Set-up NPM Package Installs Tracking on Reo.Dev

When developers install your package, it signals real product usage. With Reo.Dev, you can now identify and monitor installs of your NPM packages. This short guide will walk you through how this works and how you can set it up.

Note: NPM install tracking works for developers installing packages via the terminal as well. No additional setup is required.

How NPM Install Tracking Works

Once reo-census is added to your package:

1. A developer installs your package using npm install.

2. The reo-census script runs automatically during installation.

3. Installation metadata is sent to Reo’s telemetry endpoint.

4. Reo processes the data and surfaces it as developer activity signals in your dashboard.

Pre-requisites

Before setting up NPM install tracking, please ensure the following are in place:

1. Share your NPM package URL with Reo

Provide your NPM package link (e.g. https://www.npmjs.com/package/your-package) to the Reo team so we can configure tracking on our end.

2. Configure Product Usage Metrics in Reo

You’ll need to create a metric to track installs:

• Go to Configurations > Product Usage

• Click on Create New

• Create a metric named: npm_install

This ensures all install events are correctly captured and surfaced as signals in your dashboard.

Configuring NPM Installs

Simply add reo-census to your package.json. Once done, you can track all de-anonymized developers who have installed your NPM package on Reo.

You’ll get:

• The Package name and version installed

• OS platform, architecture, Node.js version

• Install timestamp

• Git username and email domain (partial mode) or full email (full mode)

{
  "name": "your-package",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "dependencies": {
    "reo-census": "^1.2.8"
  }
}

Note: By default, NPM install tracking works automatically once reo-census is added to your package. No additional setup is required.

However, if you want more control over how telemetry works, you can optionally configure tracking behavior by adding a reoSettings block inside your package.json. Here’s how you can set this up:

Additional Configurations (Optional)

When Should You Use Optional Configuration?

Most teams do not need to configure anything. However, you may want to customize settings if you need to:

• Disable tracking by default

• Send telemetry to a custom endpoint

• Capture additional metadata using full data mode

To add custom configurations, add the reoSettings block to your package.json.

{
  "name":"your-package",
  "version":"1.0.0",
  "reoSettings": {
    "defaultOptIn":true,
    "endpoint":"<https://telemetry.reo.dev/data>",
    "dataMode":"partial"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "reo-census":"^1.2.8"
  }
}

Here are details on the configuration options for reoSettings

defaultOptIn

This controls whether tracking is enabled automatically when someone installs your package.

Default: true

Value	Behavior
true	Tracking is enabled automatically
false	Tracking is disabled unless the user explicitly opts in

Most packages keep this enabled so installs are automatically tracked.

endpoint

This defines the destination where installation telemetry is sent.

Default endpoint:

<https://telemetry.reo.dev/data>

This is the Reo telemetry service that processes install signals.

You only need to change this if you want to:

• Route telemetry through your own infrastructure

• Use a custom telemetry pipeline

• Debug install tracking

dataMode

This controls how much information is sent during package installation.

Default: "partial"

Mode	Description
partial	Sends only the email domain (e.g., company.com)
full	Sends the full email address and dependency list

Note: If you don’t add a reoSettings block, Reo will automatically apply the following default settings:

• defaultOptIn: true → install tracking is enabled automatically

• endpoint: <https://telemetry.reo.dev/data> → telemetry is sent to Reo’s telemetry service

• dataMode: "partial" → only the developer’s email domain is captured (not the full email)

This means NPM install tracking will work automatically once reo-census is added to your package — no additional configuration required.