HogFlix Demo 3000

This repository allows you to spin up a demo app which has been instrumented with PostHog, and seed PostHog historic data and artifacts to provide a full-featured demo environment showcasing all features.

Prerequisites

If you choose to run the demo entirely in your browser using GitHub Code Spaces, skip the requirements and go straight to Option 3, otherwise follow the prerequisites instructions.

To run the demo app on a Mac you'll need to set up Python 3 locally:

1. Install Xcode Command Line Tools if you haven't already: xcode-select --install.
2. Install the package manager Homebrew by following the instructions here.

After installation, make sure to follow the instructions printed in your terminal to add Homebrew to your $PATH. Otherwise, the command line will not know about packages installed with Homebrew.

3. Install Python: brew install python.
4. Upgrade pip to the latest version: pip install -U pip
5. From the root of this repository, install the requirements: pip install -r requirements.txt

Running the app

There are three ways to run the app: locally using Python, via Docker, or using GitHub Codespaces.

Option 1 - Run Locally with Python

Before running the app for the first time, you'll need to create and seed the local SQLite database:

python pop_db.py
python dummy_data.py

This only needs to be done the first time you run the app.

Next, set your PostHog Host and Project API key as environment variables. You can either rename .env.example to .env and update the placeholder variables therein, or run the following:

export PH_HOST='https://<eu or us>.i.posthog.com'
export PH_PROJECT_KEY='<Project API key>'

Finally, run the app:

python app.py

If you open up a browser and head to http://127.0.0.1:5000/, you'll see the HogFlix app running. Use Ctrl + C in your terminal to stop the app.

Option 2 - Run as a Container with Docker

The container hasn't been pushed to a registry yet, so you'll need to build and run it yourself. Make sure you have Docker Desktop for Mac installed.

In the root of the repository, first build the container:

docker build --no-cache --tag posthog-hogflix-demo .

Then run the container in detached mode (background):

docker run -d -p 5000:5000 -e PH_PROJECT_KEY=<Project API key> -e PH_HOST='https://<eu or us>.i.posthog.com' posthog-hogflix-demo

You can then access the app on localhost:5000.

Option 3 - Run in GitHub Codespaces

For a seamless setup, you can run the demo entirely in your browser using GitHub Codespaces. This avoids needing to manage Python or Docker on your local machine.

To get started:

1. Go to the repository in GitHub.
2. Click on the Code button.
3. Navigate to the Codespaces tab and click Create Codespace on Main.

This will create a virtual environment in your browser where you can run the app and make changes. It may take a few minutes for the environment to configure, but once done, everything will be set up automatically.

Once the environment is ready, follow these steps:

1. Copy the contents of .env.example and create a new .env file.
2. Set the required environment variables, including your PostHog Project API Key.
3. Run the app:

   python app.py

Now you can demo HogFlix entirely in your browser without switching between local environments or desktop apps.

Seed Historic Usage Data

To generate valuable insights in your PostHog project, you'll need to add some historic event data. The seed_demo_data.py script creates pseudo-random data that mimics real usage of the HogFlix app. You'll need the 500_names_and_emails.csv in your scripts folder (see below on how to generate this), and then run:

python scripts/seed_demo_data.py -k <Project API Key> -p https://<eu or us>.i.posthog.com -d 30 -i 100

The input parameters are:

• -k: The Project API key for your demo project.
• -h: The PostHog Host.
• -d: The number of previous days to generate data over (optional, defaults to 30).
• -i: The number of iterations for the script (optional, defaults to 100).

After a few minutes, you'll see newly created events and people in your PostHog project.

Create Demo Artifacts

Once historic data has been generated, you'll need some PostHog artifacts to view as part of the demo. The create_posthog_artifacts.py script adds in:

• Actions looking at pageviews and custom events.
• Cohorts based on behavior and user properties.
• Insights using the above actions.
• A Feature Flag for the action mode feature integrated into the app.

You'll need a Personal API Key (available in /settings/user-api-keys in the PostHog UI) to run this script:

python scripts/create_posthog_artifacts.py -p "https://<eu or us>.posthog.com/api/projects/<project id>" -k "<Personal API Key>"

The input parameters are:

• -k: Your Personal API key.
• -p: The API Endpoint for your PostHog Project.

Recreate the Seed Data

The 500_names_and_emails.csv file in the scripts/ folder contains dummy data for 500 users, which includes group (Family) information. If needed, you can recreate this file by running:

python scripts/generate_fake_names_and_emails.py

Then copy the generated file back to the scripts/ folder to generate more demo data.

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Now you're ready to demo the full power of PostHog with HogFlix Demo 3000!