Google Analytics 4
This connector captures data from Google Analytics 4 properties into Flow collections via the Google Analytics Data API.
This connector supports Google Analytics 4, not Universal Analytics.
Universal Analytics is supported by a separate connector.
It’s available for use in the Flow web application. For local development or open-source workflows, ghcr.io/estuary/source-google-analytics-data-api:dev
provides the latest version of the connector as a Docker image. You can also follow the link in your browser to see past image versions.
This connector is based on an open-source connector from a third party, with modifications for performance in the Flow system.
Supported data resources
The following data resources are supported:
- Daily active users
- Devices
- Four-weekly active users
- Locations
- Pages
- Traffic sources
- Website overview
- Weekly active users
Each is fetched as a report and mapped to a Flow collection through a separate binding.
You can also capture custom reports.
Prerequisites
To use this connector, you'll need:
-
The Google Analytics Data API enabled on your Google project with which your Analytics property is associated. (Unless you actively develop with Google Cloud, you'll likely just have one option).
-
Your Google Analytics 4 property ID.
There are two ways to authenticate this connector with Google:
-
Directly with Google using OAuth through the Flow web app. You'll only need your username and password.
-
Manually, by generating a service account key. Using this method, there are more prerequisites.
Authenticating manually with a service account key
In addition to the above prerequisites, you'll need a Google service account with:
-
A JSON key generated.
-
Access to the Google Analytics 4 property.
To set this up:
-
Create a service account and generate a JSON key. During setup, grant the account the Viewer role on your project. You'll copy the contents of the downloaded key file into the Service Account Credentials parameter when you configure the connector.
-
Add the service account to the Google Analytics property.
- Grant the account Viewer permissions.
Configuration
You configure connectors either in the Flow web app, or by directly editing a specification file. See connectors to learn more about using connectors. The values and specification sample below provide configuration details specific to the Google Analytics 4 source connector.
Properties
Endpoint
The following properties reflect the manual authentication method. If you authenticate directly with Google in the Flow web app, some of these properties aren't required.
Property | Title | Description | Type | Required/Default |
---|---|---|---|---|
/credentials | Credentials | Credentials for the service | object | |
/credentials/auth_type | Authentication Method | Set to Service for manual authentication. | string | |
/credentials/credentials_json | Service Account Credentials | Contents of the JSON key file generated during setup. | string | |
/custom_reports | Custom Reports (Optional) | A JSON array describing the custom reports you want to sync from Google Analytics. Learn more about custom reports. | string | |
/date_ranges_start_date | Date Range Start Date | The start date. One of the values <N>daysago , yesterday , today or in the format YYYY-MM-DD . | string | Required |
/property_id | Property ID | A Google Analytics GA4 property identifier whose events are tracked. | string | Required |
/window_in_days | Data request time increment in days (Optional) | The time increment used by the connector when requesting data from the Google Analytics API. We recommend setting this to 1 unless you have a hard requirement to make the sync faster at the expense of accuracy. The minimum allowed value for this field is 1, and the maximum is 364. See data sampling for details. | integer | 1 |
Bindings
Property | Title | Description | Type | Required/Default |
---|---|---|---|---|
/stream | Stream | Data resource from Google Analytics. | string | Required |
/syncMode | Sync Mode | Connection method. Always set to incremental . | string | Required |
Custom reports
You can include data beyond the default data resources with Custom Reports. These replicate the functionality of Custom Reports in the Google Analytics Web console.
Fill out the Custom Reports property with a JSON array as a string with the following schema:
[{"name": "<report-name>", "dimensions": ["<dimension-name>", ...], "metrics": ["<metric-name>", ...]}]
Segments and filters are also supported.
When using segments, you must include the ga:segment
dimension:
[{"name": "<report-name>", "dimensions": ["ga:segment", "<other-dimension-name>", ...], "metrics": ["<metric-name>", ...], "segments": "<segment-id>", "filter": "<filter-expression>"}]
Sample
This sample reflects the manual authentication method.
captures:
${PREFIX}/${CAPTURE_NAME}:
endpoint:
connector:
image: ghcr.io/estuary/source-google-analytics-data-api:dev
config:
credentials:
auth_type: Service
credentials_json: <secret>
date_ranges_start_date: 2023-01-01
property_id: 000000000
window_in_days: 1
bindings:
- resource:
stream: daily_active_users
syncMode: incremental
target: ${PREFIX}/${COLLECTION_NAME}
- resource:
stream: devices
syncMode: incremental
target: ${PREFIX}/${COLLECTION_NAME}
- resource:
stream: four_weekly_active_users
syncMode: incremental
target: ${PREFIX}/${COLLECTION_NAME}
- resource:
stream: locations
syncMode: incremental
target: ${PREFIX}/${COLLECTION_NAME}
- resource:
stream: pages
syncMode: incremental
target: ${PREFIX}/${COLLECTION_NAME}
- resource:
stream: traffic_sources
syncMode: incremental
target: ${PREFIX}/${COLLECTION_NAME}
- resource:
stream: website_overview
syncMode: incremental
target: ${PREFIX}/${COLLECTION_NAME}
- resource:
stream: weekly_active_users
syncMode: incremental
target: ${PREFIX}/${COLLECTION_NAME}
Performance considerations
Data sampling
The Google Analytics Data API enforces compute thresholds for ad-hoc queries and reports. If a threshold is exceeded, the API will apply sampling to limit the number of sessions analyzed for the specified time range. These thresholds can be found here.
If your account is on the Analytics 360 tier, you're less likely to run into these limitations.
For Analytics Standard accounts, you can avoid sampling by keeping the window_in_days
parameter set to its default value, 1
.
This makes it less likely that you will exceed the threshold.