Painpoints

Painpoints are retention rules that automatically filter which sessions are kept based on user behavior. This helps you focus on the sessions that matter most while reducing storage costs.

How It Works

When a session ends, Recapt evaluates it against your configured painpoints:

1. If any enabled painpoint is triggered, the session is retained
2. If no painpoints are triggered, the session is automatically deleted
3. If the "Track All" painpoint is enabled, all sessions are retained

info

If you have no painpoints configured, all sessions are retained by default.

Creating Painpoints

1. Navigate to Sessions in your Recapt dashboard
2. Click on the Painpoints tab or icon
3. Click Create Painpoint
4. Configure the painpoint settings
5. Click Save

Available Triggers

Track All Sessions

Retains every session regardless of user behavior. Use this when you want to capture everything.

Setting	Value
Trigger	track-all
Configuration	None required

Behavior Triggers

Click

Retains sessions where users clicked anywhere on the page.

Setting	Value
Trigger	click
Configuration	None required

Dead Click

Retains sessions where users clicked on elements that appeared interactive but didn't respond. Dead clicks often indicate UI confusion or broken elements.

Setting	Value
Trigger	dead-click
Configuration	None required

Example dead clicks:

• Clicking on text that looks like a link but isn't
• Clicking on disabled buttons that look enabled
• Clicking on images that look like buttons

Rage Click

Retains sessions where users rapidly clicked multiple times in frustration. Rage clicks typically indicate user frustration or unresponsive UI.

Setting	Value
Trigger	rage-click
Configuration	None required

Page Triggers

Navigation

Retains sessions that visited specific pages. Use this to focus on key pages like checkout, signup, or error pages.

Setting	Value
Trigger	navigation
Configuration	Page path (e.g., /checkout, /signup)

Examples:

• /checkout - Capture all checkout sessions
• /pricing - See how users interact with pricing
• /error - Capture sessions that hit error pages

tip

Page paths support partial matching. /checkout will match /checkout, /checkout/payment, and /checkout/confirmation.

Action Triggers

Custom Action

Retains sessions where users performed specific tracked actions. Actions are custom events you've defined in your application.

Setting	Value
Trigger	action
Configuration	Select from your defined actions

Tag

Retains sessions with specific tags applied. Tags can be added manually or programmatically to sessions.

Setting	Value
Trigger	tag
Configuration	Select from your defined tags

Error Triggers

Console Error

Retains sessions that encountered JavaScript console errors. Optionally filter by error message.

Setting	Value
Trigger	console-error
Configuration	Error message (optional, supports partial match)

Examples:

• Leave empty to capture all errors
• TypeError - Capture type errors
• Network Error - Capture network-related errors
• Cannot read property - Capture common undefined errors

Console Warning

Retains sessions with console warnings. Similar to console errors but for warnings.

Setting	Value
Trigger	console-warn
Configuration	Warning message (optional, supports partial match)

Time-Based Triggers

Active Duration

Retains sessions where users were actively engaged for a minimum amount of time. Active time excludes periods of inactivity.

Setting	Value
Trigger	active-duration
Configuration	Minimum duration (HH:MM:SS format)

Examples:

• 00:05:00 - Sessions with 5+ minutes of activity
• 00:00:30 - Sessions with 30+ seconds of activity
• 01:00:00 - Sessions with 1+ hour of activity

Managing Painpoints

Enabling/Disabling Painpoints

Each painpoint can be toggled on or off:

1. Go to Sessions > Painpoints
2. Find the painpoint you want to toggle
3. Click the toggle switch to enable/disable

Disabled painpoints are ignored during session evaluation.

Editing Painpoints

1. Go to Sessions > Painpoints
2. Click the edit (pencil) icon on the painpoint
3. Modify the settings
4. Click Save

Deleting Painpoints

1. Go to Sessions > Painpoints
2. Click the delete (trash) icon on the painpoint
3. Confirm the deletion

warning

Deleted painpoints cannot be recovered. Sessions that were already retained will remain, but future sessions will be evaluated without this painpoint.

Painpoint Combinations

Multiple painpoints work together with OR logic:

Painpoints Enabled	Session Retained If...
Dead Click, Rage Click	User performed a dead click OR rage click
Navigation /checkout, Console Error	User visited checkout OR had a console error
Track All	Always (all sessions retained)

Recommended Configurations

E-Commerce Sites

Focus on conversion and checkout issues:

1. Navigation → /checkout, /cart, /payment
2. Dead Click → Capture UI confusion
3. Rage Click → Capture frustration
4. Console Error → Capture technical issues

SaaS Applications

Focus on onboarding and key features:

1. Navigation → /onboarding, /setup, /dashboard
2. Active Duration → 00:10:00 (engaged users)
3. Console Error → Technical issues
4. Dead Click → UI problems

Support-Focused

Capture sessions likely to generate support tickets:

1. Console Error → All errors
2. Rage Click → User frustration
3. Navigation → /help, /support, /contact

Full Capture (Testing/Debugging)

Capture everything during development:

1. Track All → Retain all sessions

Best Practices

1. Start Broad, Then Narrow: Begin with fewer, broader painpoints and refine based on what you learn

2. Always Capture Errors: Console errors are valuable for debugging; consider always having an error painpoint enabled

3. Focus on Key Flows: Identify your most important user journeys and create painpoints for those pages

4. Review Regularly: Periodically review which painpoints are triggering and adjust as needed

5. Balance Coverage and Cost: More painpoints = more retained sessions = higher storage usage

Session Filtering

Even with painpoints configured, you can filter sessions in the dashboard:

1. Go to Sessions
2. Use the Triggered Painpoints filter
3. Select specific painpoints to see only sessions that triggered them

This helps you focus on specific types of sessions even when retaining broadly.