Server Implementation Guide

This guide shows you exactly how to build the server-side API to receive and store DataGlue journey data.

Database Setup

You need 2 collections/tables:

MongoDB Collections

// Collection: users
{
  glue_user_id: String (indexed, unique),
  email: String (indexed),
  traits: Object,
  attribution: {
    first_touch: Object,
    last_touch: Object
  },
  first_seen: Date,
  last_seen: Date,
  identified: Boolean,
  identified_at: Date
}

// Collection: events
{
  event_id: String (indexed, unique),
  glue_user_id: String (indexed),
  session_id: String (indexed),
  event: String (indexed),
  timestamp: Date (indexed),
  properties: Object,
  email: String (indexed, optional)
}

PostgreSQL Tables

-- Table: users
CREATE TABLE users (
  id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  glue_user_id VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
  email VARCHAR(255),
  traits JSONB,
  attribution JSONB,
  first_seen TIMESTAMP,
  last_seen TIMESTAMP,
  identified BOOLEAN DEFAULT FALSE,
  identified_at TIMESTAMP,
  created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT NOW(),
  updated_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT NOW()
);

CREATE INDEX idx_users_glue_user_id ON users(glue_user_id);
CREATE INDEX idx_users_email ON users(email);

-- Table: events
CREATE TABLE events (
  id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  event_id VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
  glue_user_id VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
  session_id VARCHAR(255),
  event VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  timestamp TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,
  properties JSONB,
  email VARCHAR(255),
  created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT NOW()
);

CREATE INDEX idx_events_glue_user_id ON events(glue_user_id);
CREATE INDEX idx_events_session_id ON events(session_id);
CREATE INDEX idx_events_event ON events(event);
CREATE INDEX idx_events_timestamp ON events(timestamp);
CREATE INDEX idx_events_email ON events(email);

Complete Server Implementation

Node.js + Express + MongoDB

const express = require('express');
const { MongoClient } = require('mongodb');

const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

// MongoDB connection
const client = new MongoClient('mongodb://localhost:27017');
const db = client.db('dataglue');
const users = db.collection('users');
const events = db.collection('events');

// Create indexes
async function createIndexes() {
  await users.createIndex({ glue_user_id: 1 }, { unique: true });
  await users.createIndex({ email: 1 });
  await events.createIndex({ event_id: 1 }, { unique: true });
  await events.createIndex({ glue_user_id: 1 });
  await events.createIndex({ session_id: 1 });
  await events.createIndex({ event: 1 });
  await events.createIndex({ timestamp: -1 });
}

/**
 * POST /glue/identify
 * Links glue_user_id to email address
 */
app.post('/glue/identify', async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const { glue_user_id, email, traits, context } = req.body;

    // Validate required fields
    if (!glue_user_id || !email) {
      return res.status(400).json({
        success: false,
        error: 'glue_user_id and email are required'
      });
    }

    // Upsert user profile
    const result = await users.updateOne(
      { glue_user_id },
      {
        $set: {
          email,
          traits: traits || {},
          last_seen: new Date(),
          identified: true,
          identified_at: new Date(),
          'attribution.last_touch': {
            utm_source: context?.utm_source,
            utm_medium: context?.utm_medium,
            utm_campaign: context?.utm_campaign,
            referrer: context?.referrer,
            landing_page: context?.page?.url,
            timestamp: new Date()
          }
        },
        $setOnInsert: {
          glue_user_id,
          first_seen: new Date(),
          'attribution.first_touch': {
            utm_source: context?.utm_source,
            utm_medium: context?.utm_medium,
            utm_campaign: context?.utm_campaign,
            referrer: context?.referrer,
            landing_page: context?.page?.url,
            timestamp: new Date()
          }
        }
      },
      { upsert: true }
    );

    console.log(`User identified: ${email} (${glue_user_id})`);

    res.json({
      success: true,
      user_id: glue_user_id,
      new_user: result.upsertedCount > 0
    });

  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Identify error:', error);
    res.status(500).json({
      success: false,
      error: error.message
    });
  }
});

/**
 * POST /glue/track
 * Records individual events
 */
app.post('/glue/track', async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const {
      glue_user_id,
      session_id,
      email,
      event,
      properties,
      timestamp,
      context
    } = req.body;

    // Validate required fields
    if (!glue_user_id || !event) {
      return res.status(400).json({
        success: false,
        error: 'glue_user_id and event are required'
      });
    }

    // Insert event
    const eventDoc = {
      event_id: `evt_${Date.now()}_${Math.random().toString(36).substr(2, 9)}`,
      glue_user_id,
      session_id,
      email,
      event,
      properties: properties || {},
      timestamp: new Date(timestamp || Date.now()),
      context: context || {},
      created_at: new Date()
    };

    await events.insertOne(eventDoc);

    // Update user last_seen
    await users.updateOne(
      { glue_user_id },
      {
        $set: { last_seen: new Date() },
        $inc: { total_events: 1 }
      }
    );

    console.log(`Event tracked: ${event} for ${glue_user_id}`);

    res.json({
      success: true,
      event_id: eventDoc.event_id
    });

  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Track error:', error);
    res.status(500).json({
      success: false,
      error: error.message
    });
  }
});

/**
 * POST /glue/sync
 * Receives complete user data (bulk sync)
 */
app.post('/glue/sync', async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const { glue_user_id, data, synced_at } = req.body;

    if (!glue_user_id || !data) {
      return res.status(400).json({
        success: false,
        error: 'glue_user_id and data are required'
      });
    }

    // Update user profile
    await users.updateOne(
      { glue_user_id },
      {
        $set: {
          ...data.profile,
          last_synced: new Date(synced_at),
          total_sessions: data.sessions?.length || 0,
          total_events: data.events?.length || 0
        }
      },
      { upsert: true }
    );

    // Bulk insert events (ignore duplicates)
    if (data.events && data.events.length > 0) {
      try {
        await events.insertMany(data.events, { ordered: false });
      } catch (error) {
        // Ignore duplicate key errors (events already synced)
        if (error.code !== 11000) {
          throw error;
        }
      }
    }

    console.log(`Data synced for ${glue_user_id}: ${data.events?.length || 0} events`);

    res.json({
      success: true,
      events_synced: data.events?.length || 0,
      sessions_synced: data.sessions?.length || 0
    });

  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Sync error:', error);
    res.status(500).json({
      success: false,
      error: error.message
    });
  }
});

/**
 * GET /glue/user/:glue_user_id
 * Retrieve complete user journey
 */
app.get('/glue/user/:glue_user_id', async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const { glue_user_id } = req.params;

    // Get user profile
    const user = await users.findOne({ glue_user_id });

    if (!user) {
      return res.status(404).json({
        success: false,
        error: 'User not found'
      });
    }

    // Get all events for this user
    const userEvents = await events
      .find({ glue_user_id })
      .sort({ timestamp: 1 })
      .toArray();

    res.json({
      success: true,
      user,
      events: userEvents,
      summary: {
        total_events: userEvents.length,
        first_event: userEvents[0]?.timestamp,
        last_event: userEvents[userEvents.length - 1]?.timestamp
      }
    });

  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Get user error:', error);
    res.status(500).json({
      success: false,
      error: error.message
    });
  }
});

/**
 * GET /glue/user/email/:email
 * Retrieve user by email
 */
app.get('/glue/user/email/:email', async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const { email } = req.params;

    const user = await users.findOne({ email });

    if (!user) {
      return res.status(404).json({
        success: false,
        error: 'User not found'
      });
    }

    // Get all events
    const userEvents = await events
      .find({ glue_user_id: user.glue_user_id })
      .sort({ timestamp: 1 })
      .toArray();

    res.json({
      success: true,
      user,
      events: userEvents
    });

  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Get user by email error:', error);
    res.status(500).json({
      success: false,
      error: error.message
    });
  }
});

// Start server
const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000;
app.listen(PORT, async () => {
  await createIndexes();
  console.log(`DataGlue API server running on port ${PORT}`);
});

Deploy to Production

Option 1: Vercel/Netlify Functions

Create api/glue/identify.js:

const { MongoClient } = require('mongodb');

let cachedDb = null;

async function connectToDatabase() {
  if (cachedDb) return cachedDb;

  const client = await MongoClient.connect(process.env.MONGODB_URI);
  cachedDb = client.db('dataglue');
  return cachedDb;
}

module.exports = async (req, res) => {
  if (req.method !== 'POST') {
    return res.status(405).json({ error: 'Method not allowed' });
  }

  const db = await connectToDatabase();
  const { glue_user_id, email, traits, context } = req.body;

  await db.collection('users').updateOne(
    { glue_user_id },
    {
      $set: {
        email,
        traits,
        identified: true,
        last_seen: new Date()
      }
    },
    { upsert: true }
  );

  res.json({ success: true });
};

Option 2: Railway/Render

# Deploy Express app directly
npm install express mongodb
node server.js

Option 3: Cloudflare Workers

export default {
  async fetch(request, env) {
    if (request.method !== 'POST') {
      return new Response('Method not allowed', { status: 405 });
    }

    const data = await request.json();

    // Store in D1 (Cloudflare's database)
    await env.DB.prepare(
      'INSERT INTO users (glue_user_id, email, traits) VALUES (?, ?, ?)'
    ).bind(data.glue_user_id, data.email, JSON.stringify(data.traits)).run();

    return Response.json({ success: true });
  }
};

Environment Variables

# .env file
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/dataglue
PORT=3000

# Production (Vercel/Netlify)
MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://user:pass@cluster.mongodb.net/dataglue

Testing Your Server

Test Identify Endpoint

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/glue/identify \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "glue_user_id": "test-123",
    "email": "test@example.com",
    "traits": {
      "fname": "Test",
      "lname": "User"
    },
    "context": {
      "utm_source": "google",
      "session_id": "session-456"
    }
  }'

Test Track Endpoint

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/glue/track \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "glue_user_id": "test-123",
    "session_id": "session-456",
    "event": "page_view",
    "properties": {
      "url": "/landing",
      "title": "Landing Page"
    },
    "timestamp": 1704376800000
  }'

Test Get User

curl http://localhost:3000/glue/user/test-123

Query Examples

Get User Journey

// Get complete user journey
const user = await users.findOne({ email: 'user@example.com' });
const journey = await events
  .find({ glue_user_id: user.glue_user_id })
  .sort({ timestamp: 1 })
  .toArray();

console.log(`${user.email} journey:`, journey);

Conversion Funnel

const funnel = await events.aggregate([
  {
    $match: {
      event: { $in: ['page_view', 'form_submit', 'purchase'] }
    }
  },
  {
    $group: {
      _id: '$event',
      count: { $sum: 1 }
    }
  }
]).toArray();

Attribution Report

const sources = await users.aggregate([
  {
    $group: {
      _id: '$attribution.first_touch.utm_source',
      count: { $sum: 1 },
      conversions: {
        $sum: { $cond: ['$identified', 1, 0] }
      }
    }
  },
  { $sort: { count: -1 } }
]).toArray();

Security Best Practices

Validate requests

if (!glue_user_id || !email) {
  return res.status(400).json({ error: 'Invalid request' });
}

Rate limiting

const rateLimit = require('express-rate-limit');
app.use('/glue', rateLimit({
  windowMs: 60 * 1000, // 1 minute
  max: 100 // 100 requests per minute
}));

CORS configuration

app.use(cors({
  origin: ['https://yoursite.com'],
  methods: ['POST']
}));

API key authentication (optional)

app.use('/glue', (req, res, next) => {
  const apiKey = req.headers['x-api-key'];
  if (apiKey !== process.env.API_KEY) {
    return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Unauthorized' });
  }
  next();
});

Next Steps

✅ Deploy server to production
✅ Add profile-endpoint to your DataGlue script tag
✅ Test with a real form submission
✅ Query your database to see user journeys
✅ Build analytics dashboards on top of this data

Get Started

Core Concepts

Features

Server Setup

Reference

Server Implementation

Server Implementation Guide

Database Setup

MongoDB Collections

PostgreSQL Tables

Complete Server Implementation

Node.js + Express + MongoDB

Deploy to Production

Option 1: Vercel/Netlify Functions

Option 2: Railway/Render

Option 3: Cloudflare Workers

Environment Variables

Testing Your Server

Test Identify Endpoint

Test Track Endpoint

Test Get User

Query Examples

Get User Journey

Conversion Funnel

Attribution Report

Security Best Practices

Next Steps

Get Started

Core Concepts

Features

Server Setup

Reference

​Server Implementation Guide

​Database Setup

​MongoDB Collections

​PostgreSQL Tables

​Complete Server Implementation

​Node.js + Express + MongoDB

​Deploy to Production

​Option 1: Vercel/Netlify Functions

​Option 2: Railway/Render

​Option 3: Cloudflare Workers

​Environment Variables

​Testing Your Server

​Test Identify Endpoint

​Test Track Endpoint

​Test Get User

​Query Examples

​Get User Journey

​Conversion Funnel

​Attribution Report

​Security Best Practices

​Next Steps

Server Implementation Guide

Database Setup

MongoDB Collections

PostgreSQL Tables

Complete Server Implementation

Node.js + Express + MongoDB

Deploy to Production

Option 1: Vercel/Netlify Functions

Option 2: Railway/Render

Option 3: Cloudflare Workers

Environment Variables

Testing Your Server

Test Identify Endpoint

Test Track Endpoint

Test Get User

Query Examples

Get User Journey

Conversion Funnel

Attribution Report

Security Best Practices

Next Steps