PostHog

Premium Connector

This connector requires the Standard Plan or higher.

Connect PostHog to Shaped using PostHog's AWS Kinesis destination. Shaped provisions a dedicated Kinesis stream per table; PostHog sends flattened JSON records that match your table schema.

Overview

1. Create a PostHog table in Shaped with a flat column_schema (top-level columns only).
2. Copy AWS credentials and the Kinesis stream name from Shaped once the table is ACTIVE.
3. Create the AWS Kinesis destination in PostHog and set a custom payload — a flat JSON object whose keys match your Shaped columns and whose values reference PostHog fields (see section 2).

PostHog's default Kinesis envelope ({ "event": { ... }, "person": { ... } }) does not match Shaped's schema. In PostHog, configure a custom flat payload: each top-level key must match a column in your Shaped column_schema, and each value should reference the PostHog field you want (e.g. {event.uuid}, {person.id}).

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1. Create a Shaped PostHog table

Create the table in the Shaped Console (Tables → Create table → PostHog) or with the CLI.

Define top-level columns in column_schema — do not nest fields under event or person. Column names must be lowercase.

posthog_events.yaml

name: example_posthog_events
schema_type: POSTHOG
unique_keys: [uuid]
column_schema:
  uuid: String             # Unique identifier for the PostHog event
  distinct_id: String      # User or session identifier
  timestamp: DateTime      # When the event occurred
  event: String            # Event name (e.g. "$pageview")
  elements_chain: String   # Serialized elements chain (autocapture)
  url: String              # Page URL where the event was captured
  properties: String       # Event properties (JSON string)
  id: String               # PostHog person id (from person.id)

Field	Description
schema_type	Must be POSTHOG.
column_schema	Flat map of column name → type. Must match the JSON keys in your PostHog Kinesis payload.
unique_keys	Columns that uniquely identify a row (e.g. uuid). Used for deduplication in ClickHouse.

Supported types are the same as other realtime connectors — see Custom Table.

The table is provisioned asynchronously: SCHEDULING → DEPLOYING → ACTIVE.

CLI

shaped create-table --file posthog_events.yaml

When the table is ACTIVE, open the table in the Console to copy:

• AWS Access Key ID
• AWS Secret Access Key
• AWS Region
• Kinesis Stream Name

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2. Configure PostHog AWS Kinesis destination

1. In PostHog, go to Data pipeline → Destinations → + Create → AWS Kinesis.

2. Enter the values from Shaped:

   PostHog field	Shaped value
   AWS Access Key ID	From table connection details
   AWS Secret Access Key	From table connection details
   AWS Region	From table connection details
   Kinesis Stream Name	From table connection details (e.g. ShapedDatasetStream-…)
   Kinesis Partition Key	Optional (e.g. distinct_id or user_id)

3. Set the payload (custom message body). Build a flat JSON object that matches your column_schema — you do not need to copy the example below exactly.

   How to build your payload

   • For each column in column_schema, add one top-level key with the same name.
   • Set the value to the PostHog placeholder for that data, usually {event.<field>} or {person.<field>}.
   • Only include fields you defined in Shaped; add or remove keys as needed.

   Example (for the schema in section 1 — adapt keys to match yours):

{
  "url": "{event.url}",
  "uuid": "{event.uuid}",
  "event": "{event.event}",
  "timestamp": "{event.timestamp}",
  "properties": "{event.properties}",
  "distinct_id": "{event.distinct_id}",
  "elements_chain": "{event.elements_chain}",
  "id": "{person.id}"
}

If your table only has uuid, distinct_id, and timestamp, a valid payload might be:

{
  "uuid": "{event.uuid}",
  "distinct_id": "{event.distinct_id}",
  "timestamp": "{event.timestamp}"
}

The rule is: payload keys = Shaped column names, payload values = PostHog template variables for the source data.

4. Save the payload and click Create & Enable.

PostHog substitutes {event.*} and {person.*} placeholders when sending each event to Kinesis.

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3. Verify ingestion

• New events may take a few minutes to appear in your table after PostHog starts sending them.
• In the Shaped Console, open your table and check Sample data once events have been sent after the destination is enabled.
• If columns are empty, confirm the payload keys match column_schema exactly (including lowercase names).