posthog-security-basics

PostHog Security Basics

Overview

Secure PostHog API key management, least-privilege access, and secret rotation. PostHog has two key types with very different security profiles: the Project API Key (phc_...) is intentionally public and safe to include in frontend bundles, while the Personal API Key (phx_...) grants admin access and must never be exposed.

Prerequisites

• PostHog account with admin access
• Understanding of environment variable management
• .gitignore configured

Instructions

Step 1: Understand Key Security Profiles

# .env (NEVER commit)
NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_KEY=phc_abc123   # Safe for frontend (NEXT_PUBLIC_ prefix)
POSTHOG_PERSONAL_API_KEY=phx_xyz789  # Server-only — NEVER in frontend code
POSTHOG_PROJECT_ID=12345

# .gitignore
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local

Step 2: Create Scoped Personal API Keys

set -euo pipefail
# Create a read-only key for BI dashboards
curl -X POST "https://app.posthog.com/api/personal_api_keys/" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POSTHOG_PERSONAL_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "label": "bi-dashboard-readonly",
    "scopes": ["insight:read", "dashboard:read", "query:read"]
  }'

# Create a key scoped to feature flags only
curl -X POST "https://app.posthog.com/api/personal_api_keys/" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POSTHOG_PERSONAL_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "label": "feature-flag-service",
    "scopes": ["feature_flag:read", "feature_flag:write"]
  }'

Step 3: Rotate Personal API Keys

set -euo pipefail
# 1. Create new key in PostHog Settings > Personal API Keys
# 2. Update secret in your deployment platform
# Vercel:
vercel env rm POSTHOG_PERSONAL_API_KEY production
vercel env add POSTHOG_PERSONAL_API_KEY production

# GitHub Actions:
gh secret set POSTHOG_PERSONAL_API_KEY --body "phx_new_key_here"

# 3. Verify new key works
curl -s "https://app.posthog.com/api/projects/" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POSTHOG_PERSONAL_API_KEY" | jq '.[0].name'

# 4. Delete old key in PostHog dashboard

Step 4: Prevent Key Leaks

# Git pre-commit hook to catch PostHog personal keys
# .git/hooks/pre-commit (or use husky)
#!/bin/bash
if git diff --cached --diff-filter=ACM | grep -qE 'phx_[a-zA-Z0-9]{20,}'; then
  echo "ERROR: PostHog personal API key (phx_) detected in staged files!"
  echo "Remove it and use environment variables instead."
  exit 1
fi

# .github/secret-scanning.yml (or use GitHub's built-in secret scanning)
patterns:
  - name: PostHog Personal API Key
    regex: 'phx_[a-zA-Z0-9]{20,}'
    severity: critical

Step 5: Server-Side Key Isolation

// lib/posthog-server.ts — Personal key never leaves the server
import { PostHog } from 'posthog-node';

const posthog = new PostHog(process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_KEY!, {
  host: 'https://us.i.posthog.com',
  // personalApiKey ONLY used server-side for local flag evaluation
  personalApiKey: process.env.POSTHOG_PERSONAL_API_KEY,
});

// API routes that proxy admin operations
// Never expose the personal key to the client
export async function getFeatureFlagsForUser(userId: string) {
  return posthog.getAllFlags(userId);
}

Step 6: Audit API Key Usage

set -euo pipefail
# Check activity log for API key operations
curl "https://app.posthog.com/api/projects/$POSTHOG_PROJECT_ID/activity_log/" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POSTHOG_PERSONAL_API_KEY" | \
  jq '[.results[] | select(.scope == "PersonalAPIKey") | {
    user: .user.email,
    activity: .activity,
    created_at
  }]'

Security Checklist

• Project key (phc_) used for all frontend/capture code
• Personal key (phx_) only on server, never in frontend bundles
• .env files in .gitignore
• Separate keys per environment (dev/staging/prod)
• Scoped personal keys (not full admin for every service)
• Git pre-commit hook scanning for phx_ keys
• Key rotation documented and scheduled (quarterly)

Error Handling

Output

• Environment-specific API key configuration
• Scoped personal API keys for least privilege
• Key rotation procedure
• Git pre-commit hook for leak prevention
• Audit log queries for key usage monitoring

Resources

• PostHog API Overview
• PostHog Privacy & Security

Next Steps

For production deployment, see posthog-prod-checklist.