SnowPlow Tracker Protocol

[**HOME**](Home) > [**SNOWPLOW TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION**](Snowplow technical documentation) > [**Trackers**](trackers) ## Overview

Snowplow trackers fire events, which are GET requests of a Snowplow collector, whenever an event on a website or application takes place. By appending parameters and values to the end of those GET requests, trackers can pass data into the collectors, for processing by Snowplow.

The Snowplow Tracker Protocol is the list of all the parameters that Snowplow trackers use when firing events to push data into the [Snowplow collectors] (collectors). Each parameter maps onto one or more fields in the [Snowplow events table] (canonical-event-model) employed in storage. Here we document which field in the [Snowplow events table] (canonical-event-model) each parameter added to the query string maps onto.

Snowplow has been architected to be as easy as possible for developers to create their own alternative subsystems. This documentation should be used by anyone who would like to build their own tracker: by utilising the parameters documented here, the author of a new tracker can be confident that his / her tracker will work with the rest of the Snowplow stack, and be confident where the values associated with each parameter on every call will be available to query in Snowplow, whether that's in Hive or Infobright or another database.

Please note that the end point where the GET request should be made depends on which collector is used. Refer to the collectors documentation for more information.

In the first part of this guide, we cover the parameters in the Snowplow tracker protocol that are common across different event types. In the second part, we document the parameters that are relevant for specific events that are recognised in the Snowplow event model. Please note: this model is evolving over time as we incorporate more events and grow the set of fields associated with each of the standard events. In all cases, we do our best to ensure that any changes are backwards compatible. (So we are happy adding new parameters, but do not remove parameters once they have been incorporated.)

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The Snowplow Tracker protocol: individual parameters

• 1. Common parameters (platform and event independent)
  • 1.1 Application parameters
  • 1.2 Date / time parameters
  • 1.3 Event / transaction parameters
  • 1.4 Snowplow tracker version
  • 1.5 User parameters
  • 1.6 Device parameters
• 2. Platform-specific parameters
  • 2.1 Web-specific parameters
  • 2.2 Internet of Things-specific parameters
• 3. Snowplow events
  • 3.1 Pageview events
  • 3.2 Page pings
  • 3.3 Link clicks
  • 3.4 Ad impressions
  • 3.5 Ecommerce transactions
  • 3.6 Social events
  • 3.7 Item views
  • 3.8 Error tracking
  • 3.9 Custom structured events
  • 3.10 Custom unstructured events

## 1. Common parameters (platform and event independent) #### 1.1 Application parameters

Parameter	Maps to	Type	Description	Implemented?	Example values
aid	app_id	text	Unique identifier for website / application	Yes	angry-birds-android
p	platform	text	The platform the app runs on	No	web, mob, app

The application ID parameter is used to distinguish data from different website and applications.

As a Snowplow user, you can define application IDs for each of your different ditial products and track behaviour of your users across all of them using the same Snowplow instance by setting the app_id in your tracker of choice.

Potential platform values: (to finalise and complete...)

Platform	p value
Web (including Mobile Web)	web
Mobile/Tablet	mob
Desktop/Laptop/Netbook	pc
Server-Side App	srv
Connected TV	tv
Games Console	cnsl
Internet of Things	iot

Back to common field types.

#### 1.2 Date / time parameter

Parameter	Maps to	Type	Description	Implemented?	Example values
dtm	dvce_dt, dvce_tm and dvce_epoch	int	Timestamp when event occurred, as recorded by client device	Yes	1361553733313
tz	os_timezone	text	Operating system time zone	Yes	Europe%2FLondon

It is possible to record the time that an event occurs on the clients-side (i.e. in the tracker), or server side (i.e. by the collector). When using the Javascript tracker to track web events, it makes sense to rely on the collector logs to identify the time that events occured, as Snowplow tracking tags are fired as events happen, and so the time they are received server-side should be an accurate representation of the time the event being tracked occured. In other situations (e.g. when using mobile trackers), the time the collector receives the data may be sometime after an event occurred, and so it makes sense to record the timestamp on the client-side, in which case this is handled by the tracker.

The tracker can pass a client-side timestamp to the collector using the above parameters.

Back to common field types.

#### 1.3 Event / transaction parameters

Parameter	Maps to	Type	Description	Implemented?	Example values
e	event	text	Event type	Yes	(See table below)
tid	txn_id	text	Transaction ID	Yes	352583

Every line of data passed from the tracker should contain an event field (e) to denote the type of event being tracked. For details about the potential values that e can take, and the corresponding event types that they refer to, see the section detailing Snowplow events.

The transaction ID (tid) can be used in situations where there is a risk of duplicate records for the same event. In this case, the transaction ID can be used to aid deduping of records.

Back to common field types.

#### 1.4 Snowplow Tracker Version

Parameter	Maps to	Type	Description	Implemented?	Example values
tv	v_tracker	text	Identifier for Snowplow tracker	No	js-0.5.1

For deployments where multiple trackers are used (e.g. for businesses that use the [Javascript tracker] (javascript-tracker) to track events on their domains alongside the [No-JS tracker] (no-js-tracker) to track events on 3rd party domains), it is useful to be able to distinguish data generated from each tracker. It can also be useful when tracker versions are updated, so that it is easier to see if an update in tracker accounts for a feature of the data at analysis time.

Back to common field types.

#### 1.5 User related parameters

Parameter	Maps to	Type	Description	Implemented?	Example values
duid	domain_userid	text	Unique identifier for a user, based on a first party cookie (so domain specific)	Yes	aeb1691c5a0ee5a6
nuid	network_userid	text	Unique identifier for a user, based on a third party cookie (so set at a network level)	Yes	ecdff4d0-9175-40ac-a8bb-325c49733607
uid	user_id	text	Unique identifier for user, set by the business using setUserId	Yes	[email protected]
vid	domain_sessionidx	int	Index of number of visits that this user_id has made to this domain e.g. 1 is first visit	Yes	1, 2...

We recommend always setting the uid / user_id parameter: as this is the cornerstone of all customer-centric analytics.

In contrast, setting vid / visit_id is optional. It is possible to define when sessions begin and end client-side, in the tracker. But it is equally possible to define session start and stop times at the ETL or analytics phase, in which case it need not be set in the tracker at all. Note: Google Analytics defines sessions server side.

Back to common field types.

#### 1.6 Device related properties

Parameter	Maps to	Type	Description	Implemented?	Example values
res	dvce_screenheight and dvce_screenwidth	text	Screen / monitor resolution	Yes	1280x1024

We intend to build out the list of device related properties over time.

Back to common field types.

### 2. Platform specific parameters #### 2.1 Web-specific parameters

In addition, there is a set of browser-specific parameters that only makes sense to record for events that happen on web platforms (p=web). These parameters are relevant across all web events, regardless of the event type. (E.g. if it is a pageview, pageping, transaction, media play etc...)

Parameter	Maps to	Type	Description	Implemented?	Example values
url	page_url	text	Page URL	Yes	http%3A%2F%2Ftest.psybazaar.com%2F2-tarot-cards
page	page_title	text	Page title	Yes	Tarot%20cards
refr	page_referrer	text	Referrer URL	Yes	http%3A%2F%2Ftest.psybazaar.com%2F
fp	user_fingerprint	integer	User identifier based on (hopefully unique) browser features	Yes
ctype	connection_type	text	Type of connection	No
cookie	br_cookies	boolean	Does the browser permit cookies?	Yes	1
lang	br_lang	text	Language the browser is set to	Yes	en-US
f_pdf	br_features or br_features_pdf	boolean	Adobe PDF plugin installed?	Yes	1
f_qt	br_features or br_features_quicktime	boolean	Quicktime plugin installed?	Yes	0
f_realp	br_features or br_features_realplayer	boolean	Realplayer plugin installed?	Yes	0
f_wma	br_features or br_features_windowsmedia	boolean	Windows media plugin instlaled?	Yes	0
f_dir	br_featurse or br_features_director	boolean	Director plugin installed?	Yes	0
f_fla	br_featurse or br_features_flash	boolean	Flash plugin installed?	Yes	1
f_java	br_featurse or br_features_java	boolean	Java plugin installed?	Yes	1
f_gears	br_featurse or br_features_gears	boolean	Google gears installed?	Yes	1
f_ag	br_featurse or br_features_silverlight	boolean	Silverlight plugin installed?	Yes	1
cd	br_colordepth	Browser color depth	integer		Yes
ds	doc_width and doc_height	text	Web page width and height	Yes	1090x1152
cs	doc_charset	text	Web page's character encoding	Yes	UTF-8
vp	br_viewwidth and br_viewheight	text	Browser viewport width and height	Yes	1105x390

Back to common field types.

#### 2.2 Internet of Things-specific parameters

In addition, there is a set of device-specific parameters that only makes sense to record for events that happen on the Internet of Things (p=iot). These parameters are relevant across all Internet of Things events, regardless of the event type:

Parameter	Maps to	Type	Description	Implemented?	Example values
mac	mac_address	text	MAC address for the device running the tracker	Yes	12:34:56:78:9A:BC

Back to common field types.

### 3. Snowplow events

At its heart, Snowplow is a platform for granular tracking of events. Currently, Snowplow understands the following events. In the tracker protocol, each event is denoted by an e=... parameter.

	Type of tracking	Event type (value of e)
3.1	Pageview tracking	pv
3.2	Page pings	pp
3.3	Link click	TBD
3.4	Ad impression tracking	ad
3.5	Ecommerce transaction tracking	tr and ti
3.6	Social tracking	TBD
3.7	Item view	TBD
3.8	Error tracking	TBD
3.9	Custom structured event	se
3.10	Custom unstructured event	ue

We are working to make the data model for each of the above events richer, and expand the 'Snowplow event library' to support a wider selection of events that businesses running Snowplow wish to track.

In each case, we use the &e parameter to indicate the type of event that is being tracked by Snowplow to the value indicated in the above table

#### 3.1 Pageview tracking

Pageview tracking is used to record views of web pages.

Currently, recording a pageview involves recording an event where e=pv. All the fields associated with web events can be tracked. There are no other pageview specific fields:

// Key common parameters
duid=aeb1691c5a0ee5a6    // Domain user ID
&vid=2                  // Domain session index
&tid=508780             // Transaction ID
&aid=pbzsite            // App ID
&p=web 				// Platform ID

// Key data points related to page view
&e=pv                   // event = page view
&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftest.psybazaar.com%2F2-tarot-cards    // Page URL
&page=Tarot%20cards                                     // Page title
&refr=http%3A%2F%2Ftest.psybazaar.com%2F                // Referrer URL

// Other browser-specific parameters
&lang=en-US
&fp=3511643688
&f_pdf=1
&f_qt=0
&cd=32
&cookie=1
&tz=Europe%2FLondon

e=pv           // page view
&aid=pbzsite   // app_id
&p=web         // platform
&tid=580794    // transaction ID
&dtm=1361555202287  // client timestamp

&page=Psychic Bazaar                  // Page Title
&url=http=//www.psychicbazaar.com/    // Page URL
&ds=1120x1848                         // Document dimensions
&cs=UTF-8                             // Document character set

&res=1920x976                         // Device monitor dimensions
&vp=873x390                           // Viewport dimensions
&duid=91a88a7ec90ebbb1                // Domain user ID 
&fp=3324966434                        // User fingerprint
&vid=3                                // Domain session ID

&tv=js-0.12.0                         // Tracker version
&lang=en-GB                           // Browser language
&tz=Europe/London                     // Client time zone

Back to event tracking.

#### 3.2 Page pings

Page pings are used to record users engaging with content on a web page after it has originally loaded. It can be used to track e.g. how far down an article a user scrolls.

If enabled, the page ping function checks for engagement with a page after load. (E.g. mousemovement, scrolling etc...) If there is some sort of engagement in a specified time interval, a page ping is sent.

Page pings are identified by e=pp. As well as all the standard web fields, there are four additional fields that pp includes, which are used to identify how users are scrolling over web pages:

Parameter	Maps to	Type	Description	Implemented?	Example values
pp_mix	pp_xoffset_min	integer	Minimum page x offset seen in the last ping period	Yes	0
pp_max	pp_xoffset_max	integer	Maximum page x offset seen in the last ping period	Yes	100
pp_miy	pp_yoffset_min	integer	Minimum page y offset seen in the last ping period	Yes	0
pp_may	pp_yoffset_max	integer	Maximum page y offset seen in the last ping period	Yes	100

Example:

e=pp        // Page ping
// Max and min x and y offsets
pp_mix=0    
pp_max=7
pp_miy=0
pp_may=746

// Other relevant fields
duid=91a88a7ec90ebbb1 // Domain user id
vid=1                 // Domain session index
page=Tarot cards - Psychic Bazaar    // Page title
refr=http=//www.psychicbazaar.com/   // Page referrer
url=http://www.psychicbazaar.com/2-tarot-cards // Page URL

tid=344664            // Transaction ID
dtm=1361534887845     // Client timestamp
vp=1105x390           // Viewport dimensions
ds=1097x1413          // Document dimensions
aid=pbzsite           // App ID
lang=en-GB            // Browser language
cs=UTF-8              // Docuemnt characterset
res=1920x976          // Monitor resolution / size

Back to event tracking.

#### 3.3 Link click tracking

This is not currently supported: adding support is on the roadmap (https://github.com/snowplow/snowplow/issues/75).

Back to event tracking.

#### 3.4 Ad impression tracking

As well as setting e=ad, there are four specific parameters that can be set when an ad impression is tracked:

Parameter	Maps to	Type	Description	Implemented?	Example values
ad_ba	adi_bannerid	text	Banner ID	No	126422315640
ad_ca	adi_campaignid	text	Campaign ID	No	d-546135
ad_ad	adi_advertiserid	text	Advertiser ID	No	diageo
ad_uid	adi_userid	text	User (viewer) ID	No	0cbffbf8-a9c5-426f-9369-6e53f1677efc

Note: if possible, it often makes sense to pass in the user_id generated by your ad server into the ad_uid field, so that this can be matched with the user_id generated by Snowplow at analysis time.

Example:

duid=aeb1691c5a0ee5a6   // Domain user ID  
&vid=2                  // Domain session ID
&tid=508780             // Transaction ID  
&aid=1                  // App ID

&e=ad                    // event = ad impression
&ad_ba=126422315640      // banner ID
&ad_ca=d-546135          // campaign ID
&ad_ad=diageo            // advertiser ID
&ad_uid=0cbffbf8-a9c5-426f-9369-6e53f1677efc      // user ID

Back to event tracking.

#### 3.5 Ecommerce tracking

To track an ecommerce transaction, fire a transaction event (e=tr) to register the transaction, and then fire item events (e=ti) to log specific data about the items that were part of that transaction. The order_id, (captured using the ti parameter) is used to link the transaction-level and item-level data at analysis time.

3.5.1 Transaction parameters

Parameter	Maps to	Type	Description	Implemented?	Example values
tr_id	tr_orderid	text	Order ID	Yes	12345
tr_af	tr_affiliation	text	Transaction affiliation (e.g. channel)	Yes	Web
tr_tt	tr_total	decimal	Transaction total value	Yes	9.99
tr_tx	tr_tax	decimal	Transaction tax value (i.e. amount of VAT included)	Yes	1.98
tr_sh	tr_shipping	decimal	Delivery cost charged	Yes	3.00
tr_ci	tr_city	text	Delivery address: city	Yes	'London'
tr_st	tr_state	text	Delivery address: state	Yes	'Denver'
tr_co	tr_country	text	Delivery address: country	Yes	'United Kingdom'

Transaction event example:

duid=aeb1691c5a0ee5a6   // Domain user ID  
&vid=2                  // Domain session index
&aid=1                  // App ID

&e=tr            	// Transacton event type.
&tr_id=12345        // Order ID
&tr_af=westernWear 	// Affiliation
&tr_tt=19.99 		// Transaction total value
&tr_tx=4.99 		// Transaction tax value
&tr_sh=2.99 		// Transaction shipping price
&tr_ci=london		// City on customer address
&tr_st=london 		// State on customer address
&tr_co=united kingdom	// Country on customer address

3.5.2 Transaction item parameters

Parameter	Maps to	Type	Description	Implemented?	Example values
ti_id	ti_orderid	text	Order ID	Yes	'12345'
ti_sk	ti_sku	text	Item SKU	Yes	'pbz0025'
ti_nm	ti_name	text	Item name	Yes	'black-tarot'
ti_ca	ti_category	text	Item category	Yes	'tarot'
ti_pr	ti_price	decimal	Item price	Yes	7.99
ti_qu	ti_quantity	integer	Item quantity	Yes	2

Item hit example:

uid=aeb1691c5a0ee5a6    // User ID  
&vid=2                  // Visit ID (i.e. session number for this user_id)  
&tid=508780             // Transaction ID  
&aid=1                  // App ID
&tv=js-0.5.2            // Tracker version

&e=ti 				// Transaction item event type
&ti_id=12345 		// Order ID
&ti_sk=pbz0025 		// Item SKU
&ti_nm=black-tarot 	// Item name
&ti_ca=tarot 		// Item category
&ti_pr=7.99 		// Item price
&ti_qu=1 			// Item quantity

Back to event tracking.

#### 3.6 Social tracking

Note! This has not been implemented yet.

Parameter	Maps to	Description	Implemented?	Example values
sa	social_action	Social action performed	No	like, tweet
sn	social_network	Social network involved	No	facebook, twitter
st	social_target	Social action target e.g. object liked, article tweeted	No	like, tweet
sp	social_pagepath	Page path action was performed on	No

uid=aeb1691c5a0ee5a6    // User ID  
&vid=2                  // Visit ID (i.e. session number for this user_id)  
&tid=508780             // Transaction ID  
&aid=1                  // App ID
&tv=js-0.5.2            // Tracker version

&e=s            // Social event type
&sa=like        // Social Action
&sn=facebook    // Social Network
&st=/home       // Social Target

Back to event tracking.

#### 3.7 Item views

Pageviews track page load events. Itemviews track views of specific items e.g. articles on a content site, videos on a video site, or products on an online retail site.

This functionality has not been developed yet. When it is, it will be documented here.

Back to event tracking.

### 3.8 Error tracking

This functionality has not been developed yet. When it is, it will be documented here.

Back to event tracking.

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#### 3.9. Custom structured event tracking

Custom event tracking is used to track events that are not natively supported by Snowplow. (Like ad impressions, page views, ecomm transactions.)

As well as setting e=ue, there are five custom event specific parameters that can be set:

Parameter	Maps to	Type	Description	Implemented?	Example values
se_ca	se_category	text	The category of event	Yes	'Ecomm', 'Media'
se_ac	se_action	text	The action / event itself	Yes	add-to-basket, play-video
se_la	se_label	text	A label often used to refer to the 'object' the action is performed on	Yes	'dog-skateboarding-video'
se_pr	se_property	text	A property associated with either the action or the object	Yes	'hd'
se_va	se_value	decimal	A value associated with the user action	Yes	13.99

Add-to-basket example:

uid=aeb1691c5a0ee5a6    // User ID  
&vid=2                  // Visit ID (i.e. session number for this user_id)  
&tid=508780             // Transaction ID  
&aid=1                  // App ID
&tv=js-0.5.2            // Tracker version

&e=se                    // event = custom  
&se_ca=ecomm            // event_category = ecomm  
&se_ac=add-to-basket    // event_action = add-to-basket  
&se_la=178              // event_label = 178 (product_id of item added to basket)  
&se_pr=1                // event_property = 1 (quantity of item added to basket)  
&se_va=14.99            // event_value = 14.99 (price of item added to basket)  

Watch-video-clip example:

uid=aeb1691c5a0ee5a6    // User ID  
&vid=2                  // Visit ID (i.e. session number for this user_id)  
&tid=508780             // Transaction ID  
&aid=1                  // App ID
&tv=js-0.5.2            // Tracker version

&e=se                    // event = custom  
&se_ca=video            // event_category = video  
&se_ac=play             // event_action = play  
&se_la=291              // event_label = 291 (video_id of video played)  
&se_pr=13.2             // event_property = 13.2 (number of seconds into video that clip starts playing)  
&se_va=0.0025           // event_value = 0.0025 (ad revenue associated with view)  

Back to event tracking.

#### 3.10 Custom unstructured event tracking

Custom unstructured event tracking is used to track events that are not natively supported by Snowplow and allow arbitrary name: value pairs associated with the event.

As well as setting e=se, there are three custom event specific parameters that can be set:

Parameter	Maps to	Type	Description	Implemented?	Example values
ue_na	ue_name	text	The name of the event	No	'viewed_product', 'added_to_cart'
ue_pr	ue_json	JSON	The properties of the event	No	{ "product_id": "ASO01043", "price": 49.95 }
ue_px	ue_json	JSON (Base64 encoded)	The properties of the event	No	eyAicHJvZHVjdF9pZCI6ICJBU08wMTA0MyIsICJwcmljZSI6IDQ5Ljk1IH0=

The tracker can decide to pass the ue_pr or the ue_px parameter depending on configuration. Encoding properties into Base64 allows for more data while sacrificing readability.

viewed_product example (using ue_pr):

uid=aeb1691c5a0ee5a6   // User ID  
&vid=2                 // Visit ID (i.e. session number for this user_id)  
&tid=508780            // Transaction ID  
&aid=1                 // App ID
&tv=js-0.12.0          // Tracker version

&e=ue                  // event = unstructured  
&ue_na=viewed_product  // event_name = viewed_product  
&ue_pr=%7B+%22product_id%22%3A+%22ASO01043%22%2C+%22price%22%3A+49.95+%7D
                       // event_properties = { "product_id": "ASO01043", "price": 49.95 }

viewed_product example (using ue_px):

uid=aeb1691c5a0ee5a6   // User ID  
&vid=2                 // Visit ID (i.e. session number for this user_id)  
&tid=508780            // Transaction ID  
&aid=1                 // App ID
&tv=js-0.12.0          // Tracker version

&e=ue                  // event = unstructured  
&ue_na=viewed_product  // event_name = viewed_product  
&ue_px=eyAicHJvZHVjdF9pZCI6ICJBU08wMTA0MyIsICJwcmljZSI6IDQ5Ljk1IH0=
                       // event_properties = { "product_id": "ASO01043", "price": 49.95 }

Back to event tracking.
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