RudderStack’s PHP SDK allows you to track your event data from your PHP applications and send it to your specified destinations via RudderStack.

Check out the GitHub codebase to get a more hands-on understanding of the SDK.

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SDK setup requirements

To set up the RudderStack PHP SDK, the following prerequisites must be met:

  • You will need to set up a RudderStack account.
  • Once signed up, set up a PHP source in the dashboard. For more information, see Adding a source. You should then see a Write Key for this source, as shown below:
PHP source write key
  • You will also need a data plane URL. Follow this section for more information on the data plane URL and where to get it.

Installing the PHP SDK

Install the RudderStack PHP SDK using the composer. You can also do so by running the following command:

git clone https://github.com/rudderlabs/rudder-php-sdk /my/app/folders/

Then, use the composer to install the PHP SDK by running the following command:

composer require rudderstack/rudder-php-sdk

Initializing the RudderStack client

To initialize the RudderStack client, run the following code snippet:

require_once("/path/to/lib/Rudder.php");
Rudder::init(WRITE_KEY, array(
"data_plane_url" => DATA_PLANE_URL,
"consumer" => "lib_curl", // fork_curl
"debug" => true,
"max_queue_size" => 10000,
"batch_size" => 100,
"ssl" => true // defaults to true
));

RudderStack accepts the DATA_PLANE_URL with or without the protocol. If the protocol is missing, RudderStack automatically prepends it to the URL based on whether the ssl option is set to true or false.

RudderStack accepts the following data plane URL formats:

SSLData Plane URL
truehttps://example.dataplane.com
trueexample.dataplane.com
falsehttp://example.dataplane.com
falseexample.dataplane.com

While initializing the RudderStack client, the ssl field is optional if you are using the HTTPS protocol. If included, its value must be set to true.

In case of the HTTP protocol, ssl is a required field and must always be set to false.

Sending events from the RudderStack client

Once the RudderStack client is initialized, you can use it to send relevant customer events.

RudderStack does not store the user state in any of the server-side SDKs. Unlike the client-side SDKs that deal with only a single user at a given time, the server-side SDKs deal with multiple users at the same time. Therefore, for any of the calls supported by the PHP SDK, you need to specify either userId or anonymousId every time.

A sample track call is shown in the following code snippet:

Rudder::track(array(
"userId" => "f4ca124298",
"event" => "Signed Up",
"properties" => array(
"plan" => "Enterprise"
)
));

Identify

The identify call lets you identify a visiting user and capture any related information such as their name, email address, etc.

A sample identify call is as shown:

Rudder::identify(array(
"userId" => "2sfjej334",
"traits" => array(
"email" => "test@test.com",
"name" => "test name",
"friends" => 25
)
));

The identify method parameters are as described below:

FieldTypePresenceDescription
anonymousIdStringOptionalSets the user ID for cases where there is no unique identifier for the user. Either userId or anonymousId is required.
userIdStringOptional, if anonymousId is already setUnique identifier for a particular user in your database.
contextObjectOptionalDictionary of information that provides context about a message. However, it is not directly related to the API call.
integrationsObjectOptionalA dictionary containing the destinations to be either enabled or disabled.
timestampDateOptionalThe timestamp of the message's arrival.
traitsObjectOptionalDictionary of the traits associated with the user, such as nameor email

Track

The track call lets you record the user actions along with their associated properties. Each user action is called an event.

A sample track call is shown below:

Rudder::track(array(
"userId" => "f4ca124298",
"event" => "Article Bookmarked",
"properties" => array(
"title" => "Snow Fall",
"subtitle" => "The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek",
"author" => "John Branch"
)
));

The track method parameters are as described below:

NameTypePresenceDescription
user_idStringRequiredThe developer identification for your user
eventStringRequiredName of the event being performed by the user
propertiesObjectOptionalDictionary of the properties associated with a particular event.
contextObjectOptionalDictionary of information that provides context about a message. However, it is not directly related to the API call.
timestampDateOptionalThe timestamp of the message's arrival.
anonymous_idStringOptionalSets the user ID for cases where there is no unique identifier for the user. Either userId or anonymousId is required.
integrationsObjectOptionalA dictionary containing the destinations to be either enabled or disabled.

Page

The page call allows you to record the page views on your website along with the other relevant information about the viewed page.

A sample page call is as shown:

Rudder::page(array(
"userId" => "f4ca124298",
"category" => "Docs",
"name" => "PHP library",
"properties" => array(
"url" => "https://segment.com/libraries/php/"
)
));

The page method parameters are as described below:

FieldTypePresenceDescription
anonymousIdStringOptionalSets the user ID for cases where there is no unique identifier for the user. Either userId or anonymousId is required.
userIdStringOptional, if anonymousId is already setUnique identifier for a particular user in your database.
contextObjectOptionalDictionary of information that provides context about a message. However, it is not directly related to the API call.
integrationsObjectOptionalA dictionary containing the destinations to be either enabled or disabled.
nameStringRequiredName of the page being viewed.
propertiesObjectOptionalDictionary of the properties associated with the page being viewed, such as url and referrer
timestampDateOptionalThe timestamp of the message's arrival.

Screen

The screen call is the mobile equivalent of the page call. It allows you to record the screen views on your mobile app along with the other relevant information about the app screen.

A sample screen call is as shown:

Rudder::screen(array(
"userId" => "f4ca124298",
"category" => "Docs",
"name" => "PHP library",
"properties" => array(
"name" => "HomeScreen"
)
));

The screen method parameters are as described below:

FieldTypePresenceDescription
anonymousIdStringOptionalSets the user ID for cases where there is no unique identifier for the user. Either userId or anonymousId is required.
userIdStringOptional, if anonymousId is already setUnique identifier for a particular user in your database.
contextObjectOptionalDictionary of information that provides context about a message. However, it is not directly related to the API call.
integrationsObjectOptionalA dictionary containing the destinations to be either enabled or disabled.
nameStringRequiredName of the screen being viewed.
propertiesObjectOptionalDictionary of the properties associated with the page being viewed, such as url and referrer
timestampDateOptionalThe timestamp of the message's arrival.

Group

The group call lets you associate an identified user to a group - either a company, project or a team and record any custom traits or properties associated with that group.

A sample group call is as shown:

Rudder::group(array(
"userId" => "2sfjej334",
"groupId" => "2sfjej334erresd",
"traits" => array(
"email" => "test@test.com",
"name" => "test name",
"friends" => 25
)
));

The group method parameters are as follows:

FieldTypePresenceDescription
anonymousIdStringOptionalSets the user ID for cases where there is no unique identifier for the user. Either userId or anonymousId is required.
userIdStringOptional, if anonymousId is already setUnique identifier for a particular user in your database.
contextObjectOptionalDictionary of information that provides context about a message. However, it is not directly related to the API call.
integrationsObjectOptionalA dictionary containing the destinations to be either enabled or disabled.
groupIdStringRequiredUnique identifier of the group, as present in your database.
traitsObjectOptionalDictionary of the properties or traits associated with the group, such as email or name.
timestampDateOptionalThe timestamp of the message's arrival.

Alias

The alias call allows you to associate one identity with another.

alias is an advanced method that lets you change the tracked user's ID explicitly. This method is useful when managing user identities for some of the downstream destinations.

A sample alias call is as shown:

Rudder::alias(array(
"previousId" => "previousId",
"userId" => "2sfjej334",
));

The alias method parameters are as mentioned below:

FieldTypePresenceDescription
userIdStringOptional, if anonymousId is already setUnique identifier for a particular user in your database.
contextObjectOptionalDictionary of information that provides context about a message. However, it is not directly related to the API call.
integrationsObjectOptionalA dictionary containing the destinations to be either enabled or disabled.
previousIdStringRequiredThe previous unique identifier of the user.
traitsObjectOptionalDictionary of the properties or traits associated with the group, such as email or name.
timestampDateOptionalThe timestamp of the message's arrival.

For a detailed explanation of the alias call, refer to our RudderStack API Specification guide.

Contact us

For any queries on any of the sections covered in this guide, you can contact us, or start a conversation on our Slack channel.

If you come across any issues while using the PHP SDK, you can open a new issue on our GitHub Issues page.

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