Browser Crash Monitoring

💥 Browser Crash Monitoring

GermainUX RUM Extension monitors supported browser crash events and creates a KPI fact when a browser, tab, GPU process, or extension crashes, or when the browser forces a reload.

Browser Crash Monitoring helps teams identify unstable browser experiences, determine which users and applications were affected, and correlate crashes with activity recorded before the interruption.

✨ Benefits

Browser Crash Monitoring helps organizations:

⚙️ Preconfigured monitoring

Browser Crash Monitoring is available through the GermainUX RUM Extension.

GermainUX supports the following crash-event categories when they are exposed by the browser:

The precise event details depend on what the browser and extension-management APIs make available.

📁 What GermainUX records

A browser crash event can include available context such as:

Not every crash provides the same information. A sudden browser or operating-system termination can prevent the browser from transmitting its final state.

Browser crash versus other browser issues

Browser Crash Monitoring should not be used as a general category for every browser-side failure.

Analyzing these KPIs together helps determine whether a crash was preceded by high memory consumption, long-running JavaScript, application errors, or another observable condition.

🚀 Enable Browser Crash Monitoring

Browser Crash Monitoring requires the GermainUX RUM Extension.

📋 Enable steps

1. Sign in to the GermainUX Workspace.

2. Go to Settings > Germain State > Browser Extensions.

3. Select the browser-extension application.

4. Locate Crash Monitoring.

   

5. Enable the setting.

6. Save the configuration.

7. Refresh or restart the extension when required.

8. Confirm that the updated configuration reaches the monitored browsers.

Workspace labels can vary by GermainUX version.

✅ Configure the threshold

GermainUX can create an insight when the number of detected browser crashes reaches the configured threshold.

The following example sets the threshold to one crash:

const settings = germainApm.getDefaultSettings();

settings.plugins.browsercrash.levelThreshold = 1;

germainApm.start(settings);

A value of 1 means that the first supported crash occurrence meets the configured threshold.

Customize this value only when the default behavior does not meet the organization’s requirements.

📊 KPIs and analysis

Use the browser crash KPI to analyze:

Useful analytical questions include:

Review the available KPIs for Browser Monitoring.

🔗 Correlation with user activity

When compatible browser and session telemetry is available, GermainUX can correlate a crash with:

The activity captured before the crash can help identify contributing conditions. It does not necessarily prove that a particular event caused the crash.

Session Replay ends at the last activity successfully transmitted before the browser or tab stopped functioning. The crash itself cannot be visually recorded after the browser context has terminated.

🔔 Notifications

A browser crash insight can be used to:

For example, a Watch can notify a support engineer whenever GermainUX detects a tab crash for a critical application.

A Watch applies a notification to the crash insight already detected by GermainUX; it does not create a new crash insight.

🚫 Limitations

Browser Crash Monitoring is subject to browser and extension API limitations.

GermainUX may be unable to detect or fully describe:

A missing crash event does not prove that the browser remained operational.

🔒 Security and privacy

Browser crash facts generally contain technical metadata, but related sessions can include user and business information.

Before production deployment:

• Confirm which applications and users may be monitored.

• Mask or exclude sensitive Session Replay content.

• Restrict access to individual user and crash details.

• Avoid collecting unnecessary URLs or identifiers.

• Configure retention and deletion requirements.

• Ensure that centrally deployed extensions follow organizational policy.

• Inform monitored users when required by the organization’s compliance program.

🏳️ Validation

Browser crashes should not normally be forced on production users. Validate the configuration in a controlled test environment.

1. Install and the RUM Extension in a supported test browser.

2. Confirm that the browser-extension application appears in GermainUX.

3. Enable Crash Monitoring.

4. Confirm that the extension receives the updated configuration.

5. Reproduce a supported test crash using an approved method.

6. Confirm that a Browser Crash fact appears in GermainUX.

   

7. Verify the crash type, browser, application, page, and timestamp.

8. Confirm that the event is associated with the appropriate session when possible.

9. Test the configured SLA, alert, or Watch.

10. Confirm that monitoring resumes after the browser or tab restarts.

🔧 Troubleshooting

If crash events are not collected:

1. Confirm that the GermainUX RUM Extension is installed and enabled.

2. Verify that Crash Monitoring is enabled for the application.

3. Confirm that the extension received its latest configuration.

4. Verify that the browser and version support the required extension APIs.

5. Confirm that the application URL matches the configured monitoring scope.

6. Verify that the browser can connect to GermainUX.

7. Check browser and extension policies.

8. Confirm that another extension or endpoint-security product is not blocking GermainUX.

9. Review available browser-extension and GermainUX logs.

10. Confirm that the tested condition is a supported browser crash rather than a JavaScript error or freeze.

📦 Deployment and configuration

ℹ️ Get Help

The Germain Team can help you set this up. Contact GermainUX Support.