Understand the common fields that define the core RudderStack event data structure.
11 minute read
RudderStack defines some common fields (event type, timestamps, and more) across all API calls that make up the core event data structure.
This guide covers the common and contextual fields in detail.
Common fields
Name
Data type
Description
userId Required, if anonymousId is absent.
String
Unique identification for the user in the database
anonymousId Required, if userId is absent.
String
Pseudo-identifier for the user in cases where userId is absent. This is the same as the device ID.
channel Required
String
Identifies the source of the event. Permitted values are mobile, web, server and sources.
context Required
Object
Contains all additional user information. The RudderStack SDKs populate this information automatically.
type Required
String
Captures the type of event. Values can be either identify, track, screen, page, group, or alias.
originalTimestamp Required
Timestamp
Records the actual time (in UTC) when the event occurred. Make sure it conforms to the ISO 8601 date format yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss.SSSZ.
For e.g., 2022-02-01T19:14:18.381Z.
sentAt Required
Timestamp
Captures the time (in UTC) when the event was sent from the client to RudderStack. Make sure it conforms to the ISO 8601 date format yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss.SSSZ.
For e.g., 2022-02-01T19:14:18.381Z.
event
String
Captures the user action that you want to record.
integrations
Object
You can specify the destinations for which you want to enable/disable sending events.
messageId
String
Unique identification for the event.
properties
Object
Passes all relevant information associated with the event.
RudderStack also sets the following fields automatically, so you do not have to set them explicitly:
Name
Data type
Description
receivedAt
Timestamp
Time in UTC when RudderStack ingests the event.
timestamp
Timestamp
RudderStack calculates this field to account for any client-side clock skew using the formula: timestamp = receivedAt - (sentAt - originalTimestamp). See Clock skew considerations for more information. Note that this time is in UTC.
request_ip
String
User’s IP address. RudderStack automatically collects and sets this property as a common field. See How RudderStack collects IP address for more information.
Contextual fields
Contextual fields give additional information about a particular event. The following table describes the available contextual fields.
Name
Data type
Description
app
Object
Gives detailed information related to your app, like build, name, namespace and version.
campaign
Object
Gives detailed information about campaigns, like name, source, medium, content and term.
device
Object
Information about the device from which you are capturing the event. It contains the device id, manufacturer, model, name and type.
Details about the RudderStack SDK you are using, like name and version.
locale
String
Captures the language of the device.
network
Object
Contains information about the reachability of the device. Also, it gives you the status of the device’s bluetooth, wifi, cellular network and carrier name.
os
Object
Captures the operating system details of the device you are tracking.
Note: While the JavaScript SDK does not populate this information automatically, you can get it using the uaChTrackLevelload API option.
screen
Object
Gives you the screen dimensions of the device, i.e. height, width and the density.
timezone
String
Captures the timezone of the user you are tracking.
traits
Object
Captures any additional relevant information about the user. RudderStack fills in the anonymousId for you. You can also associate the traits from the previously-made identify call from the SDK.
userAgent
String
The user agent of the device that you are tracking.
Automatically collected contextual fields
The following table describes contextual fields that are automatically collected and populated by the RudderStack SDKs:
Field
JavaScript
Android
iOS
Description
app.name
-
Yes
Yes
Name of the application.
app.version
-
Yes
Yes
Version of the application.
app.build
-
Yes
Yes
Build of the application.
campaign.name
Yes
-
-
Name of the campaign.
campaign.source
Yes
-
-
Source of the campaign.
campaign.medium
Yes
-
-
Medium of the campaign.
campaign.term
Yes
-
-
Term of the campaign.
campaign.content
Yes
-
-
Content of the campaign.
device.type
-
Yes
Yes
Type of the device.
device.id
-
Yes
Yes
ID of the device.
device.advertisingId
-
Yes
Yes
Advertising ID of the device.
device.adTrackingEnabled
-
-
Yes
If ad tracking is enabled on the device.
device.manufacturer
-
Yes
Yes
Manufacturer of the device.
device.model
-
Yes
Yes
Model of the device.
device.name
-
Yes
Yes
Name of the device.
library.name
Yes
Yes
Yes
Name of the library.
library.version
Yes
Yes
Yes
Version of the library.
locale
Yes
Yes
Yes
Locale string of the user.
network.bluetooth
-
Yes*
-
Bluetooth information.
network.carrier
-
Yes
Yes
Carrier information about the network connection.
network.cellular
-
Yes
Yes
Cellular information about the network connection.
network.wifi
-
Yes
Yes
WiFi information about the network connection.
os.name
-
Yes
Yes
Name of the operating system.
For JavaScript SDK, you can get it using the uaChTrackLevelload API option.
os.version
-
Yes
Yes
Version of the operating system.
For JavaScript SDK, you can get it using the uaChTrackLevelload API option.
page.path
Yes
-
-
Path of the current page in the browser.
page.initial_referrer
Yes
-
-
Initial referrer of the current page in the browser.
page.initial_referring_domain
Yes
-
-
Initial referring domain of the current page in the browser.
page.referrer
Yes
-
-
Referrer of the current page in the browser. This value generally contains the page’s origin (for example, https://www.google.com) but is dependent on the referrer policy set on the previous page.
page.referring_domain
Yes
-
-
Referring domain of the current page in the browser.
page.search
Yes
-
-
Search of the current page in the browser.
page.title
Yes
-
-
Title of the current page in the browser.
page.url
Yes
-
-
URL of the current page in the browser.
screen.density
Yes
Yes
Yes
Density of the device’s screen.
screen.height
Yes
Yes
Yes
Height of the device’s screen.
screen.width
Yes
Yes
Yes
Width of the device’s screen.
screen.innerWidth
Yes
-
-
Inner width of the device’s screen.
screen.innerHeight
Yes
-
-
Inner height of the device’s screen.
traits
-
Yes
Yes
Traits of the user.
userAgent
Yes
Yes
-
User agent of the device making the request.
timezone
Yes
Yes
Yes
Information about the user’s timezone.
For Android SDK v1.6.0 and above, the Bluetooth status is collected in the network.bluetooth field only if the Bluetooth permission is present in the app.
For iOS SDK v1.6.3 and above, the Bluetooth status is not collected in the network.bluetooth field as it is a run-time permission.
Sample payload with contextual fields
The following sample payload highlights the usage of the common and contextual fields in web and mobile modes:
{"anonymousId":"78c53c15-32a1-4b65-adac-bec2d7bb8fab","channel":"web","context":{"campaign":{"name":"sales campaign","source":"google","medium":"medium","term":"event data","content":"Make sense of the modern data stack"},"ip":"192.0.2.0","library":{"name":"RudderLabs JavaScript SDK","version":"2.9.1"},"locale":"en-US","page":{"path":"/best-seller/1","initial_referrer":"https://www.google.com/search","initial_referring_domain":"google.com","referrer":"https://www.google.com/search?q=estore+bestseller","referring_domain":"google.com","search":"estore bestseller","title":"The best sellers offered by EStore","url":"https://www.estore.com/best-seller/1"},"screen":{"density":420,"height":1794,"width":1080,"innerHeight":200,"innerWidth":100},"userAgent":"Dalvik/2.1.0 (Linux; U; Android 9; Android SDK built for x86 Build/PSR1.180720.075)"},"event":"Product Reviewed","integrations":{"All":true},"messageId":"1578564113557-af022c68-429e-4af4-b99b-2b9174056383","properties":{"review_id":"review_id_1","product_id":"product_id_1","rating":5.0,"review_body":"It's the greatest!"},"originalTimestamp":"2020-01-09T10:01:53.558Z","type":"track","sentAt":"2020-01-09T10:02:03.257Z"}
{"anonymousId":"78c53c15-32a1-4b65-adac-bec2d7bb8fab","channel":"mobile","context":{"app":{"name":"RudderAndroidClient","version":"1.0","build":"1"},"device":{"type":"android","id":"78c53c15-32a1-4b65-adac-bec2d7bb8fab","advertisingId":"435o4GRlm","manufacturer":"Google","model":"Android SDK built for x86","name":"generic_x86",},"ip":"192.0.2.0","library":{"name":"com.rudderstack.android.sdk.core","version":"0.1.4"},"locale":"en-US","network":{"bluetooth":false,"carrier":"Android","cellular":true,"wifi":true},"os":{"name":"Android","version":"9"},"screen":{"density":420,"height":1794,"width":1080},"traits":{"anonymousId":"78c53c15-32a1-4b65-adac-bec2d7bb8fab"},"timezone":"Asia/Mumbai","userAgent":"Dalvik/2.1.0 (Linux; U; Android 9; Android SDK built for x86 Build/PSR1.180720.075)"},"event":"Product Reviewed","integrations":{"All":true},"messageId":"1578564113557-af022c68-429e-4af4-b99b-2b9174056383","properties":{"review_id":"review_id_1","product_id":"product_id_1","rating":5.0,"review_body":"It's the greatest!"},"originalTimestamp":"2020-01-09T10:01:53.558Z","type":"track","sentAt":"2020-01-09T10:02:03.257Z"}
{"anonymousId":"78c53c15-32a1-4b65-adac-bec2d7bb8fab","channel":"mobile","context":{"app":{"name":"RudderSampleAppObjC","version":"1.0","build":"1"},"device":{"type":"iOS","id":"78c53c15-32a1-4b65-adac-bec2d7bb8fab","advertisingId":"435o4GRlm","adTrackingEnabled":false,"manufacturer":"Apple","model":"iPhone","name":"iPhone 12",},"ip":"192.0.2.0","library":{"name":"rudder-ios-library","version":"1.5.0"},"locale":"en-US","network":{"carrier":"unavailable","cellular":false,"wifi":true},"os":{"name":"iOS","version":"15.2"},"screen":{"height":1794,"width":1080},"traits":{"anonymousId":"78c53c15-32a1-4b65-adac-bec2d7bb8fab"},"timezone":"Asia/Mumbai"},"event":"Product Reviewed","integrations":{"All":true},"messageId":"1643629072-8ce81faf-7489-4508-b21b-659e81510991","properties":{"review_id":"review_id_1","product_id":"product_id_1","rating":5.0,"review_body":"It's the greatest!"},"originalTimestamp":"2020-01-09T10:01:53.558Z","type":"track","sentAt":"2020-01-09T10:02:03.257Z"}
How RudderStack collects IP address
RudderStack automatically collects the user’s IP address in the request_ip property as a common field.
Note that you can see the request_ip field in the final event received at the destination but not in the Live Events. This is because RudderStack adds the IP address in the backend while sending the event to the destination - it is not a part of the initial event data generated at the source.
You can also set a custom IP address or anonymize it in your events. To do so, set the ip parameter in the source-level context object. RudderStack uses the provided IP address instead of automatically capturing it in the backend.
An example of how to do this using the identify API of the JavaScript SDK is shown:
rudderanalytics.identify("1hKOmRA4el9Zt1WSfVJIVo4GRlm",{firstName:"Alex",lastName:"Keener",email:"alex@example.com",phone:"+1-202-555-0146"},{ip:"192.0.2.0"},()=>{console.log("Identify event successfully submitted to the RudderStack SDK.");});
Clock skew considerations
RudderStack considers the time at its end to be absolute and assumes any differences are on the client-side. Thus, the client clock skew is relative.
Field
Description
originalTimestamp
Time, client-side, when the event occurred at the source.
sentAt
Time, client-side, when the event was sent from the client to RudderStack.
receivedAt
Time when the event is received(ingested) by the RudderStack server.
timestamp
Calculated by RudderStack to account for the client clock skew, if the user does not explicitly specify it in the payload.
All the above timestamps are in UTC.
Important considerations for using timestamps in analysis
originalTimestamp and sentAt should not be used for analysis because they both reflect client-side clock skew.
Likewise, receivedAt does not guarantee preservation of the chronological order of events, and should not be used for analysis where chronological order is needed.
When importing historical events, timestamp should be used to preserve chronological order.
SDK sources
If you do not specify the timestamp field in the payload for SDK sources, RudderStack calculates it based on the originalTimestamp and sentAt to account for the client clock skew.
sentAt > originalTimestamp is always true. However, timestamp can be greater or less than the originalTimestamp:
Case 1: originalTimestamp < receivedAt
When the client-side time is less than the time registered by RudderStack:
In the above cases, timestamp is the same as specified in the payload. RudderStack sets the originalTimestamp as the currentTime. You can add a transformation to correct the clock skew.
Case 3: If none of the originalTimestamp, sentAt, receivedAt, and timestamp fields are passed in the payload:
RudderStack sets the originalTimestamp and sentAt fields to the current time and calculates timestamp (same as receivedAt/current time).
Destinations
RudderStack gives priority to the timestamp field over originalTimestamp. Refer to the destination documentation for more details.
Timestamp mapping for Reverse ETL sources
When you map your warehouse columns to destination fields using JSON mapper, RudderStack prefers the timestamp to be set in the following event traits/properties (in the exact preference order):
Event type
JSON key for timestamp
track
properties.timestamp
identify
context.timestamp
context.traits.timestamp
traits.timestamp
timestamp
originalTimestamp
Note that:
If the timestamp is not present in any of the outermost timestamp fields, RudderStack takes the timestamp value from the originalTimestamp field (at the outermost level in the event payload).
RudderStack generates the root level timestamp field and it changes every time a full sync is triggered.
This site uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of
these
cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as
essential
for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that
help
us
analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser
only
with
your
consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these
cookies
may
have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This
category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security
features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
This site uses cookies to improve your experience. If you want to
learn more about cookies and why we use them, visit our cookie
policy. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish Cookie Settings.