Quick start for activation engine tracking

The activation engine uses internal events to record activation metrics. Events are routed to the activation engine through YAML-based extra_trackers configuration. You do not call the Activation::Metric model directly from application code.

Record a metric

Call Gitlab::InternalEvents.track_event with an internal event whose YAML definition includes an extra_trackers entry for Gitlab::Tracking::ActivationTracking.

Gitlab::InternalEvents.track_event('merged_mr', user: user, project: project)

The corresponding event definition at ee/config/events/merged_mr.yml wires the event to activation tracking:

action: merged_mr
internal_events: true
extra_trackers:
  - tracking_class: Gitlab::Tracking::ActivationTracking

The Gitlab::Tracking::ActivationTracking adapter receives the event and delegates to Activation::Metric.track. The call is a no-op when:

• The activation_tracking feature flag is disabled.
• A record already exists for the same user, namespace, and metric combination.

Check if a metric is completed

Activation::Metric.completed?(user_id: user.id, metric: :merged_mr, namespace_id: namespace.id)

Returns true if a matching record exists, false otherwise. The namespace_id: parameter is optional.

Query metrics

Use Activation::MetricsFinder to retrieve metrics for a user with optional filters.

Activation::MetricsFinder.new(user: user, params: { namespace: namespace, metric: :merged_mr }).execute

Supported filter parameters:

• namespace: Filter by a specific namespace.
• metric: Filter by metric type (symbol).

The finder does not apply a default limit. When used in a GraphQL resolver, pagination is handled by .connection_type.

Add a new metric type

1. Add an entry to the enum in ee/app/models/activation/metric.rb:

   enum :metric, {
     merged_mr: 0,
     new_metric: 1
   }

2. Create or update an event definition YAML in ee/config/events/ with the extra_trackers entry for Gitlab::Tracking::ActivationTracking. The event action must match the enum key:

   action: new_metric
   internal_events: true
   extra_trackers:
     - tracking_class: Gitlab::Tracking::ActivationTracking

3. Ensure application code calls Gitlab::InternalEvents.track_event for the corresponding event at the appropriate location.

Feature flag

The activation_tracking flag is a :wip type flag. To enable it in development:

Feature.enable(:activation_tracking)

To enable for a specific user:

Feature.enable(:activation_tracking, user)

Test activation metrics

Use the :activation_metric factory and stub_feature_flags to test activation tracking.

RSpec.describe 'example', feature_category: :onboarding do
  let_it_be(:user) { create(:user) }
  let_it_be(:namespace) { create(:namespace) }

  describe '.track' do
    before do
      stub_feature_flags(activation_tracking: user)
    end

    it 'records the metric', :aggregate_failures do
      Activation::Metric.track(:merged_mr, user: user, namespace: namespace)

      record = Activation::Metric.last
      expect(record.user_id).to eq(user.id)
      expect(record.namespace_id).to eq(namespace.id)
      expect(record.metric).to eq('merged_mr')
    end
  end

  describe '.completed?' do
    before_all do
      create(:activation_metric, user: user, namespace: namespace)
    end

    it 'returns true when the metric exists' do
      expect(Activation::Metric.completed?(user_id: user.id, metric: :merged_mr, namespace_id: namespace.id))
        .to be(true)
    end
  end
end