AI-driven analytics review

Connect an AI coding agent to PostHog via MCP, run the standard growth queries against the built-in events, and close the measure → change → re-measure loop.

Your coding agent can read PostHog directly and propose the next growth change. This page holds the queries and definitions that loop runs on - point your agent at it.

Prerequisite: PostHog enabled in config.analytics.posthog (Analytics). The loop is PostHog-specific - it is the only provider with server-side events and an MCP server.

Connect the PostHog MCP

Create a personal API key in PostHog: Settings → Personal API keys (scope it read-only to the project).

Register PostHog's MCP server (https://mcp.posthog.com/mcp, HTTP transport, Authorization: Bearer <personal key> header) with whatever agent you use. For Claude Code:

claude mcp add --transport http posthog https://mcp.posthog.com/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer <personal key>"

Verify: ask the agent to list PostHog insights. It should answer from your project.

The standard growth queries

Exact event and property names from the built-in catalog; the first_touch_* properties come from attribution:

Question	Query over
Bounce rate by landing page	`$pageview` / `$pageleave` sessions grouped by entry `$pathname`
Acquisition funnel by source	Funnel `$pageview` → `sign_up` → `purchase`, broken down by `first_touch_source`
Where signups stall	Funnel `signup_started` → `sign_up` → `onboarding_started` → `onboarding_completed`
Low-scroll pages	Max scroll depth (on `$pageleave`) by `$pathname`, ascending
Frustration pages	`$rageclick` and `$dead_click` counts by `$pathname`
Web vitals by route	`$web_vitals` (LCP, CLS, INP) grouped by `$pathname`
Pogo-sticking (proxy)	Sessions entering from a search-engine referrer with `$pageleave` under ~10s and no second `$pageview`
Revenue by first touch	Server `purchase` (has `providerEventId`) grouped by `first_touch_source`
Search misses	`search` events with `resultCount = 0` (no query text is captured)
Pricing interest vs. intent	`pricing_viewed` vs. `begin_checkout` by `source`

Revenue questions use the server purchase event (it carries providerEventId); the client purchase exists for the client-only providers and double-counts in PostHog.

Metric definitions

Metric	Definition
Bounce	Session with one `$pageview` and no engagement before `$pageleave`
Engagement rate	Sessions with a second `$pageview`, a conversion event, or meaningful dwell, over all sessions
Scroll depth	Max scroll percentage PostHog attaches per pageview at `$pageleave`
Pogo-sticking proxy	Search-referrer entry that leaves within seconds without a second pageview - a proxy, since the true behavior (returning to the results page) is only observable on the search engine

The loop

Measure: run the queries above; write the baseline numbers down (in the PR or an insight).

Change one thing: the worst page, the biggest funnel drop-off, the slowest route.

Wait for volume: enough sessions to move past noise - days, not hours, on small sites.

Re-measure: the SAME queries. Keep the change if the number moved, revert if it did not.

Built-in events

The full event catalog these queries run against.

Cookie consent

The consent gate and the first_touch attribution cookie.