Session definition
A session is a set of the user’s interactions with a website within a timeframe.
The session begins when a user visits the website and does one of these things:
scrolls
moves a cursor
clicks something (on desktop)
taps something (on mobile)
One session can contain many clicks, scrolls, page views and other events. What’s more, one user can open multiple sessions, either within one day or over a longer time span.
These events are recorded as a part of a session:
mouse movements and clicks
mobile touches and taps
window resizing and scrolling
focusing and blurring elements
text selection
input value changes (if keystroke logging is enabled)
CSS changes
URL changes
DOM and Shadow DOM mutations
Console logs & errors (if console logging is enabled)
Network requests (if network logging is enabled)
Session on desktop device:
On the mobile:
How long does the session last?
When one session ends, another one can be started. By default, a session ends after 30 minutes of inactivity.
Let’s say a user, John, arrives on your website at 11:25 and does one of the actions mentioned above. If he doesn’t do anything after that, the session will end automatically at 11:55. If he continues to interact with the website and the last event takes place at 12:27, the session will end automatically at 12:57.
The session is set to expire after 30 minutes of inactivity. This means that:
If John leaves the page open, goes for a coffee break, and comes back 29 minutes later, it still counts as one session – just like he never left the website.
If John leaves the page open, goes for a coffee break, and comes back 31 minutes later, a new session starts. The landing page of that session is the last page of the previous session.
