Payload reference · Sankofa Docs

This page is the canonical field reference for the three ingestion shapes. Every official SDK serializes to these shapes; every direct HTTP integration must conform.

`AnalyticsEvent` (track payload)

Used by POST /api/v1/track and inside batch operations of type: "track".

event_namestringRequired

Event name. snake_case verb-noun by convention. No documented length cap; practical events stay under ~64 chars.

distinct_idstringRequired

User identifier. UUID for anonymous, your stable user ID for known. Strings shorter than 2 chars or matching the garbage-ID heuristic (`gzip`, `*/*`, `deflate`, `identity`, `accept`) are silently discarded.

propertiesobject

Free-form custom properties. Strings, numbers, booleans, arrays, objects all valid. Reserved keys: `$session_id`, `$timestamp`, `$time` (see [Standard property keys](#standard-property-keys-prefixed)).

default_propertiesobject

SDK-provided device / OS / app context. Auto-merged with server-side User-Agent + GeoIP enrichment. Sending this is optional.

timestampstring (ISO8601) | unix-ms

Event timestamp. RFC3339 / RFC3339Nano / `2006-01-02 15:04:05` formats accepted. Falls back to server time when not provided.

lib_versionstring

SDK version. Auto-set by official SDKs (`@sankofa/[email protected]`, `[email protected]`, etc.).

Server-side fields (returned, not sent)

Field	Source
`id`	Server-generated `evt_` + 21-char nanoid. Cannot be specified by client.
`tenant_id`	Resolved from API key
`project_id`	Resolved from API key
`org_id`	Resolved from API key
`environment`	`live` or `test`, resolved from API key
`session_id`	Read from `properties.$session_id` if provided
`city`, `region`, `country`, `timezone`	GeoIP from client IP
`os`, `browser`, `device_model`	Parsed from `User-Agent` header (falls back to `default_properties` keys)
`received_at`	Server-stamped on accept

`PersonProfile` (people payload)

Used by POST /api/v1/people and inside batch operations of type: "people".

distinct_idstringRequired

The user whose profile to update. Same garbage-ID rules as track.

propertiesobject

Traits to merge. Existing keys overwrite; new keys add; explicit `null` deletes.

timestampstring (ISO8601)

Update timestamp. Used for ordering when multiple updates arrive close together.

Reserved trait keys (special dashboard treatment)

Key	Behavior
`name`	Header on the People-view profile card.
`email`	Contact strip + default search match.
`avatar`	Image URL for the avatar circle.
`phone`	Contact strip.

Everything else surfaces under "Properties" on the user's profile.

`PersonAlias` (alias payload)

Used by POST /api/v1/alias and inside batch operations of type: "alias".

alias_idstringRequired

The previous (typically anonymous) identifier.

distinct_idstringRequired

The new (typically known) canonical identifier.

timestampstring (ISO8601)

Alias timestamp. Defaults to server time.

Both IDs are subject to the garbage-ID heuristic.

Standard property keys (`$`-prefixed)

The $ prefix denotes Sankofa-recognized standard properties. They get special handling — promotion to indexed columns, dashboard-rendered breakdowns, automatic enrichment, etc.

Always-promoted (indexed columns on event rows)

Key	Type	Source	Notes
`$session_id`	string	client (`properties.$session_id`)	If absent: empty. Server doesn't auto-derive sessions.
`$os`	string	server (User-Agent parse) or client default_properties	Lowercase normalized: `ios`, `android`, `web`, `darwin`, `linux`, `windows`.
`$browser`	string	server (User-Agent parse) or client default_properties	Browser family — `Chrome`, `Safari`, `Firefox`, `Edge`.
`$device_model`	string	server (User-Agent parse) or client default_properties	Device identifier. Mobile: hardware model. Web: empty.
`$city`	string	server (GeoIP)	Always overrides client value. Private IPs normalized to a fixed value.
`$region`	string	server (GeoIP)	Subdivision.
`$country`	string	server (GeoIP)	Two-letter ISO.
`$timezone`	string	server (GeoIP)	IANA tz.

Time / lifecycle (handled specially)

Key	Type	Notes
`$timestamp`	string (ISO8601)	Alternative to top-level `timestamp` field; same parsing logic.
`$time`	string (ISO8601)	Same as `$timestamp` (alternate name).
`$session_start_ts`	int64 (unix-ms)	When the session began. SDKs auto-set; servers should send if known.
`$session_index`	int	The user's session counter (1, 2, 3, …). SDKs auto-increment.

Lifecycle event names (auto-fired by SDKs)

These are event names the SDKs reserve, not properties:

$pageview (web) — emitted on pushState / replaceState / popstate
$screen_view / $screen (mobile) — emitted on screen transitions; triggers heatmap CAPTURE_PRISTINE commands in the response
$session_start — first event of a session
$session_end — internal, fires on backgrounding (rendered into replays + Pulse triggers)
$queue_overflow — fires once per drain cycle when the SDK queue has dropped events on overflow

Don't use these names for your own custom events.

Property value types

Type	Allowed	Encoding
`string`	✓	UTF-8 JSON string
`number`	✓	JSON number (int or float)
`boolean`	✓	JSON boolean
`array`	✓	JSON array of any allowed type
`object`	✓	JSON object (nested)
`null`	✓	Treated as "no value" / "delete this trait"
`Date` (JS)	✓	Auto-stringified to ISO8601 by SDKs
`BigInt` (JS)	✓	Auto-stringified by SDKs

There's no max property bag size separate from the global 500 MB request body limit. Practical events should stay under ~100 KB.

Timestamp parsing

The engine parses timestamps in this priority order:

Top-level `timestamp` field
Tries: RFC3339Nano, RFC3339, 2006-01-02T15:04:05.999Z07:00, 2006-01-02 15:04:05.999, 2006-01-02 15:04:05. First parser to succeed wins.
`properties.$timestamp` (string)
Same parser chain.
`properties.$time` (string)
Same parser chain.
Server `time.Now()`
Fallback if all of the above are empty / unparseable.

The server preserves the parsed timestamp — it doesn't override with server time when the client provided a valid one.

Auto-enrichment from User-Agent

When a request arrives with a User-Agent header, the engine parses it and fills $os, $browser, $device_model from the result if those keys aren't already present in default_properties. This means web SDKs don't have to send these — the engine derives them.

For server-to-server requests with custom User-Agent strings, populate default_properties yourself if you want clean breakdowns.

Auto-enrichment from GeoIP

Every request gets GeoIP-resolved from the client IP, regardless of what default_properties you sent. The resolved values overwrite client-supplied $city, $region, $country, $timezone — the server treats GeoIP as authoritative.

For server-to-server requests where the client IP is your server (not the user), pass the user's IP via X-Forwarded-For to get correct enrichment.

Private IPs (127.*, 192.168.*, 10.*, 172.16.*–172.31.*) are normalized to a fixed public IP for GeoIP lookup, so localhost gets a consistent (but synthetic) location.

Idempotency

Sankofa's ingestion is not idempotent. Each request gets a fresh server-generated id; retries create duplicate rows. Don't retry on 2xx responses.

For at-least-once delivery, retry only on 429, 503, and network failures. The official SDKs handle this automatically via their persistent queues.

What's next

Endpoint

Track event

The single-event endpoint reference.

Endpoint

Batch

The high-throughput multi-op endpoint.

Concepts

Default properties

Why the $-prefixed keys exist and what each one means.