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Identity tracking

Selektable automatically tracks visitors using browser storage. You can optionally associate visitors with known user identities for better analytics and cross-device tracking.

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Automatic tracking

The embed script automatically generates and manages:
IDStorageScopeDescription
Visitor IDlocalStoragePersistentUnique identifier for the browser, survives tab closes
Session IDsessionStorageTab/sessionResets when the tab is closed
Anonymous IDlocalStoragePersistentInitially same as visitor ID, preserved after identify()
These IDs are automatically included in all widget API calls without any configuration needed.

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Identifying known users

When a customer logs into your site, call identify() to associate their visitor ID with their user account: 
// After user login or on page load with authenticated user
Selektable.identify('user-123', {
  name: 'John Doe',
  email: 'john@example.com'
});
Parameters:
ParameterTypeDescription
userIdstringYour system’s user ID
traitsobjectOptional key-value metadata (name, email, etc.)
This does three things:
  1. Stores the user ID and traits in the browser
  2. Sends the identity to the Selektable server in the background
  3. Updates all currently open widgets with the new identity

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Resetting identity

When a user logs out, reset the identity to generate a new anonymous visitor: 
// On logout
Selektable.reset();
This generates new visitor, session, and anonymous IDs. The previous user association is cleared.

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Reading the current identity

const identity = Selektable.getIdentity();

console.log(identity);
// {
//   visitorId: 'abc123...',
//   sessionId: 'def456...',
//   anonymousId: 'abc123...',
//   userId: 'user-123',          // undefined if not identified
//   traits: { name: 'John Doe' } // undefined if not set
// }

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Setting a custom visitor ID

If you have your own visitor tracking system, you can override the auto-generated visitor ID: 
Selektable.setVisitorId('my-custom-visitor-id');
Only use this if you have a specific reason to manage visitor IDs yourself. The auto-generated IDs work well for most use cases.

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Privacy considerations

  • All IDs are generated client-side in the browser
  • No cookies are used
  • Calling Selektable.reset() clears all stored identity data
  • If localStorage is unavailable (e.g., private browsing), ephemeral IDs are generated per page load