Logs Python

PostHog logs for Python

This skill helps you add PostHog log ingestion to Python applications.

Reference files

• references/python.md - Python logs installation - docs

• references/start-here.md - Getting started with logs - docs

• references/search.md - Search logs - docs

• references/best-practices.md - Logging best practices - docs

• references/troubleshooting.md - Logs troubleshooting - docs

• references/link-session-replay.md - Link session replay - docs

• references/debug-logs-mcp.md - Debug logs with mcp - docs

Consult the documentation for API details and framework-specific patterns.

Key principles

• Environment variables: Always use environment variables for PostHog keys and OpenTelemetry endpoints. Never hardcode them.

• Minimal changes: Add log export alongside existing logging. Don't replace or restructure existing logging code.

• OpenTelemetry: PostHog logs use the OpenTelemetry protocol. Configure an OTLP exporter pointed at PostHog's ingest endpoint.

• Structured logging: Prefer structured log formats with key-value properties over plain text messages.

Framework guidelines

• Remember that source code is available in the venv/site-packages directory

• posthog is the Python SDK package name

• Install dependencies with pip install posthog or pip install -r requirements.txt and do NOT use unquoted version specifiers like >= directly in shell commands

• In CLIs and scripts: MUST call posthog.shutdown() before exit or all events are lost

• Always use the Posthog() class constructor (instance-based API) instead of module-level posthog.api_key config

• Always include enable_exception_autocapture=True in the Posthog() constructor to automatically track exceptions

• NEVER send PII in capture() event properties — no emails, full names, phone numbers, physical addresses, IP addresses, or user-generated content

• PII belongs in identify() person properties, NOT in capture() event properties. Safe event properties are metadata like message_length, form_type, boolean flags.

• Register posthog_client.shutdown with atexit.register() to ensure all events are flushed on exit

• The Python SDK has NO identify() method — use posthog_client.set(distinct_id=user_id, properties={...}) to set person properties, or use identify_context(user_id) within a context