React error tracking installation

Install the package

Required

Install posthog-js and @posthog/react using your package manager:

npm install posthog-js @posthog/react
yarn add posthog-js @posthog/react
pnpm add posthog-js @posthog/react

Add environment variables

Required

Add your PostHog API key and host to your environment variables. For Vite-based React apps, use the VITE_PUBLIC_ prefix:

.env
VITE_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_KEY=<ph_project_token>
VITE_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_HOST=https://us.i.posthog.com

Initialize PostHog

Required

Wrap your app with the PostHogProvider component at the root of your application (such as main.tsx if you're using Vite):

main.tsx
import { StrictMode } from 'react'
import { createRoot } from 'react-dom/client'
import './index.css'
import App from './App.jsx'
import { PostHogProvider } from '@posthog/react'

const options = {
  api_host: import.meta.env.VITE_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_HOST,
  defaults: '2026-01-30',
} as const

createRoot(document.getElementById('root')).render(
  <StrictMode>
    <PostHogProvider apiKey={import.meta.env.VITE_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_KEY} options={options}>
      <App />
    </PostHogProvider>
  </StrictMode>
)

defaults option

The defaults option automatically configures PostHog with recommended settings for new projects. See SDK defaults for details.

Accessing PostHog in your code

Recommended

Use the usePostHog hook to access the PostHog instance in any component wrapped by PostHogProvider:

MyComponent.tsx
import { usePostHog } from '@posthog/react'

function MyComponent() {
    const posthog = usePostHog()

    function handleClick() {
        posthog.capture('button_clicked', { button_name: 'signup' })
    }

    return <button onClick={handleClick}>Sign up</button>
}

You can also import posthog directly for non-React code or utility functions:

utils/analytics.ts
import posthog from 'posthog-js'

export function trackPurchase(amount: number) {
    posthog.capture('purchase_completed', { amount })
}

5
Send events
Recommended
Click around and view a couple pages to generate some events. PostHog automatically captures pageviews, clicks, and other interactions for you.
If you'd like, you can also manually capture custom events:
JavaScript
posthog.capture('my_custom_event', { property: 'value' })
6
Set up exception autocapture
Recommended
You can enable exception autocapture for the JavaScript Web SDK in the Error tracking section of your project settings.

When enabled, this automatically captures $exception events when errors are thrown by wrapping the window.onerror and window.onunhandledrejection listeners.

Set up error boundaries

Optional

You can use the PostHogErrorBoundary component to capture rendering errors thrown by components:

JavaScript
import { PostHogProvider, PostHogErrorBoundary } from '@posthog/react'
const Layout = () => {
  return (
    <PostHogProvider apiKey="<ph_project_token>">
      <PostHogErrorBoundary
        fallback={<YourFallbackComponent />} // (Optional) Add a fallback component that's shown when an error happens.
      >
        <YourApp />
      </PostHogErrorBoundary>
    </PostHogProvider>
  )
}
const YourFallbackComponent = ({ error, componentStack, exceptionEvent }) => {
  return <div>Something went wrong. Please try again later.</div>
}

Manually capture exceptions

Optional

It is also possible to manually capture exceptions using the captureException method:

JavaScript
posthog.captureException(error, additionalProperties)

Verify error tracking
Recommended
Confirm events are being sent to PostHog
Before proceeding, let's make sure exception events are being captured and sent to PostHog. You should see events appear in the activity feed.
Check for exceptions in PostHog
9
Upload source maps
Required
Great, you're capturing exceptions! If you serve minified bundles, the next step is to upload source maps to generate accurate stack traces.
Let's continue to the next section.
Upload source maps

React error tracking installation

Install the package

Add environment variables

Initialize PostHog

Accessing PostHog in your code

Send events

Set up exception autocapture

Set up error boundaries

Manually capture exceptions

Verify error tracking

Upload source maps

Community questions

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