@posthog/browser-common

@posthog/browser-common

Internal shared browser utilities and extension primitives for PostHog JavaScript SDKs. This package is published so unbundled SDK outputs can resolve it at runtime, but it is not a public API surface and does not provide compatibility guarantees outside PostHog SDK packages.

The shared extension contract includes the interface an extension implements (Extension), the host services it is handed (Client), the core analytics capability (CoreExtension), and small shared runtime primitives such as Publisher.

This contract is designed so an extension can run unchanged across major versions of the web SDK. Concrete host adapters remain owned by their SDK packages; browser-v1 and browser-v2 composition and loading integration are separate from this shared runtime.

A conforming SDK provides a client adapter that implements Client over its own internals, so extension code never depends on a specific SDK.

Concepts

Extension

What you implement. The host calls only setup and dispose:

import { CoreExtension, type Disposable, type Extension } from '@posthog/browser-common'

export function webContext(): Extension {
    let removeProperties: Disposable | undefined

    return {
        name: 'webContext',
        setup(client) {
            const core = client.getExtension(CoreExtension)
            if (!core) {
                throw new Error('CoreExtension is required')
            }
            removeProperties = core.registerDynamicEventProperties(() => ({
                $current_url: window.location.href,
            }))
        },
        dispose() {
            removeProperties?.dispose()
        },
    }
}

setup(client) may be async (read async state before you're ready); dispose() may be async (final flush). Static config the app sets goes in your constructor, not on the Client.

Anything in setup that returns a Disposable must be held by the extension and disposed in dispose(). Use createDisposable(teardown) when adapting a callback into idempotent teardown.

Client

What an extension is given in setup — the host's extension services:

• transport: apiRequest(path, init?)
• registry: getExtension(token)
• storage & logging: kv, logger

CoreExtension

A conforming host must register one CoreExtension before setting up product extensions. Resolve it through client.getExtension(CoreExtension) for behavior owned by the PostHog client's analytics core:

• identity & session: distinctId, anonymousId, groups, session
• events: capture(...), registerDynamicEventProperties(...), onEvent(...)
• lifecycle: onNewSession(...)
• server config: getRemoteConfig() (current), onRemoteConfig(...) (changes)

Identity and session are always-ready synchronous reads. Operations that perform I/O, including capture, apiRequest, kv, and getRemoteConfig, are awaitable.

Host runtime

PostHog browser SDK implementations share extension registration and teardown through ExtensionRuntime, imported from the dedicated @posthog/browser-common/extension-runtime subpath. It reserves names and capability tokens during setup, publishes providers only after successful readiness, and disposes extensions once in reverse registration order. Concrete SDKs still own the Client adapter, Core implementation, and SDK lifecycle hooks.

ExtensionRuntime is host infrastructure, not part of the extension-author surface exported from the package root.

Publisher

Use Publisher<T> when an extension provides its own event stream to other extensions or to app-facing controls. Keep the publisher private, expose only its listener, and dispose it when the extension is torn down:

import { Publisher, type Listener } from '@posthog/browser-common'

const changes = new Publisher<FeatureFlagsChange>()

export const onChange: Listener<FeatureFlagsChange> = changes.listener

changes.publish({ flag: 'beta-ui', value: true })
changes.dispose()

Cross-extension dependencies

Extensions depend on one another through tokens, never implementation imports:

import { FeatureFlags } from './feature-flags/token'

const flags = client.getExtension(FeatureFlags) // FeatureFlagsExtension | undefined
if (flags && (await flags.getFeatureFlag('beta-ui'))) {
    /* … */
}

A token is an implementation-free branded string, so importing it never pulls the provider's code into your bundle — each extension stays independently tree-shakable and lazily loadable. Use a package-qualified runtime string, such as posthog.featureFlags, that is globally unique and stable so separately compiled scripts resolve the same capability. An extension that provides a capability declares its token(s) in provides.

Utilities

Reusable browser utilities are exposed through utils/* subpaths, but they are intentionally not re-exported from the package root or a utility barrel. Import the exact file you need so lazy extension bundles do not pull in unrelated helpers:

import { createLogger } from '@posthog/browser-common/utils/logger'
import { formDataToQuery } from '@posthog/browser-common/utils/request-utils'

Authoring

See the develop-extension skill (.agents/skills/develop-extension/SKILL.md) for the full guide: the capability cheatsheet, the rules (enrichers are synchronous, dispose your disposables, design for asynchronous readiness, cross-extension state goes through getExtension, not shared storage), and the v1 → Client porting map.

Status

Early and internal. The package currently defines the extension contract, the core analytics capability, a shared host runtime, shared lifecycle helpers, and directly imported browser utilities under utils/* subpaths.