Skip to content

Guide

中文指南

You may also want to read the recipes to find some use real-world use case, or read the internal design docs to know more technical details of rrweb.

Installation

GoalRecommended package(s)
Most projects (record + replay)@rrweb/record + @rrweb/replay
Quick setup, one import for record, replay + packer@rrweb/all

In most production setups, recorder and replayer are deployed to different pages/apps. Use @rrweb/record on recorded pages and @rrweb/replay (or rrweb-player) on replay pages. Use @rrweb/all when you intentionally want one package for convenience (for example demos, tooling, or simplified setups).

The rrweb package is deprecated. It still works, but new projects should use @rrweb/record and @rrweb/replay (or @rrweb/all for a single import) so that we can slim down and eventually remove rrweb.

shell
npm install @rrweb/record @rrweb/replay
js
import { record } from '@rrweb/record';
import { Replayer } from '@rrweb/replay';
import '@rrweb/replay/dist/style.css';

Use @rrweb/all as a convenience package if you want a single import:

shell
npm install @rrweb/all
js
import { record, Replayer } from '@rrweb/all';
import '@rrweb/all/dist/style.css';

require(...) / CommonJS remains available for compatibility via each package's exports/main, but ESM imports are the primary path for 2.x.

2) Browser Without Bundler (No-Build)

Use browser ESM assets from a CDN:

html
<link
  rel="stylesheet"
  href="https://cdn.rrweb.com/replay/current/dist/style.css"
/>
<script type="module">
  import { record } from 'https://cdn.rrweb.com/record/current/dist/record.js';
  import { Replayer } from 'https://cdn.rrweb.com/replay/current/dist/replay.js';

  record({
    emit(event) {
      console.log(event);
    },
  });
</script>

Use current for the latest stable release, or pin an exact version such as https://cdn.rrweb.com/record/2.0.0/dist/record.js and https://cdn.rrweb.com/replay/2.0.0/dist/replay.js for immutable production URLs.

rrweb-player is also available as a browser ESM asset:

html
<link
  rel="stylesheet"
  href="https://cdn.rrweb.com/rrweb-player/current/style.css"
/>
<script type="module">
  import rrwebPlayer from 'https://cdn.rrweb.com/rrweb-player/current/rrweb-player.js';
</script>

3) Legacy Direct <script> Include (UMD Fallback)

Use this only for compatibility with non-module environments.

html
<script src="https://cdn.rrweb.com/record/current/dist/record.umd.cjs"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.rrweb.com/replay/current/dist/replay.umd.cjs"></script>

The UMD builds expose rrwebRecord and rrwebReplay globals. Prefer the ESM CDN assets for modern browsers.

Other packages

For a full list of rrweb packages with descriptions, see the Packages reference.

Compatibility Note

rrweb does not support IE11 and below because it uses the MutationObserver API which was supported by these browsers.

Getting Started

Record

Use record from @rrweb/record in modern setups:

js
import { record } from '@rrweb/record';
js
record({
  emit(event) {
    // store the event in any way you like
  },
});

During recording, the recorder will emit when there is some event incurred, all you need to do is to store the emitted events in any way you like.

The record method returns a function which can be called to stop events from firing:

js
let stopFn = record({
  emit(event) {
    if (events.length > 100) {
      // stop after 100 events
      stopFn();
    }
  },
});

A more real-world usage may look like this:

js
const publicApiKey = 'your-public-api-key-here';
const recordingId = crypto.randomUUID();

let events = [];

record({
  emit(event) {
    // push event into the events array
    events.push(event);
  },
});

// this function will send events to the backend and reset the events array
function save() {
  const body = JSON.stringify({ events });
  events = [];
  fetch(`https://api.rrweb.com/recordings/${recordingId}/events`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${publicApiKey}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body,
  });
}

// save events every 10 seconds
setInterval(save, 10 * 1000);

Record Options

The record function accepts the following options.

keydefaultdescription
emitrequiredthe callback function to get emitted events
checkoutEveryNth-take a full snapshot after every N events
refer to the checkout chapter
checkoutEveryNms-take a full snapshot after every N ms
refer to the checkout chapter
blockClass'rr-block'Use a string or RegExp to configure which elements should be blocked, refer to the privacy chapter
blockSelectornullUse a string to configure which selector should be blocked, refer to the privacy chapter
ignoreClass'rr-ignore'Use a string or RegExp to configure which elements should be ignored, refer to the privacy chapter
ignoreSelectornullUse a string to configure which selector should be ignored, refer to the privacy chapter
ignoreCSSAttributesnullarray of CSS attributes that should be ignored
maskTextClass'rr-mask'Use a string or RegExp to configure which elements should be masked, refer to the privacy chapter
maskTextSelectornullUse a string to configure which selector should be masked, refer to the privacy chapter
maskAllInputsfalsemask all input content as *
maskInputOptions{ password: true }mask some kinds of input *
refer to the list
maskInputFn-customize mask input content recording logic
maskTextFn-customize mask text content recording logic
slimDOMOptions{}remove unnecessary parts of the DOM
refer to the list
dataURLOptions{}Canvas image format and quality ,This parameter will be passed to the OffscreenCanvas.convertToBlob(),Using this parameter effectively reduces the size of the recorded data
inlineStylesheettrueDeprecated since 2.0.0. Still supported, but planned to be superseded by future captureAssets asset recording APIs.
hooks{}hooks for events
refer to the list
packFn-refer to the storage optimization recipe
sampling-refer to the storage optimization recipe
recordCanvasfalseWhether to record the canvas element. Available options:
false,
true
recordCrossOriginIframesfalseWhether to record cross origin iframes. rrweb has to be injected in each child iframe for this to work. Available options:
false,
true
recordAfter'load'If the document is not ready, then the recorder will start recording after the specified event is fired. Available options: DOMContentLoaded, load
inlineImagesfalseDeprecated since 2.0.0. Still supported, but planned to be superseded by future captureAssets asset recording APIs.
collectFontsfalsewhether to collect fonts in the website
userTriggeredOnInputfalsewhether to add userTriggered on input events that indicates if this event was triggered directly by the user or not. What is userTriggered?
plugins[]load plugins to provide extended record functions. What are plugins?
errorHandler-A callback that is called if something inside of rrweb throws an error. The callback receives the error as argument.

Privacy

You may find some contents on the webpage which are not willing to be recorded, then you can use the following approaches:

  • An element with the class name .rr-block will not be recorded. Instead, it will replay as a placeholder with the same dimension.
  • An element with the class name .rr-ignore will not record its input events.
  • All text of elements with the class name .rr-mask and their children will be masked.
  • input[type="password"] will be masked by default.
  • Mask options to mask the content in input elements.

Checkout

By default, all the emitted events are required to replay a session and if you do not want to store all the events, you can use the checkout config.

Most of the time you do not need to configure this. But if you want to do something like capturing just the last N events from when an error has occurred, here is an example:

js
const publicApiKey = 'your-public-api-key-here';
const recordingId = crypto.randomUUID();

// We use a two-dimensional array to store multiple events array
const eventsMatrix = [[]];

record({
  emit(event, isCheckout) {
    // isCheckout is a flag to tell you the events has been checkout
    if (isCheckout) {
      eventsMatrix.push([]);
    }
    const lastEvents = eventsMatrix[eventsMatrix.length - 1];
    lastEvents.push(event);
  },
  checkoutEveryNth: 200, // checkout every 200 events
});

// send last two events array to the backend
window.onerror = function () {
  const len = eventsMatrix.length;
  const events = eventsMatrix[len - 2].concat(eventsMatrix[len - 1]);
  const body = JSON.stringify({ events });
  fetch(`https://api.rrweb.com/recordings/${recordingId}/events`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${publicApiKey}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body,
  });
};

Due to the incremental-snapshot-chain mechanism rrweb used, we can not capture the last N events accurately. With the sample code above, you will finally get the last 200 to 400 events been sent to your backend.

Similarly, you can also configure checkoutEveryNms to capture the last N minutes events:

js
const publicApiKey = 'your-public-api-key-here';
const recordingId = crypto.randomUUID();

// We use a two-dimensional array to store multiple events array
const eventsMatrix = [[]];

record({
  emit(event, isCheckout) {
    // isCheckout is a flag to tell you the events has been checkout
    if (isCheckout) {
      eventsMatrix.push([]);
    }
    const lastEvents = eventsMatrix[eventsMatrix.length - 1];
    lastEvents.push(event);
  },
  checkoutEveryNms: 5 * 60 * 1000, // checkout every 5 minutes
});

// send last two events array to the backend
window.onerror = function () {
  const len = eventsMatrix.length;
  const events = eventsMatrix[len - 2].concat(eventsMatrix[len - 1]);
  const body = JSON.stringify({ events });
  fetch(`https://api.rrweb.com/recordings/${recordingId}/events`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${publicApiKey}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body,
  });
};

With the sample code above, you will finally get the last 5 to 10 minutes of events been sent to your backend.

Replay

For bundler usage, include the style sheet in your app entry:

js
import '@rrweb/replay/dist/style.css';

For browser/no-build usage, include the style sheet and import the replayer from the CDN:

html
<link
  rel="stylesheet"
  href="https://cdn.rrweb.com/replay/current/dist/style.css"
/>
<script type="module">
  import { Replayer } from 'https://cdn.rrweb.com/replay/current/dist/replay.js';

  const events = YOUR_EVENTS;

  const replayer = new Replayer(events);
  replayer.play();
</script>

Control the replayer by API

js
const replayer = new Replayer(events);

// play
replayer.play();

// play from the third seconds
replayer.play(3000);

// pause
replayer.pause();

// pause at the fifth seconds
replayer.pause(5000);

// destroy the replayer (hint: this operation is irreversible)
replayer.destroy();

Replay Options

The replayer accepts options as its constructor's second parameter, and it has the following options:

keydefaultdescription
speed1replay speed ratio
rootdocument.bodythe root element of replayer
loadTimeout0timeout of loading remote style sheet
skipInactivefalsewhether to skip inactive time
inactivePeriodThreshold10000the threshold in milliseconds for what should be considered an inactive period
showWarningtruewhether to print warning messages during replay
showDebugfalsewhether to print debug messages during replay
blockClass'rr-block'element with the class name will display as a blocked area
liveModefalsewhether to enable live mode
insertStyleRules[]accepts multiple CSS rule string, which will be injected into the replay iframe
triggerFocustruewhether to trigger focus during replay
UNSAFE_replayCanvasfalsewhether to replay the canvas element. Enabling this adds allow-scripts to the replay iframe and opts out of the sandbox script-execution protection, which is unsafe.
pauseAnimationtruewhether to pause CSS animation when the replayer is paused
mouseTailtruewhether to show mouse tail during replay. Set to false to disable mouse tail. A complete config can be found in this type
unpackFn-refer to the storage optimization recipe
logConfig-configuration of console output playback, refer to the console recipe
plugins[]load plugins to provide extended replay functions. What are plugins?
useVirtualDomtruewhether to use Virtual Dom optimization in the process of skipping to a new point of time
loggerconsoleThe logger object used by the replayer to print warnings or errors

Use rrweb-player

Since Replayer from @rrweb/replay only provides a basic UI, you can choose rrweb-player, which is based on rrweb's public APIs and provides a feature-rich replayer UI.

Installation

Bundler / npm (recommended):

shell
npm install rrweb-player
js
import rrwebPlayer from 'rrweb-player';
import 'rrweb-player/dist/style.css';

Browser without bundler (ESM):

html
<link
  rel="stylesheet"
  href="https://cdn.rrweb.com/rrweb-player/current/style.css"
/>
<script type="module">
  import rrwebPlayer from 'https://cdn.rrweb.com/rrweb-player/current/rrweb-player.js';
</script>

Legacy direct <script> include (UMD fallback):

html
<link
  rel="stylesheet"
  href="https://cdn.rrweb.com/rrweb-player/current/style.css"
/>
<script src="https://cdn.rrweb.com/rrweb-player/current/rrweb-player.umd.cjs"></script>
Usage
js
new rrwebPlayer({
  target: document.body, // customizable root element
  props: {
    events,
  },
});
Options
keydefaultdescription
events[]the events for replaying
width1024the width of the replayer
height576the height of the replayer
maxScale1the maximum scale of the replayer (1 = 100%), set to 0 for unlimited
autoPlaytruewhether to autoplay
speedOption[1, 2, 4, 8]speed options in UI
showControllertruewhether to show the controller UI
tags{}customize the custom events style with a key-value map
...-all other Replayer options are forwarded

Events

Developers may want to extend the replayer or respond to its events, for example to notify users when inactive time starts being skipped. Replayer exposes a public API on that lets developers listen for events and customize behavior:

js
const replayer = new Replayer(events);
replayer.on(EVENT_NAME, (payload) => {
  ...
})

The event list:

EventDescriptionValue
startstarted to replay-
pausepaused the replay-
finishfinished the replay-
resizethe viewport has changed{ width, height }
fullsnapshot-rebuildedrebuilded a full snapshotevent
load-stylesheet-startstarted to load remote stylesheets-
load-stylesheet-endloaded remote stylesheets-
skip-startstarted to skip inactive time{ speed }
skip-endskipped inactive time{ speed }
mouse-interactionmouse interaction has been replayed{ type, target }
event-castevent has been replayedevent
custom-eventcustom event has been replayedevent
destroydestroyed the replayer-

The rrweb-replayer also re-expose the event listener via a component.addEventListener API.

And there are three rrweb-replayer event will be emitted in the same way:

EventDescriptionValue
ui-update-current-timecurrent time has changed{ payload }
ui-update-player-statecurrent player state has changed{ payload }
ui-update-progresscurrent progress has changed{ payload }

REPL tool

You can also play with rrweb by using the REPL testing tool which does not need installation.

Run yarn repl to launch a browser and ask for a URL you want to test on the CLI:

Enter the url you want to record, e.g https://example.com:

Waiting for the browser to open the specified page and print the following messages on the CLI:

Enter the url you want to record, e.g https://example.com: https://github.com
Going to open https://github.com...
Ready to record. You can do any interaction on the page.
Once you want to finish the recording, enter 'y' to start replay:

At this point, you can interact on the web page. After the desired operations have been recorded, enter 'y' on the CLI, and the test tool will replay the operations to verify whether the recording was successful.

The following messages will be printed on the CLI during replay:

Enter 'y' to persistently store these recorded events:

At this point, you can enter 'y' again on the CLI. The test tool will save the recorded session into a static HTML file and prompt for the location:

Saved at PATH_TO_YOUR_REPO/temp/replay_2018_11_23T07_53_30.html

This file uses the latest rrweb bundle code, so we can run npm run bundle:browser after patching the code, then refresh the static file to see and debug the impact of the latest code on replay.