Frequently asked questions

Short answers, with links to the details.

#Do I have to change my install command or links?

No. People copy the same command, and your links carry no tracking parameters. The optional handoff command is the only thing that changes a command, and only when you use it.

#Does the hook read browsing history or cookies?

No. It checks only small files in browsers' OPFS folders against CLItrail's marker format, keeps only valid receipts for your website and sends only those opaque receipts. See What is collected.

#Is this fingerprinting?

Receipts are not. A receipt is a random value your own website stores in its own storage; nothing in it is derived from the device. The service keeps coarse families (browser, OS, device) for breakdowns, and Google’s session attributes, which include the User-Agent string on a Google Ads landing, only to forward them to Google Ads. Reconstruction, on paid plans, compares keyed hashes of the public network and coarse facts such as the time zone and language for a few days, then deletes them; its matches are always labelled probable, and you can turn it off in Settings.

#Which browsers and systems work?

On macOS and Linux the hook reads Chrome, Chromium, Edge, Brave, Vivaldi and Firefox profiles. Safari works through the handoff command. There is no native Windows hook: run the handoff command from WSL; PowerShell and cmd are not supported. See the support matrix.

#Does the Free plan attribute installs?

No. Free counts visits and installs and shows their browsers and systems, but matches nothing, and installs reported on Free are never matched later. Attribution starts with installs reported after an upgrade. See Plans and limits.

#Do I have to connect my ad accounts?

No sign-in or “connect” flow is involved. Each destination takes credentials you create on the platform and paste, such as a Google Cloud service account key or an X app’s keys, and you can revoke them there at any time.

#Does it work with npm, npx, Homebrew and pip?

Yes, from the places each one allows. See Install paths.

#What if JavaScript is blocked or the visitor declines analytics?

Nothing is recorded and the install is unmatched. The website and the install work as before.

#Can I use Google Tag Manager?

Yes. Add the tag after your analytics tags. When no callable gtag exists, pass the GA4 IDs yourself with getContext.

#Does a match prove the person installed because of that visit?

No. It proves a recorded visit on the same computer. See What a match means.

#Who is responsible for consent?

You are, as the website owner: notice and consent under the Meta Business Tools Terms, Google's EU user consent policy, TikTok's terms and X's conversion tracking policies, and any law that applies to your visitors. CLItrail gives you the controls: the enabled flag, Global Privacy Control, installer opt-outs, retention, export and deletion.