# OwlEye Analytics: full context

> OwlEye is a managed, cookie-free analytics service for founders and product teams that want useful traffic and event signals without placing stable identifiers in visitors' browsers.

Canonical website: https://owleye.dev/

## Product boundary

OwlEye runs as one hosted product. Customers add the TypeScript SDK and use the web console; OwlEye operates authentication, ingestion, ClickHouse, SQLite, retention workers, quota enforcement, subscriptions, backups, and the service edge. Local loopback HTTP and logged OTP delivery are development conveniences, not a self-managed product edition. Any future open-source/self-managed distribution is developed in a separate repository.

## Architecture

The dependency-free TypeScript SDK sends page views, bounded custom events, server-defined rule events, and selected performance measurements. Public SDK ingestion and authenticated console APIs remain separate. The Rust and Axum API validates site scope, minimises request data, derives site-scoped pseudonymous identifiers, and routes analytics facts to ClickHouse. SQLite stores users, organizations, memberships, sites, domains, auth state, keys, rules, dashboard definitions, sharing state, settings, subscription metadata, and durable workflow records.

Analytics reads are always site-scoped and membership-authorized. API and site keys are restricted to the site named by the request. Forwarded client addresses are accepted only from configured trusted proxies. Empty and failed ClickHouse queries are surfaced as empty/error states rather than substituted traffic.

## Browser privacy defaults

- no SDK cookies;
- no localStorage or sessionStorage writes;
- omitted request credentials and suppressed referrer header;
- query strings and fragments excluded unless an integrator explicitly opts in;
- Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control honored by default;
- no stable visitor ID planted in the browser;
- bounded primitive custom-event fields;
- `autoStart: false` for consent or lawful-basis orchestration.

At ingestion, OwlEye minimises the network address before deriving keyed, site-scoped pseudonymous aggregates. Raw IP addresses are not written to analytics facts. GeoIP can derive coarse country/region information in memory before the address is discarded. These controls reduce data; they do not make every use anonymous or remove the need for a lawful basis and transparent notice.

## Console

The Nuxt console supports overview analytics, time ranges, charts, country map/ranking views, content and referrer summaries, events, UTM campaigns, rules, members, app settings, developer access, AI allocation, and creator-owned Pro View dashboards. Funnel definitions use ordered cohort steps: a visitor must complete step 1 before step 2 and so on within the configured conversion window. Recipients can preview shared dashboards and decide whether to keep them in their own view.

Authenticated console sessions use secure HttpOnly cookies in production. Email OTP and Google OAuth are supported; first-time users may enroll authenticator-app TOTP. Access credentials are short-lived and refresh credentials rotate. Analytics visitor collection remains cookie-free and is a separate surface.

## Hosted operations

Every externally bound deployment requires a strong root secret, canonical HTTPS origins, secure cookies, and SMTP rather than logged OTP delivery. Hosted retention is stamped at event ingestion and reconciled by durable workers. Verified account/site erasure has priority over ordinary tier retention. Production readiness also requires encrypted tested backups, deletion replay after restore, monitoring, incident response, data-rights exercises, approved legal pages, a provider/transfer register, and named operational owners.

## Compliance posture

OwlEye implements controls that can support programs under EU GDPR, UK GDPR/Data Protection Act 2018, India's DPDPA, California CCPA/CPRA, Canada's PIPEDA, Brazil's LGPD, China's PIPL, and Japan's APPI. This is not a legal certification and cannot make a customer's implementation compliant automatically. Controller/processor roles, lawful basis or consent, purposes, event design, notices, contracts, transfers, rights handling, retention, minors posture, and incident duties depend on the actual deployment and customer use.

## Canonical sources

- Documentation: https://owleye.dev/docs/
- SDK guide: https://owleye.dev/docs/sdk/
- Console guide: https://owleye.dev/docs/console/
- Authentication: https://owleye.dev/docs/authentication/
- Developer access: https://owleye.dev/docs/developer-access/
- Pro View and funnels: https://owleye.dev/docs/pro-view/
- Tracking rules: https://owleye.dev/docs/rules/
- AI mode: https://owleye.dev/docs/ai/
- Architecture: https://owleye.dev/docs/architecture/
- Privacy and compliance: https://owleye.dev/docs/privacy-compliance/
- Hosted launch status: https://owleye.dev/docs/cloud-beta/
- Pricing: https://owleye.dev/pricing/
- Comparisons: https://owleye.dev/compare/
- Build log: https://owleye.dev/blog/

For time-sensitive details such as availability, pricing, allowances, retention terms, provider lists, legal notices, and launch status, use the relevant canonical OwlEye page and its last-updated context rather than cached summaries.

Last updated: 2026-08-29