Skills Development PostHog Debug Diagnostic Collection

PostHog Debug Diagnostic Collection

v20260423
posthog-debug-bundle
Automates the collection of comprehensive diagnostic evidence for PostHog support tickets. This bundle gathers runtime environment details (Node, Python versions), SDK versions, API connectivity status to US/EU clouds, feature flag settings, event flow testing results, and redacts sensitive environment variables. It provides a structured, support-ready archive for rapid troubleshooting.
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Overview

PostHog Debug Bundle

Current State

!node --version 2>/dev/null || echo 'N/A' !npm list posthog-js posthog-node 2>/dev/null | grep posthog || echo 'No PostHog SDK found'

Overview

Collect diagnostic evidence for PostHog support tickets. Gathers SDK versions, API connectivity, feature flag status, event flow verification, and redacted configuration. All secrets are automatically redacted.

Prerequisites

  • PostHog SDK installed in project
  • Access to environment variables
  • curl and jq available

Instructions

Step 1: Run Full Diagnostic Script

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail

BUNDLE_DIR="posthog-debug-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)"
mkdir -p "$BUNDLE_DIR"

echo "=== PostHog Debug Bundle ===" > "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
echo "Generated: $(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
echo "" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"

# --- Environment ---
echo "--- Runtime Environment ---" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
echo "Node: $(node --version 2>/dev/null || echo 'not found')" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
echo "npm: $(npm --version 2>/dev/null || echo 'not found')" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
echo "Python: $(python3 --version 2>/dev/null || echo 'not found')" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
echo "OS: $(uname -srm)" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
echo "" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"

# --- SDK Versions ---
echo "--- PostHog SDK Versions ---" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
npm list posthog-js posthog-node 2>/dev/null >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt" || echo "No npm PostHog packages" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
pip3 show posthog 2>/dev/null | grep -E "Name|Version" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt" || true
echo "" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"

# --- API Connectivity ---
echo "--- API Connectivity ---" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
echo -n "US Cloud ingest: " >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code} (%{time_total}s)" https://us.i.posthog.com/healthz >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt" 2>&1
echo "" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
echo -n "EU Cloud ingest: " >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code} (%{time_total}s)" https://eu.i.posthog.com/healthz >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt" 2>&1
echo "" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
echo -n "App API: " >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code} (%{time_total}s)" https://app.posthog.com/api/ >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt" 2>&1
echo "" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"

# --- Environment Variables (redacted) ---
echo "" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
echo "--- Environment Variables (redacted) ---" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
env | grep -i posthog | sed 's/=.*/=***REDACTED***/' >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt" 2>/dev/null || echo "No POSTHOG env vars found" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
echo "" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"

# --- Key Type Detection ---
echo "--- API Key Types ---" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
if [ -n "${NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_KEY:-}" ]; then
  echo "Project key prefix: $(echo "$NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_KEY" | head -c 4)_..." >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
fi
if [ -n "${POSTHOG_PERSONAL_API_KEY:-}" ]; then
  echo "Personal key prefix: $(echo "$POSTHOG_PERSONAL_API_KEY" | head -c 4)_..." >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
fi

echo "" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
echo "Bundle complete: $BUNDLE_DIR/" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"

Step 2: Test Event Capture Flow

set -euo pipefail
# Send a test event and verify it was accepted
RESPONSE=$(curl -s -w "\n%{http_code}" -X POST 'https://us.i.posthog.com/capture/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d "{
    \"api_key\": \"${NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_KEY}\",
    \"event\": \"debug_bundle_test\",
    \"distinct_id\": \"debug-$(date +%s)\",
    \"properties\": {\"test\": true}
  }")

HTTP_CODE=$(echo "$RESPONSE" | tail -1)
BODY=$(echo "$RESPONSE" | head -1)

echo "Capture test: HTTP $HTTP_CODE"
echo "Response: $BODY"

# Expected: HTTP 200, Response: {"status": 1}

Step 3: Check Feature Flag Status

set -euo pipefail
# Evaluate flags via the /decide endpoint
curl -s -X POST 'https://us.i.posthog.com/decide/?v=3' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d "{
    \"api_key\": \"${NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_KEY}\",
    \"distinct_id\": \"debug-test\"
  }" | jq '{
    featureFlags: .featureFlags,
    errorsWhileComputingFlags: .errorsWhileComputingFlags,
    sessionRecording: (.sessionRecording != false)
  }'

Step 4: Verify Admin API Access

set -euo pipefail
# Test personal API key (if available)
if [ -n "${POSTHOG_PERSONAL_API_KEY:-}" ]; then
  curl -s "https://app.posthog.com/api/projects/" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $POSTHOG_PERSONAL_API_KEY" | \
    jq '[.[] | {id, name, created_at}]' > "$BUNDLE_DIR/projects.json" 2>/dev/null || \
    echo "Personal API key failed" >> "$BUNDLE_DIR/summary.txt"
fi

Step 5: Package and Review

set -euo pipefail
# Review for any accidentally included secrets
grep -rn "phc_\|phx_\|Bearer " "$BUNDLE_DIR/" | grep -v REDACTED | grep -v "prefix:" && \
  echo "WARNING: Potential secret found — review before sharing" || \
  echo "No secrets detected in bundle"

# Package
tar -czf "$BUNDLE_DIR.tar.gz" "$BUNDLE_DIR"
echo "Bundle created: $BUNDLE_DIR.tar.gz ($(du -h "$BUNDLE_DIR.tar.gz" | cut -f1))"

Checklist

Item Collected Purpose
Node/Python versions Yes SDK compatibility
PostHog SDK versions Yes Version-specific bugs
API connectivity Yes Network/firewall issues
Event capture test Yes End-to-end verification
Feature flag status Yes Flag evaluation issues
Environment vars (redacted) Yes Configuration problems
Key type detection Yes Wrong key type errors

Error Handling

Issue Cause Solution
All connectivity fails Corporate firewall Check proxy settings, try VPN
Capture returns non-200 Invalid API key Verify phc_ key in project settings
/decide fails Key/host mismatch Ensure key matches the host region
Personal API 401 Expired key Regenerate in Settings > Personal API Keys

Output

  • posthog-debug-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.tar.gz archive containing:
    • summary.txt — Runtime, SDK versions, connectivity, redacted config
    • projects.json — Project list (if personal key available)
    • Test event capture and flag evaluation results

Resources

Next Steps

For rate limit issues, see posthog-rate-limits.

Info
Category Development
Name posthog-debug-bundle
Version v20260423
Size 7.04KB
Updated At 2026-04-28
Language