Metadata Extractors - GermainUX Docs

ComponentsJS ProfilerRUM JSRUM Extension

Availability2021.1 or later

Browser supportonly latest Chrome, Edge and Opera

Monitoring components

How the profiler uses metadata

Configuration

Setting up metadata providers

Asynchronous metadata

Waiting for delayed values

Deployment and configuration

Deploying the extractors

Overview

GermainUX metadata extractors collect application-specific context—such as a username, internal session ID, tenant, account, user role, or application version—and associate it with browser monitoring data. This context makes captured errors, performance measurements, user interactions, Session Replay, and JavaScript profiling evidence easier to search, segment, correlate, and analyze.

Monitoring components

Component	Role
GermainUX RUM JS	Extracts metadata directly from applications in which the GermainUX monitoring script is deployed.
GermainUX RUM Extension	Supports metadata extraction when browser monitoring is deployed through an extension or when direct script deployment is unavailable.
GermainUX JS Profiler	Uses the available application, user, and session metadata to associate detailed JavaScript and browser diagnostics with the correct context.

Metadata extraction is performed by the applicable RUM configuration. The JS Profiler does not replace the metadata extractor; it uses the resulting metadata to contextualize profiler evidence.

Capabilities

Metadata extractors can retrieve values from sources accessible within the monitored browser context, including:

HTML elements and page content.
JavaScript variables and application state.
Browser storage.
JavaScript-accessible cookies.
Application APIs.
Synchronous or asynchronous application logic.

Common metadata includes:

Metadata	Purpose
Username or user ID	Identify or segment affected users
Application session ID	Correlate browser activity with application or server-side evidence
Tenant or account	Analyze experience by customer or business entity
User role	Compare adoption, behavior, errors, and performance by role
Application version	Detect release-related regressions
Environment	Distinguish production, test, or other environments
Region or business unit	Analyze impact across organizational segments
Workflow or case ID	Correlate user activity with a business process

Only collect metadata that is necessary for an approved monitoring or analytics purpose.

Business benefits

Metadata extractors help teams:

Find all sessions associated with a particular user, account, case, or application session.
Correlate browser activity with server-side transactions, logs, APIs, and workflows.
Determine which user roles, customers, or business units are affected by an issue.
Compare adoption, performance, errors, and behavior across meaningful business segments.
Give developers more precise context when investigating JavaScript and browser problems.
Reduce the time required to locate the relevant user session or technical evidence.
Measure the business impact of an issue more accurately.

Analytics and correlation

Extracted metadata becomes part of the context associated with GermainUX monitoring data. Depending on the field and GermainUX configuration, it can support:

Search and filtering.
Session identification.
KPIs, measures, and pivots.
User and role segmentation.
Session Replay analysis.
Error and performance analysis.

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Business-process correlation.
Front-end and back-end transaction correlation.
JS Profiler investigation.

For example, an application session ID collected in the browser can help correlate a slow user interaction with related server-side logs or transactions when the same identifier is available in those data sources.

Configuration

Metadata extractors are configured in the applicable User Monitoring Profile initialization script through:

settings.application.metadataProviders

Each provider is a function with the following definition:

type MetadataProviderFunction = (
  window: Window
) => undefined | null | string | Promise<undefined | null | string>;

A provider can return:

Result	Behavior
`string`	Stores the extracted metadata value
`Promise<string>`	Waits for and stores an asynchronously retrieved value
`undefined`	Does not replace a value previously extracted from another browser tab
`null`	Explicitly clears or replaces the previously extracted value

Basic metadata extractor

The following example registers an application-specific session ID extractor:

const settings = germainApm.getDefaultSettings();

settings.application.metadataProviders["sessionId"] = (window) => {
  return getApplicationSessionId(window);
};

function getApplicationSessionId(window) {
  // Application-specific extraction logic
  return "sessionIdValue";
}

germainApm.start(settings);

Replace the sample function with logic appropriate for the monitored application.

Username extractor

The following example waits for an element with the ID username and uses its displayed text as the user’s name:

const settings = germainApm.getDefaultSettings(
  loaderArgs,
  agentConfig
);

settings.application.metadataProviders["user.name"] = (window) => {
  return new Promise((resolve) => {
    germainApm.utils.waitForElements(
      window,
      "#username",
      (elements) => {
        const element = elements[0];
        resolve(element?.innerText || null);
      }
    );
  });
};

germainApm.start(settings);

The selector and extraction logic must be adapted to the application. If possible, use a stable internal user identifier instead of directly collecting personally identifiable information. A display name should only be collected when permitted by the organization’s privacy and compliance policies.

Session ID extractor

The following example retrieves an application session ID from a JavaScript-accessible cookie named SESSION:

const settings = germainApm.getDefaultSettings(
  loaderArgs,
  agentConfig
);

settings.application.metadataProviders["sessionId"] = (window) => {
  const cookieItems = window.document.cookie
    ? decodeURIComponent(window.document.cookie).split(";")
    : [];

  for (const item of cookieItems) {
    const cookie = item.trim();

    if (cookie.startsWith("SESSION=")) {
      return cookie.substring("SESSION=".length) || null;
    }
  }

  return null;
};

germainApm.start(settings);

Cookies marked HttpOnly are intentionally unavailable to browser JavaScript and cannot be read by a metadata extractor. Do not weaken cookie security settings to make a value available for monitoring.

Asynchronous metadata

Metadata such as the username or session ID may not be available when monitoring starts. A metadata provider can return a Promise so GermainUX can wait for the value. By default, GermainUX waits up to 15 seconds for all configured metadata providers to resolve before it begins sending potentially incomplete monitoring data. Use settings.constants.metadataTimeoutMillis to change this timeout. The following example extends it to 20 seconds:

const settings = germainApm.getDefaultSettings();

settings.constants.metadataTimeoutMillis = 20 * 1000;

germainApm.start(settings);

GermainUX waits for all configured providers to resolve, not only the first provider that returns a value. Ensure that every asynchronous provider eventually resolves to a string, null, or undefined.

Privacy and security

Extracted metadata can contain personal, confidential, or security-sensitive information. Before enabling an extractor:

Confirm that the field is required for an approved use case.
Avoid collecting passwords, authentication tokens, secrets, payment data, or complete session credentials.
Prefer internal identifiers or pseudonymous values over names and email addresses.
Do not expose HttpOnly cookies or weaken application security controls.
Apply masking, hashing, anonymization, or transformation when required.
Restrict access to monitoring and Session Replay data.
Define appropriate retention requirements.
Validate the configuration with the organization’s security and compliance teams.

Metadata extractors should not collect the contents of an authentication cookie when a non-sensitive correlation identifier can be used instead.

Validation

After configuring an extractor:

Open the monitored application through RUM JS or the RUM Extension

Perform a controlled user interaction

Confirm that the metadata appears in GermainUX

Verify that it is associated with the correct user and session

Confirm that asynchronous providers resolve within the configured timeout

Test the behavior across multiple browser tabs when applicable

Verify that sensitive values are excluded or protected

Confirm that JS Profiler evidence inherits the expected session context when profiling is enabled

Troubleshooting

Metadata is missing

Verify that:

The metadata provider is registered before germainApm.start(settings).
The field exists when the provider runs.
The HTML selector or application variable is correct.
The application URL is included in the monitoring scope.
The provider returns a supported value or Promise.
An asynchronous provider resolves within the configured timeout.

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Browser security boundaries do not prevent access to the value.
The value is not stored in an HttpOnly cookie.
Privacy or processing rules are not removing the metadata.

Monitoring data is delayed

GermainUX waits for all configured metadata providers. Check for a provider that never resolves or increase the timeout only when the application legitimately requires more time.

Metadata is incorrect across tabs

Return:

undefined when the provider should preserve a value already obtained from another tab.
null when the existing value should be explicitly explicitly cleared.

Deployment and configuration

Review Browser Monitoring.
Review the Browser Monitoring Deployment Overview.
Deploy GermainUX RUM JS when the monitoring script can be added to the application.
Deploy the GermainUX RUM Extension when direct script deployment is unavailable or access to the required browser context requires an extension.
Deploy the GermainUX JS Profiler when deeper JavaScript and browser diagnostics are required.
Review the available Browser Monitoring configuration.

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Review JavaScript Console and Error Monitoring.
Review Network Request Monitoring.
Review the KPIs for User Monitoring and Replay.
Review the available Browser Monitoring KPIs.

Get Help

Contact GermainUX Support

The Germain Team can help you set this up.

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The content of this document is proprietary to GERMAIN SOFTWARE LLC.

Monitoring components

Configuration

Asynchronous metadata

Deployment and configuration

​Overview

​Monitoring components

​Capabilities

​Business benefits

​Analytics and correlation

​Configuration

​Basic metadata extractor

​Username extractor

​Session ID extractor

​Asynchronous metadata

​Privacy and security

​Validation

​Troubleshooting

​Metadata is missing

​Monitoring data is delayed

​Metadata is incorrect across tabs

​Deployment and configuration

​Get Help

Contact GermainUX Support

Can't find what you need?

Overview

Monitoring components

Capabilities

Business benefits

Analytics and correlation

Configuration

Basic metadata extractor

Username extractor

Session ID extractor

Asynchronous metadata

Privacy and security

Validation

Troubleshooting

Metadata is missing

Monitoring data is delayed

Metadata is incorrect across tabs

Deployment and configuration

Get Help