How to send your first event

Overview

Sending a first server-side event proves ingestion, authentication, and schema validation in your workspace. This guide uses the HTTP ingestion endpoint with a signed test payload so you can confirm delivery in the live tail before wiring a full storefront or app.

Steps

1. In the dashboard, open Settings → API keys and copy an ingestion key with event-write scope.
2. Choose a canonical event name such as Purchase or PageView and map it to your internal contract.
3. POST JSON to the ingestion route with required identifiers (event_id, timestamp, context.client.user_agent when browser-origin).

curl -sS -X POST "https://ingest.tracklayer.io/v1/events" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer tl_your_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "event": "PageView",
    "event_id": "evt_demo_001",
    "timestamp": "2026-05-05T12:00:00.000Z",
    "properties": { "path": "/help", "title": "Help center" }
  }'

4. Open Live tail and filter by event_id to verify acceptance and any enrichment notes.

Troubleshooting

• 401 responses usually mean the key is missing scope or the workspace region does not match the hostname you targeted.
• 422 schema errors list the exact path that failed validation; fix the field and replay with a new event_id.
• If events appear delayed, check whether you batched locally—TrackLayer accepts singles or small batches, but very large payloads may be split by the client SDK.