Lesson
Playbook: SDK Real-time Data Ingestion Testing
Once you are sure your basic SDK integration is working, you can check to see whether real-time user data is flowing correctly into Braze from the SDK.
Key Areas for Testing
Sending real-time data via the SDK will let you:
- Add basic personal information to a user’s profile (standard attributes)
- Add custom attributes to their profiles
- Track custom events and purchase events
When testing SDK data integration, you’ll want to focus on the following:
- Ensure data is reaching a user’s profile
- Ensure data types are correct
- Check that only data deltas are sent to Braze to reduce data point consumption
Key Tools
Testing your real-time data ingestion via the SDK will rely primarily on the following tools:
- Braze User Profile page
- Event User Log
- Custom Attribute page
- Custom Event page
Before you start, we suggest that you:
- Create at least two user profiles, one anonymous and one identified, by visiting your app or site.
- Add them to an Internal Group for testing purposes.
Example: Testing Data Ingestion
In the following video, learn how PantsLabyrinth tested their real-time SDK data ingestion.
Automatically Collected Data
The basic Braze SDK integration automatically collects a variety of data from a user’s device. For privacy reasons, you may have blocked collection of some data using an allowlist. You can test if automatically collected data is registering to a user’s profile by:
- Ensuring your users have registered at least one session.
- Visiting their Braze user profile, and check that they have the expected automatically collected data.
- Checking the Event User Log to see if a new session was started.
Standard Attribute Data
Standard attributes are specifically named user attributes that must be submitted with correctly named functions. Standard attributes are displayed in the upper-left of the Braze User Profile tool.
To test:
- Submit your user’s standard attributes in the appropriate location in your app or website. This is usually the “Create a Profile” page, or the “Edit Your Profile” section of your site.
- Verify that the standard attributes are recorded in the Profile section of the Braze user profile.
- You can also check the User Event Logs to ensure that standard attributes were passed.
Custom Attributes
Custom attributes are submitted with a class of related functions. They can include many different data types. They’re displayed in a specific section of the Braze User Profile tool.
To test:
- Perform an action that submits a custom attribute in your app.
- Verify that the custom attribute is in the Custom Attributes section of the Braze User Profile.
- Check the Custom Attributes page in the Braze Dashboard to ensure the custom attribute was recorded, and as the correct data type.
Custom Events
Custom events contain an event name, a time of occurrence, and optional custom event properties. They are displayed in a specific section of the Braze User Profile tool, but their properties are displayed elsewhere in the Braze dashboard.
To test:
- Perform an action that triggers a custom event in your app.
- Verify that the custom event is in the Custom Events section of the Braze user profile.
- Check the Event User Log to verify that custom event properties are accompanying the custom event.
Deep Dive
To check if custom event properties are usable for your marketers, you can try one of the following:
- Create a Segment in the Braze dashboard that includes the custom event and event property and verify test user is in the segment.
- Check the Custom Events page, click the additional information menu, and confirm that the custom event has the correct properties.
Purchase Events
Purchase events record the time a purchase occurs, as well as related data like item purchased, price and quantity.
To test:
- Perform an action that triggers a purchase event in your app.
- Check that the Braze user profile correctly reflects the purchase event.
- Check the Event User Log to ensure any properties were sent correctly.
- Repeat the process to ensure purchase events for different items, quantities of items and costs of items operate correctly.
Data Consumption
Braze bills customers based on data points, which are consumed by submitting data to Braze. Braze will accept any values you send it, and does not perform any deduplication.
If you send a user’s first name to Braze, then resend the exact same name, this will consume 2 data points. Your code should deduplicate any data submissions prior to sending to Braze.
You can check to see if a particular attribute is consuming an unusual quantity of data points within the Braze dashboard. We recommend checking this throughout the testing period, and after your Braze-enabled app has gone live.
- Once you have tested SDK data ingestion, use the app naturally for a short period. This will help capture unexpected issues.
- In the Braze dashboard, go to Settings>Billing and choose the Most Used Events and Attributes tab. Check to see if there are any overrepresented attributes or events.
Watch the video to learn how to access the Most Used Events and Attributes by App page.