Telemetry Command¶

The telemetry command provides user-facing controls for managing anonymous usage telemetry. Users can opt in, opt out, check status, and request deletion of collected data.

Usage¶

mytool telemetry enable
mytool telemetry disable
mytool telemetry status
mytool telemetry reset

Feature Flag¶

The telemetry command is disabled by default. Enable it via props.SetFeatures:

props.SetFeatures(props.Enable(props.TelemetryCmd))

The feature flag controls command availability. Even when enabled, telemetry collection requires explicit user consent — it is never active by default.

When to enable

Enable TelemetryCmd when you want anonymous usage data to prioritise features, identify common errors, and measure adoption. The data collected contains no PII.

Subcommands¶

`telemetry enable`¶

Opts the user into anonymous usage telemetry. Writes telemetry.enabled: true to the config file and persists it to disk.

If no config file exists (e.g. tools that disable InitCmd), the default config directory (~/.toolname/) and config file are created automatically.

$ mytool telemetry enable
Telemetry enabled. Thank you for helping improve mytool!
No personally identifiable information is collected.

`telemetry disable`¶

Opts the user out of telemetry. Writes telemetry.enabled: false to the config file, then immediately drops all buffered events and deletes any spill files. No pending data is sent after the user withdraws consent.

$ mytool telemetry disable
Telemetry disabled.
All pending events have been discarded.

`telemetry status`¶

Displays the current telemetry state and the anonymised machine ID.

$ mytool telemetry status
Telemetry: enabled
Machine ID: 4a3f8c1d9e2b6f70

Possible states:

Output	Meaning
`Telemetry: disabled`	User has not opted in
`Telemetry: enabled`	Telemetry active, events sent to remote backend
`Telemetry: enabled (local-only)`	Events written to local file only

`telemetry reset`¶

Clears all local telemetry data, sends a GDPR data deletion request to the remote backend, and disables telemetry. This is the user's path to exercising their right to erasure.

$ mytool telemetry reset
Deletion request sent for machine ID: 4a3f8c1d9e2b6f70
Local telemetry data cleared. Telemetry disabled.

The deletion request is sent via the tool author's configured DeletionRequestor. If none is configured, a data.deletion_request event is sent through the existing backend as a fallback. If the request fails, the user is informed and directed to the help channel.

What gets cleared:

In-memory event buffer
Spill files on disk
Local-only telemetry log file

Non-Interactive Usage¶

Environment Variables¶

For CI/CD pipelines and scripted setup, use environment variables instead of interactive commands:

# Enable telemetry without prompting
TELEMETRY_ENABLED=true mytool init

# Disable at runtime
TELEMETRY_ENABLED=false mytool some-command

# Local-only mode (no remote transmission)
TELEMETRY_LOCAL=true mytool some-command

Init Integration¶

When TelemetryCmd is enabled alongside InitCmd, the init command prompts the user to opt into telemetry. The --skip-telemetry flag suppresses this prompt (defaults to true when CI=true).

# Skip telemetry prompt in CI
mytool init --skip-telemetry

# Pre-answer via environment
TELEMETRY_ENABLED=true mytool init

Telemetry Component — backends, privacy controls, event types, and architecture
Props — Collector field and TelemetryConfig