Single Domain Setup
Birdie automatically captures console logs when a user records an issue.
How it works The snippet is dormant until a recording starts. When triggered, the recorder communicates with the snippets via a browser-native local messaging API. Because this local messaging channel is scoped to the same origin, the recorder page must share the same root domain as your app pages (subdomains are fine). That's why this setup requires a dedicated page on your domain to host the recorder.
Setup overview
To capture console logs, you need to:
Install the Birdie snippet on your app
Whitelist Birdie in your Content Security Policies
Identify your users with an email (optional)
Configure a recording page
1. Install the Birdie snippet
You can choose between 2 options:
Option A: Frontend Integration using NPM
npm install @birdie-so/snippet
# or
yarn add @birdie-so/snippetUse with React / Vue / Angular / JS
You must get your own clientId, get it from your Birdie Settings → Logs section.
import { initBirdie } from "@birdie-so/snippet";
initBirdie({
clientId: "YOUR_CLIENT_ID", // *** required ***
// Optional contact info
contact: {
email: "alex@empire.com",
name: "Alexander",
id: 65523
},
// Optional metadata available to recordings
metadata: {
any: {
key: "123",
product_id: "EBF-233"
},
},
// Optional hook once Birdie is ready
onReady(birdie) {
birdie.on("start", (data) => {
console.log("Recording started", data);
birdie.metadata = { dynamicKey: "value" };
});
birdie.on("stop", (data) => {
console.log("Recording stopped", data);
});
// if you need to update the contact email after initialization:
birdie.update({ contact: { email: "alex@empire.com" } })
// or update your metadata:
birdie.update({ metadata: { status: { id: "123", label: "active", color: "#000000" } } })
},
});👉 You will find some more infos about implementation in this page.
Option B: Manual installation
We do not recommend installing Birdie through Google Tag Manager or Segment. The preferred method is to paste the code directly onto your web application, as this will result in faster load times.
Go to Settings → Logs
Click on Send to developer, or Copy the snippet code and paste it in the
<head>section of your web app. Note that the snippet is unique to your organization.
How to add custom medatada
Optionally add your own metadata if you need to store additional data along the recordings like this:
💡 Note that if you have several tabs open with the snippet loaded, only the latest metadata that was set will be available along a recording.
How to hook into recorder events
Optionally you can register for events to know when a recording has started and stopped. First make sure window.birdie object is present by registering for onBirdieReady event before loading the snippet, then register for "start" and "stop" events like this:
2. Whitelist Birdie in your Content Security Policy
To ensure proper functionality, whitelist the following:
HTTPS:
https://*.birdie.soSecure WebSocket protocol:
wss://*.birdie.soPort:
443, 3478 (TCP and UDP)IP Address:
18.189.92.93and3.20.198.186
Popup communication compatibility
Some Birdie flows require the Recorder opened in a new window to communicate with the window that opened it.
If your page sends the following header:
Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy: noopener-allow-popups
then the opened page may not have access to window.opener, and popup-to-opener communication may not work.
Make sure your opened page does not isolate itself from its opener in a way that disables window.opener.
3. Identify your customer with an email - optional
The setup depends on how you installed the snippet:
If you installed with NPM
Set the contact: { email: ""} value, or update it as soon as you have it. See full example above:
If you installed manually
Add contact_email info in your window.birdieSettings . See example above:
4. Configure and verify your recording page
When a customer opens a Birdie recording link, Birdie needs a page on your site to display the recording interface.
This page is called your recording page:
You choose which page Birdie should use, then add that URL in your Birdie logs settings. Birdie will launch the recorder directly from your site. You can think of it as a simple entry point on your site where Birdie launch the recorder and allow customers to record their screen directly from your site.
How the recording page works under the hood?
The diagram below shows what happens technically when a recording starts - useful context if you want to understand why the setup is structured this way, but nothing here requires additional integration work on your part.
Step 1: Create your recording page
The best practice here is to create a dedicated recording page on your app. Example:
This page should:
include the Birdie snippet
be on the same domain as your app
be a blank page
be accessible without authentication (like your login page)
not redirect anywhere
👉 This ensures your recorder works reliably in all situations.
Important: redirects can break the recorder
If your recording page redirects users, for example to a login page, Birdie parameters may be lost.
Example:
If these parameters are removed:
the recording interface will not appear
logs will not be captured.
Requirement: preserve query parameters
If your app performs redirects, your developers must ensure that:
the full query string is preserved, or
parameters are forwarded to the destination page
What happens when a recording starts
When a customer opens a recording link:
Birdie opens your recording page
The Birdie snippet loads
The recording interface appears
Logs are captured during the session across your app
What logs Birdie collects
Birdie collects logs from pages that:
run the Birdie snippet
are on the same domain as the recording
That means:
a recorder started on
acme.comcan collect logs fromsub.acme.coma recorder started on
sub.acme.comcan collect logs fromace.com
👉 This is why the page must be on your domain and include the Birdie snippet.
Step 2: Add your recording page in Birdie
Go to your Birdie logs settings:
Enter your recording page URL
Click Verify
Birdie will check that your setup is correct before enabling log collection:
Quick test before verifying
Before clicking Verify :
Open your recording page in an incognito window
Add a test parameter, for example:
Check that:
the page does not redirect, or
the parameter is still present after redirect
If the parameter disappears, your setup needs adjustment.
What if verification fails or the recorder does not appear?
Common causes:
The page redirects and removes query parameters
The Birdie snippet is not installed on the page
The page is on a different domain
👉 These issues prevent the recorder from starting correctly.
Can I set it up in a testing (staging) environment?
If you want to test your setup before using it in production, you can also configure a testing environment.
This works the same way as your main setup, but is intended for internal testing only.
When configured, you will see a separate “Testing environment” section in your Birdie logs settings.
Important differences
The testing environment behaves slightly differently from your production setup:
it is designed for internal testing only
it does not use your helpdesk integration
recordings must be triggered manually
How to test your staging setup
To test your staging environment:
Go to your Birdie logs settings
Find the Testing environment section
Click Request a recording
👉 This will generate a recording link that you can use to validate your setup.
Important
The testing environment will not work through your helpdesk integration.
You must use the “Request a recording” link to test it:
Subdomains and Safari limitation
IIn Safari, logs are only captured when the snippet is running on the exact same subdomain.
Tip: when a snippet is loaded into your app, a cookie named __birdie_snippet_status is maintained as long as the snippet is loaded, and expires 60s after the snippet is unloaded. If you need to detect the presence of the snippet in one of your pages you can test the presence of this cookie.
If you need help or have a question, contact us at support@birdie.so
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