{
  "slug": "session-tracking",
  "short_name": "Session tracking",
  "seo": {
    "title": "Session Tracking - Understand User Journeys | OpenPanel",
    "description": "Understand user sessions from entry to exit. See pages visited, events fired, and session duration. Optionally add session replay to watch exactly what users did.",
    "keywords": [
      "session tracking analytics",
      "user session tracking",
      "session analysis",
      "session replay analytics"
    ]
  },
  "hero": {
    "heading": "What happened in the session",
    "subheading": "Pages visited, events fired, time spent. Full structured session data—and optional session replay when you need to go deeper.",
    "badges": [
      "Privacy-first by design",
      "Entry-to-exit visibility",
      "Sessions linked to events",
      "Optional session replay"
    ]
  },
  "definition": {
    "title": "What is session tracking?",
    "text": "A session is the **window of activity** between a user arriving on your site and leaving. It starts with an entry page, includes every page view and event along the way, and ends when the user goes idle or closes the tab.\n\nMost analytics tools either give you **too little** (aggregated page-view counts with no sense of flow) or **too much** (full session recordings that can be slow to review). OpenPanel gives you both options:\n\n- **Session tracking** (always on) — a structured timeline of what happened in each session: pages visited, events fired, duration, referrer, and device context\n- **[Session replay](/features/session-replay)** (opt-in) — a playable recording of the session built on [rrweb](https://www.rrweb.io/), so you can see exactly what the user clicked and where they got confused\n\nFor every session, OpenPanel captures:\n\n- **Entry page and exit page** - where the user started and where they left\n- **Pages visited in order** - the path through your site or app\n- **Events fired** - signups, clicks, feature usage, or any custom event\n- **Session duration** - how long the session lasted\n- **Referrer and UTM parameters** - how the user got there\n- **Device, browser, and location** - context without fingerprinting\n\nThis means you can answer questions like:\n\n- **What pages do users visit before signing up?**\n- **Do users from organic search behave differently than paid traffic?**\n- **How long are sessions for users who convert vs. those who don't?**\n\nSession replay is **opt-in and off by default**. When disabled, the replay script is never loaded and adds no overhead. When enabled, it loads asynchronously as a separate script so your main analytics bundle stays lean.\n\nSessions in OpenPanel connect directly to **events and user profiles**. Every event belongs to a session, and every session belongs to a user. This means funnels, retention, and user timelines all have session context built in."
  },
  "capabilities_section": {
    "title": "What you get with session tracking",
    "intro": "Structured session data that answers real questions—with optional replay when you need to see the full picture."
  },
  "capabilities": [
    {
      "title": "Entry and exit pages",
      "description": "See where users land and where they leave. Identify your strongest entry points and the pages that lose visitors."
    },
    {
      "title": "Page flow per session",
      "description": "View the ordered sequence of pages a user visited in a session. Understand navigation patterns at a glance."
    },
    {
      "title": "Events within a session",
      "description": "Every event (signup, click, purchase) is tied to a session. See exactly what a user did and in what order."
    },
    {
      "title": "Session duration and engagement",
      "description": "Measure how long sessions last and how many pages or events they include. Spot high-engagement and bounce sessions."
    },
    {
      "title": "Referrer and UTM attribution",
      "description": "Know how users arrived-organic search, paid campaign, direct link-and compare session quality across sources."
    },
    {
      "title": "Session replay (opt-in)",
      "description": "Enable session replay to record and play back real user sessions. Privacy controls built in—inputs masked by default. Loads async so it never bloats your bundle."
    }
  ],
  "screenshots": [
    {
      "src": "/features/feature-sessions.webp",
      "alt": "Session overview showing user sessions with entry pages and duration",
      "caption": "See session activity at a glance-entry pages, duration, and event counts."
    },
    {
      "src": "/features/feature-sessions-details.webp",
      "alt": "Session events timeline showing user actions in order",
      "caption": "Every event tied to its session. Drill into the timeline or open the replay."
    }
  ],
  "how_it_works": {
    "title": "How session tracking works",
    "intro": "Sessions are created automatically from the events you already send.",
    "steps": [
      {
        "title": "Events create sessions",
        "description": "When a user triggers their first event (page view, click, etc.), OpenPanel starts a session. No extra tracking code needed-sessions are derived from your events."
      },
      {
        "title": "Activity is grouped automatically",
        "description": "Subsequent events from the same user are grouped into the active session. If the user goes idle (30 minutes by default), the session ends and a new one begins on the next interaction."
      },
      {
        "title": "Sessions connect to everything",
        "description": "Each session links to the user profile, the events fired, and the pages visited. Enable session replay to also record a playable video of the session."
      }
    ]
  },
  "use_cases": {
    "title": "Who uses session tracking",
    "intro": "Teams that need to understand user journeys, from structured data to full session replay.",
    "items": [
      {
        "title": "Product teams",
        "description": "Understand how users navigate your product. See the page flow and events in a session, then open a replay to see exactly where users got stuck."
      },
      {
        "title": "Support and success teams",
        "description": "When a user reports an issue, pull up their recent sessions to see what pages they visited and what events they triggered. Open the replay for the full picture."
      },
      {
        "title": "Privacy-conscious teams",
        "description": "Session tracking works without cookies or recordings. Session replay is opt-in, with inputs masked by default and granular controls to block or mask any sensitive element."
      }
    ]
  },
  "related_features": [
    {
      "slug": "session-replay",
      "title": "Session replay",
      "description": "Watch real user sessions. See clicks, scrolls, and form interactions played back in the dashboard."
    },
    {
      "slug": "event-tracking",
      "title": "Event tracking",
      "description": "Events are the building blocks of sessions. Track user actions that feed into session timelines."
    },
    {
      "slug": "funnels",
      "title": "Funnels",
      "description": "Combine session data with funnel analysis to see where users drop off in multi-step flows."
    }
  ],
  "faqs": {
    "title": "Frequently asked questions",
    "intro": "Common questions about session tracking with OpenPanel.",
    "items": [
      {
        "question": "Does OpenPanel have session replay?",
        "answer": "Yes. Session replay is available as an opt-in feature. Enable it by setting `sessionReplay: { enabled: true }` in your init config. When disabled, the replay script is never loaded. See the [session replay docs](/docs/session-replay) for setup and privacy options."
      },
      {
        "question": "Do I need to set up session tracking separately?",
        "answer": "No. Sessions are created automatically from the events and page views you already send. There's no separate session SDK or configuration step."
      },
      {
        "question": "How does OpenPanel define a session?",
        "answer": "A session starts when a user triggers their first event and ends after 30 minutes of inactivity. If the user returns after the timeout, a new session begins. This is consistent with how most analytics tools define sessions."
      },
      {
        "question": "Can I see individual user sessions?",
        "answer": "Yes. You can view a user's session history, including the pages they visited and events they triggered in each session. This is available in the user profile view. If session replay is enabled, you can also play back the session."
      },
      {
        "question": "Does session tracking require cookies?",
        "answer": "No. OpenPanel can run without cookies. Sessions can be tracked using a lightweight session identifier that doesn't require cookie consent. If you enable first-party cookies, session continuity improves but it's not required."
      }
    ]
  },
  "cta": {
    "label": "Start tracking sessions",
    "href": "https://dashboard.openpanel.dev/onboarding"
  }
}