error-tracking-python

PostHog error tracking for Python

This skill helps you add PostHog error tracking to Python applications.

Consult the documentation for API details and framework-specific patterns.

Environment variables: Always use environment variables for PostHog keys and host URLs. Never hardcode them.
Minimal changes: Add error tracking alongside existing error handling. Don't replace or restructure existing error handling code.
Autocapture first: Enable exception autocapture in the SDK initialization before adding manual captures.
Source maps: Upload source maps so stack traces resolve to original source code, not minified bundles.
Manual capture for boundaries: Use captureException() at error boundaries and catch blocks for errors that don't propagate to the global handler.

Remember that source code is available in the venv/site-packages directory
posthog is the Python SDK package name
Install dependencies with pip install posthog or pip install -r requirements.txt and do NOT use unquoted version specifiers like >= directly in shell commands
In CLIs and scripts: MUST call posthog.shutdown() before exit or all events are lost
Always use the Posthog() class constructor (instance-based API) instead of module-level posthog.api_key config
Always include enable_exception_autocapture=True in the Posthog() constructor to automatically track exceptions
NEVER send PII in capture() event properties — no emails, full names, phone numbers, physical addresses, IP addresses, or user-generated content
PII belongs in identify() person properties, NOT in capture() event properties. Safe event properties are metadata like message_length, form_type, boolean flags.
Register posthog_client.shutdown with atexit.register() to ensure all events are flushed on exit
The Python SDK has NO identify() method — use posthog_client.set(distinct_id=user_id, properties={...}) to set person properties, or use identify_context(user_id) within a context