true,
  debug: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_DOTCMS_ANALYTICS_DEBUG === "true",
};

// 2. Add DotContentAnalytics to layout for auto pageview tracking (optional)
// /src/app/layout.js
import { DotContentAnalytics } from "@dotcms/analytics/react";
import { analyticsConfig } from "@/config/analytics.config";

<DotContentAnalytics config={analyticsConfig} />;

// 3. Import config in every component that uses the hook
// /src/components/MyComponent.js
import { useContentAnalytics } from "@dotcms/analytics/react";
import { analyticsConfig } from "@/config/analytics.config";

const { track } = useContentAnalytics(analyticsConfig); // ✅ Config required!

Why centralize config? While you must import it in each component, centralizing prevents duplication and makes updates easier.

Quick Setup Summary

Here's the complete setup flow:

1. Install package
   └─> npm install @dotcms/analytics

2. Create centralized config file
   └─> /src/config/analytics.config.js
       └─> export const analyticsConfig = { siteAuth, server, debug, ... }

3. (Optional) Add DotContentAnalytics for auto pageview tracking
   └─> /src/app/layout.js
       └─> import { analyticsConfig } from "@/config/analytics.config"
       └─> <DotContentAnalytics config={analyticsConfig} />

4. Import config in EVERY component that uses the hook
   └─> /src/components/MyComponent.js
       └─> import { analyticsConfig } from "@/config/analytics.config"
       └─> const { track } = useContentAnalytics(analyticsConfig) // ✅ Config required!

Key Benefits of Centralized Config:

• ✅ Single source of truth for configuration values
• ✅ Easy to update environment variables in one place
• ✅ Consistent config across all components
• ✅ Better than duplicating config in every file

Installation Steps

1. Install the Package

Navigate to the Next.js example directory and install the package:

cd /core/examples/nextjs
npm install @dotcms/analytics

2. Verify Installation

Check that the package was added to package.json:

grep "@dotcms/analytics" package.json

Expected output: "@dotcms/analytics": "latest" or similar version.

3. Create Centralized Analytics Configuration

Create a dedicated configuration file to centralize your analytics settings. This makes it easier to maintain and reuse across your application.

File: /core/examples/nextjs/src/config/analytics.config.js

/**
 * Centralized analytics configuration for dotCMS Content Analytics
 *
 * This configuration is used by:
 * - DotContentAnalytics provider in layout.js
 * - useContentAnalytics() hook when used standalone (optional)
 *
 * Environment variables required:
 * - NEXT_PUBLIC_DOTCMS_ANALYTICS_SITE_KEY
 * - NEXT_PUBLIC_DOTCMS_ANALYTICS_HOST
 * - NEXT_PUBLIC_DOTCMS_ANALYTICS_DEBUG (optional)
 */
export const analyticsConfig = {
  siteAuth: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_DOTCMS_ANALYTICS_SITE_KEY,
  server: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_DOTCMS_ANALYTICS_HOST,
  autoPageView: true, // Automatically track page views on route changes
  debug: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_DOTCMS_ANALYTICS_DEBUG === "true",
  queue: {
    eventBatchSize: 15, // Send when 15 events are queued
    flushInterval: 5000, // Or send every 5 seconds (ms)
  },
};

Benefits of this approach:

• ✅ Single source of truth for analytics configuration
• ✅ Easy to import and reuse across components
• ✅ Centralized environment variable management
• ✅ Type-safe and IDE autocomplete friendly
• ✅ Easy to test and mock in unit tests

4. Configure Analytics in Next.js Layout

Update the root layout file to include the analytics provider using the centralized config.

File: /core/examples/nextjs/src/app/layout.js

import { Inter } from "next/font/google";
import "./globals.css";

const inter = Inter({ subsets: ["latin"] });

export default function RootLayout({ children }) {
  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <body className={inter.className}>{children}</body>
    </html>
  );
}

Updated with Analytics (using centralized config):

import { Inter } from "next/font/google";
import { DotContentAnalytics } from "@dotcms/analytics/react";
import { analyticsConfig } from "@/config/analytics.config";
import "./globals.css";

const inter = Inter({ subsets: ["latin"] });

export default function RootLayout({ children }) {
  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <body className={inter.className}>
        <DotContentAnalytics config={analyticsConfig} />
        {children}
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}

4. Add Environment Variables

Create or update .env.local file in the Next.js project root:

File: /core/examples/nextjs/.env.local

# dotCMS Analytics Configuration
NEXT_PUBLIC_DOTCMS_SITE_AUTH=your_site_auth_key_here
NEXT_PUBLIC_DOTCMS_SERVER=https://your-dotcms-server.com

Important: Replace your_site_auth_key_here with your actual dotCMS Analytics site auth key. This can be obtained from the Analytics app in your dotCMS instance.

5. Add .env.local to .gitignore

Ensure the environment file is not committed to version control:

# Check if already ignored
grep ".env.local" /core/examples/nextjs/.gitignore

# If not present, add it
echo ".env.local" >> /core/examples/nextjs/.gitignore

Usage Examples

Basic Setup (Automatic Page Views)

With the configuration above, page views are automatically tracked on every route change. No additional code needed!

Manual Page View with Custom Data

Track page views with additional context:

"use client";

import { useEffect } from "react";
import { useContentAnalytics } from "@dotcms/analytics/react";
import { analyticsConfig } from "@/config/analytics.config";

function MyComponent() {
  // ✅ ALWAYS pass config - import from centralized config file
  const { pageView } = useContentAnalytics(analyticsConfig);

  useEffect(() => {
    // Track page view with custom data
    pageView({
      contentType: "blog",
      category: "technology",
      author: "john-doe",
      wordCount: 1500,
    });
  }, []);

  return <div>Content here</div>;
}

Track Custom Events

Track specific user interactions:

"use client";

import { useContentAnalytics } from "@dotcms/analytics/react";
import { analyticsConfig } from "@/config/analytics.config";

function CallToActionButton() {
  // ✅ ALWAYS pass co