FAQ

I called initSiteping and nothing shows. Why?

In order of likelihood:

1. You're in a production build. The widget skips when NODE_ENV is production (only process.env.NODE_ENV is read). Pass forceShow: true on staging, or check with onSkip.
2. The viewport is under 768 px. Same fix: onSkip tells you, minViewportWidth: 0 overrides.
3. Invalid config — a missing endpoint/store or projectName logs a console.error and mounts nothing. This case does not fire onSkip, so open the console.
4. It's already mounted. A second initSiteping() returns the existing instance instead of a second button.

Do my clients need an account?

No. The first time they send feedback, the widget asks for a name and email (kept in their browser for next time). If your app already knows who they are, pass identity: { name, email } and the prompt never shows.

Is it really free? What do I host?

MIT license, no paid tier, no phoning home. You host one API endpoint (any framework that speaks Web Request/Response) and your own database via Prisma. Feedback data never touches anyone else's servers.

Which frameworks work?

• Widget: any site — it's a plain script (ESM, CJS, or a <script> global). A React hook (@siteping/widget/react) is included.
• Server: the adapter returns standard Request → Response handlers — Next.js, Remix, SvelteKit, Hono, … The CLI's route generator targets Next.js App Router specifically; other frameworks mount the handlers manually.
• Dashboard: React 18 or 19.

What data does a feedback contain?

The comment, its type and status, the page (the URL path only by default — query strings never leave the browser), viewport size, user agent, the author's name and email, and the DOM anchor of each annotation. Opt-in extras: a screenshot of the annotated area and recent console/network diagnostics. Mask anything sensitive with data-siteping-ignore="true" — masked elements are excluded from screenshots.

Can anyone read my feedback API?

Reads are public by default, with author emails redacted for unauthenticated callers, and clientId never exposed. Destructive calls (status changes, deletes) require an apiKey out of the box — and in production the server adapter refuses to start without one. Details.

What happens if the network drops mid-submit?

The widget retries (3 attempts with backoff), then queues the payload in localStorage (up to 20 entries) and flushes it on the next page load. Comments don't get lost to a flaky connection.

An annotated element was deleted. Where's the annotation?

The marker hides on that page (nothing to anchor to) rather than pointing at the wrong element — but the feedback itself, with its message and screenshot, stays in the panel and dashboard. See how anchoring works.

My language isn't built in.

The dashboard accepts runtime locales via registerLocale. The widget's locales are compiled in — adding one is the friendliest first contribution to the project: see CONTRIBUTING.