Apex

PLG Quickstart

Get Apex configured for product-led growth in under 10 minutes.

Prerequisites

  • An Apex account (sign up free)
  • A web application with user authentication
  • Access to your backend to install the server SDK

How PLG Differs in Apex

When you select a product-led or hybrid growth model during onboarding, Apex adapts:

  • Scoring shifts from MQL (intent, ICP fit) to PQL (activation, usage, expansion, retention)
  • Funnel tracks Signups → Activated → Active → Converted instead of Visitors → Leads → Customers
  • Dashboard emphasizes activation rates, usage depth, and time-to-value over pipeline and CAC

Step 1: Install the Tracking Snippet

Add these two lines to your app's <head> for client-side tracking. The inline anti-flicker stub keeps your page hidden while experiments apply, then the async script removes it. See Installation for the full reference.

<style id="apex-antiflicker">html{opacity:0!important;transition:opacity .12s}</style>
<script src="https://app.apex.inc/api/apex-js?key=YOUR_WORKSPACE_KEY" async></script>

Step 2: Install the Server SDK

For PLG, server-side events are critical — they're the source of truth for milestones the browser can't reliably see. Install the NPM SDK:

npm install @apex-inc/sdk

The SDK is a set of functions (not a class). Initialize it once at startup:

import { init, identify, track, sendServerEvent } from "@apex-inc/sdk";

init({ workspaceKey: "YOUR_WORKSPACE_KEY" });

Info

Client vs server — the rule: behavioral signal (page views, clicks, in-app UI steps) belongs on the client snippet; source-of-truth milestones (activation, plan changes, payments) belong on the server via sendServerEvent. Never emit the same canonical event name from both, or you'll double-count. See Instrumenting your app.

Step 3: Identify Users at Signup

When a user signs up, call identify with their stable customer id. Put email on the traits. Pass the browser apex_vid cookie so the anonymous visit stitches to the signed-in person:

identify(user.id, {
  email: user.email,
  visitorId: req.cookies["apex_vid"],
  name: user.name,
  plan: "free",
});

This stitches anonymous visitor behavior to the authenticated user, giving you full-funnel attribution.

Step 4: Track Activation Milestones

Activation is a source-of-truth outcome — emit it server-side so an ad blocker or a closed tab can never lose it. Apex ships canonical milestone events (onboarding_completed, activated); use them:

await sendServerEvent(
  { apiKey: process.env.APEX_API_KEY, workspaceKey: "YOUR_WORKSPACE_KEY" },
  { type: "activated", visitorId: req.cookies["apex_vid"], data: { criterion: "first_workspace_created" } },
);

In-app steps (as opposed to the final outcome) are fine on the client, where the step happens:

track("onboarding_step_completed", { step_id: "invited_teammate" });

Step 5: Define your activation conversion

In the Apex dashboard:

  1. Open Set up Apex → Web Measurement → Define what counts as a conversion
  2. Select Custom event as the type
  3. Enter your activation event name (e.g. first_workspace_created) — this has to match the string you pass to track() exactly, or nothing will match it
  4. This becomes the key metric for your PQL score and activation funnel

Manage it later under Settings → Conversions.

Step 6: Track Usage Depth

Send events for key product actions. Apex uses these to compute usage-based PQL scores:

// Behavioral usage — client or server is fine.
track("feature_used", { feature: "export_report" });

Plan changes are revenue truth — emit them server-side (ideally from your Stripe webhook handler) so they're tamper-proof and deduped:

await sendServerEvent(
  { apiKey: process.env.APEX_API_KEY, workspaceKey: "YOUR_WORKSPACE_KEY" },
  { type: "subscription_event", visitorId: apexVid, data: { action: "started", product_id: "pro_annual" } },
  { idempotencyKey: stripeEvent.id },
);

Step 7: Track Lifecycle Transitions

When a user's lifecycle stage changes, record the transition:

await fetch("/api/contacts/{contactId}/lifecycle", {
  method: "POST",
  body: JSON.stringify({
    stage: "activated",
    trigger: "completed_onboarding",
  }),
});

Apex tracks every transition with timestamps, enabling time-to-activate analysis and cohort retention.

What You'll See

Once events flow in, your Apex dashboard shows:

  • Activation dashboard — signup-to-activation funnel, cohort activation rates, time-to-activate distribution
  • Retention dashboard — cohort retention matrix, churn rate trends, net revenue retention
  • PQL scores — each contact scored on activation, usage depth, expansion signals, and retention
  • Experiments — evaluated by activation rate and usage, not just clicks

Next Steps

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