Getting Started with Cano Analytics: Your First Event

This guide walks you through everything you need to go from a blank Cano account to a live dashboard tracking real user events. By the end, you’ll have a workspace configured, an API key in hand, an event flowing into Cano from your app, and a dashboard displaying it — in about 5 minutes.

You need a Cano Analytics account to follow this guide. If you don’t have one yet, sign up for free at app.canoanalytics.io. No credit card required.

Create a Workspace

A workspace is the top-level container for all your data, team members, and dashboards in Cano. When you log in for the first time, Cano prompts you to create one automatically.

Log in to app.canoanalytics.io.
On the Welcome screen, enter a workspace name — typically your company or project name (e.g. Acme Corp).
Select your industry and team size, then click Create Workspace.

Cano provisions your workspace and drops you into the main dashboard. You’re ready to start sending data.

Get Your API Key

Every request to Cano — whether from an SDK or a direct API call — is authenticated with a workspace API key.

In the left sidebar, click Settings.
Navigate to the API Keys tab.
Click Generate New Key, give it a descriptive name (e.g. Production Web App), and click Create.
Copy the key immediately — Cano only shows it once.

Treat your API key like a password. Never commit it to source control or expose it in client-side code for server-side-only keys. Use environment variables to inject keys at runtime.

Install the SDK

Cano publishes official SDKs for JavaScript/TypeScript and Python. Choose the one that matches your stack and install it using your package manager.

npm install @cano/analytics

yarn add @cano/analytics

pip install cano-analytics

Initialize and Track Your First Event

With the SDK installed, initialize the Cano client using your API key and call track() to send your first event. Replace YOUR_API_KEY with the key you copied in Step 2.

import { CanoAnalytics } from '@cano/analytics';

const cano = new CanoAnalytics({
  apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY',
});

// Track a user signing up
cano.track('user_signed_up', {
  userId: 'usr_123',
  properties: {
    plan: 'pro',
    source: 'organic',
  },
});

from cano_analytics import CanoClient

cano = CanoClient(api_key='YOUR_API_KEY')

# Track a user signing up
cano.track(
    'user_signed_up',
    user_id='usr_123',
    properties={
        'plan': 'pro',
        'source': 'organic',
    }
)

When the call succeeds, the SDK returns a confirmation object:

Expected Response

{
  "status": "ok",
  "event_id": "evt_01hx9kqz3mb2v7n4p6w8yd5r",
  "received_at": "2024-05-10T14:32:07.000Z"
}

View the Event in Cano

Your event appears in the Cano UI within seconds of being sent.

In the left sidebar, click Events.
You’ll see the Live Events Feed — a real-time stream of all incoming events.
Find user_signed_up in the list. Click it to expand the full event payload and confirm your properties (plan, source) are attached correctly.

The Live Events Feed shows events from the last 24 hours by default. Use the date picker in the top-right corner to extend the range.

Create Your First Dashboard

Now that events are flowing in, visualize them on a dashboard.

In the left sidebar, click Dashboards, then click New Dashboard.
Give your dashboard a name (e.g. Sign-Up Funnel) and click Create.
Click Add Chart, select user_signed_up as the event, and choose Line Chart as the chart type.
Click Save Chart — your first chart appears on the dashboard.

For a full walkthrough of chart types, filters, and layout options, see the Creating Dashboards guide.

Now that your first event is live, explore what Cano can do next: set up user identification to link events to profiles, connect a data source to enrich your data, or dive into the JavaScript SDK reference for advanced configuration options.

Get Started

Dashboards & Reports

Data Sources

Tracking & Events

Account & Settings

Getting Started with Cano Analytics: Your First Event