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diff --git a/toolkit/components/telemetry/docs/collection/custom-pings.rst b/toolkit/components/telemetry/docs/collection/custom-pings.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..395a23aace --- /dev/null +++ b/toolkit/components/telemetry/docs/collection/custom-pings.rst @@ -0,0 +1,80 @@ +.. _submitting-customping: + +======================= +Submitting custom pings +======================= + +Custom pings can be submitted from JavaScript using: + +.. code-block:: js + + TelemetryController.submitExternalPing(type, payload, options) + +- ``type`` - a ``string`` that is the type of the ping, limited to ``/^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]+[a-z0-9]$/i``. +- ``payload`` - the actual payload data for the ping, has to be a JSON style object. +- ``options`` - optional, an object containing additional options: + - ``addClientId``- whether to add the client id to the ping, defaults to ``false`` + - ``addEnvironment`` - whether to add the environment data to the ping, defaults to ``false`` + - ``overrideEnvironment`` - a JSON style object that overrides the environment data + +``TelemetryController`` will assemble a ping with the passed payload and the specified options. +That ping will be archived locally for use with Shield and inspection in ``about:telemetry``. +If preferences allow the upload of Telemetry pings, the ping will be uploaded at the next opportunity (this is subject to throttling, retry-on-failure, etc.). + +.. important:: + + Every new or changed data collection in Firefox needs a `data collection review <https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox/Data_Collection>`__ from a Data Steward. + +Submission constraints +---------------------- + +When submitting pings on shutdown, they should not be submitted after Telemetry shutdown. +Pings should be submitted at the latest within: + +- the `observer notification <https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Observer_Notifications#Application_shutdown>`_ ``"profile-before-change"`` +- the :ref:`AsyncShutdown phase <AsyncShutdown_phases>` ``sendTelemetry`` + +There are other constraints that can lead to a ping submission getting dropped: + +- invalid ping type strings. +- invalid payload types: E.g. strings instead of objects. +- oversized payloads: We currently only drop pings >1MB, but targeting sizes of <=10KB is recommended. + +Tools +===== + +Helpful tools for designing new pings include: + +- `gzipServer <https://github.com/mozilla/gzipServer>`_ - a Python script that can run locally and receives and saves Telemetry pings. Making Firefox send to it allows inspecting outgoing pings easily. +- ``about:telemetry`` - allows inspecting submitted pings from the local archive, including all custom ones. + +Designing custom pings +====================== + +In general, creating a new custom ping means you don't benefit automatically from the existing tooling. Further work is needed to make data show up in re:dash or other analysis tools. + +In addition to the `data collection review <https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox/Data_Collection>`__, questions to guide a new ping design are: + +- Submission interval & triggers: + - What events trigger ping submission? + - What interval is the ping submitted in? + - Is there a throttling mechanism? + - What is the desired latency? (submitting "at least daily" still leads to certain latency tails) + - Are pings submitted on a clock schedule? Or based on "time since session start", "time since last ping" etc.? (I.e. will we get sharp spikes in submission volume?) +- Size and volume: + - What’s the size of the submitted payload? + - What's the full ping size including metadata in the pipeline? + - What’s the target population? + - What's the overall estimated volume? +- Dataset: + - Is it opt-out? + - Does it need to be opt-out? + - Does it need to be in a separate ping? (why can’t the data live in probes?) +- Privacy: + - Is there risk to leak PII? + - How is that risk mitigated? +- Data contents: + - Does the submitted data answer the posed product questions? + - Does the shape of the data allow to answer the questions efficiently? + - Is the data limited to what's needed to answer the questions? + - Does the data use common formats? (i.e. can we re-use tooling or analysis know-how) |