Error Tracking React

React error tracking installation - Docs

1. 1

   Install the package

   Required

   Install posthog-js and @posthog/react using your package manager:

   PostHog AI

   npm

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   npm install posthog-js @posthog/react

   yarn

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   yarn add posthog-js @posthog/react

   pnpm

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   pnpm add posthog-js @posthog/react

2. 2

   Add environment variables

   Required

   Add your PostHog project token and host to your environment variables. For Vite-based React apps, use the VITE_PUBLIC_ prefix:

   .env

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   VITE_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_PROJECT_TOKEN=<ph_project_token>
   VITE_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_HOST=https://us.i.posthog.com

3. 3

   Initialize PostHog

   Required

   Wrap your app with the PostHogProvider component at the root of your application (such as main.tsx if you're using Vite):

   main.tsx

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   import { StrictMode } from 'react'
   import { createRoot } from 'react-dom/client'
   import './index.css'
   import App from './App.jsx'
   import { PostHogProvider } from '@posthog/react'
   const options = {
     api_host: import.meta.env.VITE_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_HOST,
     defaults: '2026-01-30',
   } as const
   createRoot(document.getElementById('root')).render(
     <StrictMode>
       <PostHogProvider apiKey={import.meta.env.VITE_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_PROJECT_TOKEN} options={options}>
         <App />
       </PostHogProvider>
     </StrictMode>
   )

   defaults option

   The defaults option automatically configures PostHog with recommended settings for new projects. See SDK defaults for details.

4. 4

   Accessing PostHog in your code

   Recommended

   Use the usePostHog hook to access the PostHog instance in any component wrapped by PostHogProvider:

   MyComponent.tsx

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   import { usePostHog } from '@posthog/react'
   function MyComponent() {
       const posthog = usePostHog()
       function handleClick() {
           posthog.capture('button_clicked', { button_name: 'signup' })
       }
       return <button onClick={handleClick}>Sign up</button>
   }

   You can also import posthog directly for non-React code or utility functions:

   utils/analytics.ts

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   import posthog from 'posthog-js'
   export function trackPurchase(amount: number) {
       posthog.capture('purchase_completed', { amount })
   }

5. 5

   Send events

   Recommended

   Click around and view a couple pages to generate some events. PostHog automatically captures pageviews, clicks, and other interactions for you.

   If you'd like, you can also manually capture custom events:

   JavaScript

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   posthog.capture('my_custom_event', { property: 'value' })

6. 6

   Set up exception autocapture

   Recommended

   You can enable exception autocapture for the JavaScript Web SDK in the Error tracking section of your project settings.

   When enabled, this automatically captures $exception events when errors are thrown by wrapping the window.onerror and window.onunhandledrejection listeners.

7. 7

   Set up error boundaries

   Optional

   You can use the PostHogErrorBoundary component to capture rendering errors thrown by components:

   JavaScript

   PostHog AI

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   import { PostHogProvider, PostHogErrorBoundary } from '@posthog/react'
   const Layout = () => {
     return (
       <PostHogProvider apiKey="<ph_project_token>">
         <PostHogErrorBoundary
           fallback={<YourFallbackComponent />} // (Optional) Add a fallback component that's shown when an error happens.
         >
           <YourApp />
         </PostHogErrorBoundary>
       </PostHogProvider>
     )
   }
   const YourFallbackComponent = ({ error, componentStack, exceptionEvent }) => {
     return <div>Something went wrong. Please try again later.</div>
   }

8. 8

   Manually capture exceptions

   Optional

   It is also possible to manually capture exceptions using the captureException method:

   JavaScript

   PostHog AI

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   posthog.captureException(error, additionalProperties)

9. Verify error tracking

   Recommended

   Confirm events are being sent to PostHog

   Before proceeding, let's make sure exception events are being captured and sent to PostHog. You should see events appear in the activity feed.

   Image: Activity feed with eventsImage: Activity feed with events

   Check for exceptions in PostHog

10. 9

    Upload source maps

    Required

    Great, you're capturing exceptions! If you serve minified bundles, the next step is to upload source maps to generate accurate stack traces.

    Let's continue to the next section.

    Upload source maps

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