[DOCS-13737] Add API tracking section to Product Analytics landing page by iadjivon · Pull Request #35929 · DataDog/documentation

iadjivon · 2026-04-10T21:13:57Z

What does this PR do? What is the motivation?

Fixes DOCS-13737

Adds server-side API tracking as a first-class instrumentation method on the Product Analytics landing page. Changes include:

Restructured "Instrument your application" section with two subsections: Client-side tracking (SDK) and Server-side tracking (API)
Added intro paragraph framing both methods as complementary data sources
Linked to the Product Analytics send events API endpoint
Added billing warning for server-side events
Reframed coding assistant reference as a distinct setup method linking to Agentic onboarding
Broke platform list into bulleted format for readability
Converted RUM/retention note to HTML callout

Merge instructions

Merge readiness:

Ready for merge

Additional notes

This page is in line to be revamped with new UI changes. Please note the scope of this page is to add the server-side information

github-actions · 2026-04-10T21:21:24Z

Preview links (active after the `build_preview` check completes)

Modified Files

https://docs-staging.datadoghq.com/ida.adjivon/DOCS-13737-pana-api-link/product_analytics/

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <[email protected]>

…ction of the page.

iadjivon · 2026-04-13T15:26:42Z

@@ -57,6 +76,9 @@ Product Analytics is built on three levels of user data RUM collects: Sessions,
 **Actions**
 : An action is something a user does on a page, such as a click, tap, or scroll. Actions are automatically collected by the RUM SDK. When configuring features like [Funnels][4] and [Segments][6], you can select specific Actions as steps or filters. To see which Actions are available, open the [RUM Explorer][20] and filter by **Actions**. 



Note: "Server-side events" is used as the definition term for consistency with the rest of the page. The bold Server Events in the body matches the UI label in the event picker.

iadjivon · 2026-04-13T16:36:20Z


 ## Understand your data
-Product Analytics is built on three levels of user data RUM collects: Sessions, Views, and Actions. For a full breakdown of RUM event types, see [Understanding the RUM Event Hierarchy][19].
+Product Analytics collects client-side and server-side event data. For client-side data, Product Analytics uses three levels of RUM data: Sessions, Views, and Actions. For a full breakdown of RUM event types, see [Understanding the RUM Event Hierarchy][19].


NOTE: I did not include anything about the server side in the intro here on purpose. I only mention that it is collected.

I clarified the levels of RUM data for client-side since RUM collects more than 3 events and PA only uses those 3.

Adding context about the server-side here might add additional context that would duplicate what is already mentioned under Server-side events.

Let me know if it'd be better to include additional context for server-side as well.

I think the way you presented the data types here generally works. Would it make sense in the list below to explicitly group the 3 client-side event types i.e. with a heading?

For this intro, this is another place where it might be helpful to call out that server-side data is only collected if the API is used.

iadjivon · 2026-04-13T16:37:04Z

@@ -55,7 +74,10 @@ Product Analytics is built on three levels of user data RUM collects: Sessions,
 : A view represents each page or screen a user visits within a session.

 **Actions**


NOTE: For this section, Actions, I only removed a trailing space at the end. No other changes.

jeff-morgan-dd

Please see notes about framing server-side and client-side - let me know if you want to discuss. I've left a few other clarity suggestions as well.

jeff-morgan-dd · 2026-04-13T17:16:31Z


-## Getting started
-To start using Product Analytics for an application, [instrument your application](#instrument-your-application) and then [enable the feature](#enable-product-analytics) for it in Datadog. 
+Product Analytics collects data from client-side and server-side sources to give you a complete view of the users' journeys.


Suggested change

Product Analytics collects data from client-side and server-side sources to give you a complete view of the users' journeys.

Product Analytics collects data from client-side and server-side sources to give you a complete view of user journeys.

Just tightening this up a small bit

jeff-morgan-dd · 2026-04-13T17:19:01Z

+
+### Track client-side events (SDK)
+
+Collect events from your users' devices, such as pageviews or button clicks, and send them to Datadog.


Suggested change

Collect events from your users' devices, such as pageviews or button clicks, and send them to Datadog.

Collect events, such as pageviews or button clicks, from your users' devices, and send them to Datadog.

jeff-morgan-dd · 2026-04-13T19:04:11Z


-## Getting started
-To start using Product Analytics for an application, [instrument your application](#instrument-your-application) and then [enable the feature](#enable-product-analytics) for it in Datadog. 
+Product Analytics collects data from client-side and server-side sources to give you a complete view of the users' journeys.


I've left a note below with some more detail, but I think this page could benefit from a bit more clarity on server-side and client-side data collection and instrumentation. PANA seemingly collects client-side data essentially by default via the SDK setup, but the same isn't true for API/server-side, correct? If so, should server-side be framed more as an option that must be proactively instrumented and called using the API?

jeff-morgan-dd · 2026-04-13T19:16:08Z


 ## Understand your data
-Product Analytics is built on three levels of user data RUM collects: Sessions, Views, and Actions. For a full breakdown of RUM event types, see [Understanding the RUM Event Hierarchy][19].
+Product Analytics collects client-side and server-side event data. For client-side data, Product Analytics uses three levels of RUM data: Sessions, Views, and Actions. For a full breakdown of RUM event types, see [Understanding the RUM Event Hierarchy][19].


I think the way you presented the data types here generally works. Would it make sense in the list below to explicitly group the 3 client-side event types i.e. with a heading?

For this intro, this is another place where it might be helpful to call out that server-side data is only collected if the API is used.

jeff-morgan-dd · 2026-04-13T19:17:17Z

+Product Analytics collects data from client-side and server-side sources to give you a complete view of the users' journeys.

-**Note**: Product Analytics uses the same SDKs and configuration as [Real User Monitoring (RUM)][18], and retains data for 15 months by default. See [Datadog's data retention periods][1] for more information.
+To get started, instrument your application with the [SDK](#track-client-side-events-sdk) or the [API](#track-server-side-events-api), then [enable Product Analytics](#enable-product-analytics) in Datadog.


In the context of the rest of this page, it's unclear whether "or" is the right framing for how users should instrument the application. In several other places, there are references to PA collecting server-side AND client-side data (see https://github.com/DataDog/documentation/pull/35929/changes#diff-b227d774b51a040c21125428accb3f99cbb41ffd915c10e8f9edd09918b33780R30 and https://github.com/DataDog/documentation/pull/35929/changes#diff-b227d774b51a040c21125428accb3f99cbb41ffd915c10e8f9edd09918b33780R68). In that context, "and" seems potentially more appropriate here.

Something else to consider for whether to use "or" here: I assume users can have client-side collection without server-side (since that's the historic behavior). What about server-side without client-side, is there a use case for that?

jeff-morgan-dd · 2026-04-13T19:18:08Z

 Add the Datadog SDK to your application to start collecting user activity data. If you have already configured RUM, you do not need to instrument your application again for Product Analytics.

-If you do not have an application set up in Datadog yet, create one for your platform ([browser][14], [iOS][15], or [Android][16]) or use your [coding assistant][17].
+If you do not have an application set up in Datadog yet, select your platform:


Suggested change

If you do not have an application set up in Datadog yet, select your platform:

If you do not have an application set up in Datadog yet, follow the instructions for your platform:

Clarity suggestion

…ge (#35929) * added mention of the server-side tracking to the docs. * quick edit * added parentheticals to the headers * quick changes * refine server-side tracking section and clean up references Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <[email protected]> * vale fix * remove API requirements from landing page Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <[email protected]> * added the server side event definition to the understand your data section of the page. * quick edit * quick changes * quick changes * changes * changes reviewed by sme * changes from review --------- Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: jeff-morgan-dd <[email protected]>

iadjivon added 2 commits April 10, 2026 17:11

added mention of the server-side tracking to the docs.

1c52a1c

quick edit

c7c3aea

iadjivon added the WORK IN PROGRESS No review needed, it's a wip ;) label Apr 10, 2026

iadjivon requested a review from a team as a code owner April 10, 2026 21:14

iadjivon changed the title ~~Ida.adjivon/docs 13737 pana api link~~ [DOCS-13737] Add API tracking section to Product Analytics landing page Apr 10, 2026

added parentheticals to the headers

70f6b75

iadjivon and others added 5 commits April 12, 2026 23:49

quick changes

19003e9

refine server-side tracking section and clean up references

b7b6719

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <[email protected]>

vale fix

b3120f4

remove API requirements from landing page

9806082

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <[email protected]>

added the server side event definition to the understand your data se…

8064333

…ction of the page.

iadjivon commented Apr 13, 2026

View reviewed changes

iadjivon added 4 commits April 13, 2026 11:55

quick edit

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quick changes

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quick changes

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changes

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iadjivon commented Apr 13, 2026

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iadjivon assigned jeff-morgan-dd Apr 13, 2026

jeff-morgan-dd reviewed Apr 13, 2026

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iadjivon added 2 commits April 13, 2026 16:28

changes reviewed by sme

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changes from review

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iadjivon requested a review from jeff-morgan-dd April 13, 2026 20:57

jeff-morgan-dd approved these changes Apr 14, 2026

View reviewed changes

Merge branch 'master' into ida.adjivon/DOCS-13737-pana-api-link

0b71187

jeff-morgan-dd merged commit 7306d2c into master Apr 14, 2026
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jeff-morgan-dd deleted the ida.adjivon/DOCS-13737-pana-api-link branch April 14, 2026 16:49

		@@ -57,6 +76,9 @@ Product Analytics is built on three levels of user data RUM collects: Sessions,
		Actions
		: An action is something a user does on a page, such as a click, tap, or scroll. Actions are automatically collected by the RUM SDK. When configuring features like [Funnels][4] and [Segments][6], you can select specific Actions as steps or filters. To see which Actions are available, open the [RUM Explorer][20] and filter by Actions.

		@@ -55,7 +74,10 @@ Product Analytics is built on three levels of user data RUM collects: Sessions,
		: A view represents each page or screen a user visits within a session.

		Actions

	Product Analytics collects data from client-side and server-side sources to give you a complete view of the users' journeys.
	Product Analytics collects data from client-side and server-side sources to give you a complete view of user journeys.


		### Track client-side events (SDK)

		Collect events from your users' devices, such as pageviews or button clicks, and send them to Datadog.

	Collect events from your users' devices, such as pageviews or button clicks, and send them to Datadog.
	Collect events, such as pageviews or button clicks, from your users' devices, and send them to Datadog.

	If you do not have an application set up in Datadog yet, select your platform:
	If you do not have an application set up in Datadog yet, follow the instructions for your platform:

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iadjivon commented Apr 10, 2026 •

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