PostHog integration for Ruby

This skill helps you add PostHog analytics to Ruby applications.

Workflow

Follow these steps in order to complete the integration:

basic-integration-1.0-begin.md - PostHog Setup - Begin ← Start here
basic-integration-1.1-edit.md - PostHog Setup - Edit
basic-integration-1.2-revise.md - PostHog Setup - Revise
basic-integration-1.3-conclude.md - PostHog Setup - Conclusion

Reference files

references/EXAMPLE.md - Ruby example project code
references/ruby.md - Ruby - docs
references/identify-users.md - Identify users - docs
references/basic-integration-1.0-begin.md - PostHog setup - begin
references/basic-integration-1.1-edit.md - PostHog setup - edit
references/basic-integration-1.2-revise.md - PostHog setup - revise
references/basic-integration-1.3-conclude.md - PostHog setup - conclusion

The example project shows the target implementation pattern. Consult the documentation for API details.

Key principles

Environment variables: Always use environment variables for PostHog keys. Never hardcode them.
Minimal changes: Add PostHog code alongside existing integrations. Don't replace or restructure existing code.
Match the example: Your implementation should follow the example project's patterns as closely as possible.

Framework guidelines

posthog-ruby is the Ruby SDK gem name (add gem 'posthog-ruby' to Gemfile) but require it with require 'posthog' (NOT require 'posthog-ruby')
Use PostHog::Client.new(api_key: key, host: host) for instance-based initialization in scripts and CLIs
In CLIs and scripts: MUST call client.shutdown before exit or all events are lost
Use begin/rescue/ensure with shutdown in the ensure block for proper cleanup
capture and identify take a single hash argument: client.capture(distinct_id: 'user_123', event: 'my_event', properties: { key: 'value' })
capture_exception takes POSITIONAL args (not keyword): client.capture_exception(exception, distinct_id, additional_properties) — do NOT use distinct_id: keyword syntax

Identifying users

Identify users during login and signup events. Refer to the example code and documentation for the correct identify pattern for this framework. If both frontend and backend code exist, pass the client-side session and distinct ID using X-POSTHOG-DISTINCT-ID and X-POSTHOG-SESSION-ID headers to maintain correlation.

Error tracking

Add PostHog error tracking to relevant files, particularly around critical user flows and API boundaries.