> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.fullsession.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.fullsession.io/2.-getting-started.md).

# 2. Getting Started

This chapter is your fast path from "I just signed up" to "I'm watching real sessions on my site." You can complete every step here in about 15 minutes. If you ever get stuck, jump to \[Chapter 23 — Troubleshooting & FAQ].

***

### 2.1 Creating Your Account

To start using FullSession, you'll need an account. There are three ways to create one:

1. **Email + password** — the most common option for individuals and small teams.
2. **Sign in with Google** — uses your existing Google identity.
3. **Single Sign-On (SSO)** — for organizations on the Enterprise plan that have already configured SAML or Auth0. See \[Chapter 18 — SSO].

<figure><img src="/files/yYBZ6zEph69ChHez7ckS" alt="FullSession sign-up screen showing account creation options using email, Google, and SSO."><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

#### Step-by-step

1. Go to **app.fullsession.io** and click **Sign Up**.
2. Enter your work email and a password (or click **Continue with Google**).
3. Check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the verification link.
4. Fill in a few onboarding questions — your name, company, role, and what you want to use FullSession for. These answers shape the dashboard templates suggested to you later.
5. Choose a plan to start with. You can begin on the **Free** plan and upgrade at any time. See \[Chapter 17 — Billing & Subscriptions].

<div data-with-frame="true"><figure><img src="/files/cDRPL2PH0Ihg0mfurW5s" alt="FullSession onboarding wizard showing role selection to customize the initial dashboard experience."><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

> **Tip** — if your company already uses FullSession, ask a teammate with admin access to **invite you** instead of signing up fresh. That way you'll be added to the existing organization with the right permissions. See section 2.5 below.

***

### 2.2 Setting Up Your First Site

A **site** in FullSession represents one web property you want to track — usually a single domain. Your account can hold **many sites**, and they all share one account-level **Customer ID** (more on that in section 2.3 and \[Chapter 3 — Installing the Tracker]).

#### Add the site

1. From the home screen, click **Add Site** (or **Set up your first site** in the onboarding wizard).
2. Enter:
   * **Site name** — a friendly label, e.g. *"Acme Production"*.
   * **Site URL** — the domain you want to track, e.g. `https://www.acme.com`.
   * **Industry / category** *(optional)* — used to suggest dashboards and benchmarks.
   * **Time zone** — used when displaying dates and time-based reports.
3. Click **Create site**.

<div data-with-frame="true"><figure><img src="/files/frTMBvajl8ZxZ4659Ali" alt="FullSession Add Site form showing fields for site name, URL, industry, and time zone configuration."><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

The **Site URL** matters for more than display: FullSession routes each recorded session to the correct site by matching the session's origin domain against your saved site URLs. So make sure the URL is accurate (mind `www` vs. non-`www` and `http` vs. `https`).

Your account's **Customer ID** is what the tracker snippet carries — it's shared across every site you add, not generated per site. You're now ready to install it.

#### Multi-domain notes

If your product spans multiple domains or subdomains (e.g. `app.acme.com` and `www.acme.com`), you can:

* Add each domain as its **own site** and install the **same snippet** (same Customer ID) on each — FullSession files each domain's sessions under its matching site automatically, or
* Treat closely related subdomains as **one site** if you'd rather see their data combined.

See \[Chapter 3 — Installing the Tracker] for the full multi-domain walkthrough.

***

### 2.3 Installing the Tracker (Overview)

The tracker is a small JavaScript snippet that, once placed on your site, begins capturing sessions automatically. There are two common installation paths:

| Method                 | Best for                                         | Effort    |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | --------- |
| **Direct snippet**     | Sites where you can edit the HTML / template     | 2 minutes |
| **Google Tag Manager** | Marketing-managed sites, no engineering required | 3 minutes |

*(There are also an npm package and native Android/iOS SDKs — see \[Chapter 3 — Installing the Tracker].)*

<div data-with-frame="true"><figure><img src="/files/tkNnXCq1UBaBQVUE0V7d" alt="FullSession installation panel showing setup options for Script, GTM, NPM, Android, and iOS with a pre-filled Customer ID."><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

#### Option A — Direct snippet

1. On the installation panel, open the **Script** tab and click **Copy** (always copy from here so your Customer ID and the correct CDN URL are embedded). The snippet looks like this:

   ```html
   <!-- Fullsession Recording Code for http://fullsession.io/ -->
   <script type="text/javascript">
       window.FUS_IS_IN_IFRAME = (window.top != window.self);
       (function (m, n, t, l, x, p, o) {
           window["_fus_host"] = l;
           window["_site_id"] = p;
           window["_fus_id"] = x;
           o = n.createElement(t);
           o.type = "text/javascript";
           o.async = true;
           o.src = "https://emitter.fullsession.io/RTSessions.js";
           y = n.getElementsByTagName(t)[0];
           y.parentNode.insertBefore(o, y);
       })(window, document, "script", "fullsession.io", 'YOUR_CUSTOMER_ID');
   </script>
   ```
2. Paste it inside the `<head>` of every page on your site, as high as possible. Most CMSs and frameworks have a single "site header" template where you can paste this once.
3. Publish your site.

The same snippet (carrying the same `YOUR_CUSTOMER_ID`) goes on **every** domain in your account.

#### Option B — Google Tag Manager (GTM)

1. On the installation panel, choose **GTM**. You can let FullSession connect to your GTM account and create the tag automatically, or do it manually:
2. In GTM, create a new **Custom HTML** tag named **Fullsession Tracking Script**.
3. Paste the snippet into the tag body.
4. Set the trigger to fire on **All Pages** (a page-view trigger).
5. **Save**, then **Submit & Publish** the container.

<div data-with-frame="true"><figure><img src="/files/Nnioo8y1bZUkF2R79lYp" alt="Google Tag Manager setup showing a Custom HTML tag named FullSession Tracking Script with a page-view trigger."><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

> **Note** — full installation details, including the npm package, mobile SDKs, single-page apps, and multi-domain routing, live in \[Chapter 3 — Installing the Tracker]. This section is the express version.

***

### 2.4 Verifying Installation

After installing the tracker, FullSession checks that it's actually loading and reaching your account. Verification is a live handshake — the tracker posts a **`FUS_LOADED`** signal back to FullSession when it initializes — not just a check that the snippet text is present.

#### Automatic verification

Open your site in another tab and browse for \~30 seconds, then return to the installation panel. The status will move from **Waiting for data** to **Verified** once the tracker's `FUS_LOADED` handshake is received (verification waits about 8 seconds for the signal before falling back to checking for recorded sessions).

<div data-with-frame="true"><figure><img src="/files/NXZOQCeo4yOvO2mIB4nt" alt="FullSession installation panel showing tracker status updates with verification and data flow indicators."><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

<div data-with-frame="true"><figure><img src="/files/UuubntZsF93gnfuYIpeE" alt="FullSession installation panel showing tracker status updates with verification and data flow indicators."><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

#### Manual verification

If the panel doesn't reach **Verified** within a couple of minutes, run these checks:

| Check                               | How to do it                                                                                                                            |
| ----------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Snippet is on the page**          | View page source and search for `FUS` or `RTSessions`                                                                                   |
| **Snippet runs without errors**     | Open browser DevTools → Console; look for tracker errors                                                                                |
| **Network calls reach FullSession** | DevTools → Network → filter by `fullsession`; you should see the `RTSessions.js` load and outbound requests to `emitter.fullsession.io` |
| **Customer ID is correct**          | Verification only succeeds when the snippet's Customer ID matches your account — re-copy from the Script tab if unsure                  |
| **GTM container is published**      | In GTM, confirm the version containing the tag has been published, not just saved                                                       |

<figure><img src="/files/OEA1edCPsQNhr51QJvG3" alt="Chrome DevTools showing the RTSessions.js recorder loaded from emitter.fullsession.io, confirming the FullSession tracker connection."><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="/files/lRdu0CmR1NEIylKBIuSx" alt="Chrome DevTools showing the RTSessions.js recorder loaded from emitter.fullsession.io, confirming the FullSession tracker connection."><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

#### Watch a live test session

The best end-to-end test is to record yourself:

1. Open your site in a fresh **incognito/private window** (so you're treated as a new visitor).
2. Click around for \~30 seconds — visit a few pages, scroll, click a button.
3. Close the tab.
4. Return to FullSession and open **Sessions**. Within \~1 minute, your test session should appear at the top of the list.

<figure><img src="/files/LiHpcTfAQ5FMmaO6jXTe" alt="FullSession Sessions list showing the first live user session appearing after the tracker starts collecting data."><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

> **Common gotcha** — if you're testing while signed in to FullSession in the same browser, your session may be excluded by the "ignore internal users" settings. Use a private window. See \[Chapter 4 — Identifying Users].

***

### 2.5 Inviting Your Team

FullSession is built for collaboration — the more your team uses it, the more value you get from it. Inviting teammates takes a minute.

#### Send invitations

1. Open **Settings → Team** (or **People**).
2. Click **Invite member**.
3. Enter the teammate's email address.
4. Choose a **role** for them — this controls what they can see and change:
   * **Admin** — full access, including billing and team management.
   * **Member** — can use all product features (sessions, dashboards, funnels, etc.) but can't change billing or invite others.
   * **Viewer** — read-only access to dashboards, sessions, and reports.
   * **Custom roles** *(Pro+)* — define your own permission sets. See \[Chapter 16 — Team & Account Management].
5. Click **Send invite**.

<div data-with-frame="true"><figure><img src="/files/HAv7aB4d96B5eVzS3Oww" alt="FullSession team list showing members with their roles, account status, and last sign-in information."><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

<div data-with-frame="true"><figure><img src="/files/M1Gn7xWlh8sf9a4apc4w" alt="FullSession invite dialog showing email entry, role selection, and sending team invitations with a join link."><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

#### What invitees see

The teammate receives an email with a link to accept the invite. Once accepted:

* They create their own password (or sign in with Google / SSO).
* They land directly on your organization's dashboard.
* They appear in **Settings → Team** with a status of **Active**.

#### Managing existing members

From **Settings → Team** you can:

* Change a member's role
* Resend a pending invite
* Remove a member from the organization
* See when each member last signed in

<div data-with-frame="true"><figure><img src="/files/prQKbjJA6g7zoZPRFYla" alt="FullSession team list showing members with their roles, account status, and last sign-in information."><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

***

### 2.6 A 5-Minute Tour of the App

Now that the tracker is running, here's a quick orientation to the parts of the app you'll use most. Each item links to a later chapter where it's covered in depth.

\
![FullSession workspace showing the main navigation menu on the left and the active dashboard view on the right.](/files/lfoPYYNEIWPbV2N6on5J)

#### The left navigation

| Icon | Section        | What it does                           | Read more |
| ---- | -------------- | -------------------------------------- | --------- |
| ▶    | **Sessions**   | Watch recordings of real visits        | Ch. 5–6   |
| 📊   | **Dashboards** | Customizable charts and KPIs           | Ch. 9     |
| 🔥   | **Heatmaps**   | Click, scroll, and element heatmaps    | Ch. 8     |
| 🪜   | **Funnels**    | Multi-step conversion analysis         | Ch. 12    |
| 👥   | **Segments**   | Saved groups of users / sessions       | Ch. 11    |
| 💡   | **Insights**   | Cards and metrics built from your data | Ch. 10    |
| 💬   | **Feedback**   | Survey responses and CSAT scores       | Ch. 13    |
| 🔔   | **Alerts**     | Notifications when things change       | Ch. 15    |
| ⚙    | **Settings**   | Sites, team, integrations, billing     | Ch. 16–19 |

#### The top bar

<figure><img src="/files/PXV4AJD57TQHAl3ywEng" alt="FullSession top bar showing the site switcher, notifications, and profile menu."><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

* **Site switcher** *(top-left)* — change which site you're viewing.
* **Date range picker** — applied globally across most views.
* **Global search** — jump to a session, dashboard, segment, or funnel by name.
* **🔔 Notifications** — alert triggers, mentions, and system messages.
* **Profile menu** — your account settings, theme toggle, sign out.

#### What to try first

Now that you've completed setup, a good 5-minute tour looks like this:

1. **Sessions → click any session** — get a feel for the player. Hit play, scrub the timeline, open the **Errors** and **Network** panels.
2. **Dashboards → pick a template** — choose the role-based template that matches you (Growth, Product, etc.) and watch widgets populate.
3. **Heatmaps → pick a page** — see where visitors click most.
4. **Funnels → create a 2-step funnel** — pick *Home → Pricing* (or any two pages) just to see the flow.
5. **Settings → Recording Rules** — review what pages are being recorded and adjust if needed. See \[Chapter 7 — Recording Rules & Element Tracking].

<div data-with-frame="true"><figure><img src="/files/UFgMTIQf0JK6rs5B0Jjw" alt="FullSession onboarding sidebar showing the &#x22;What to try first&#x22; checklist with setup tasks to complete."><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

> **You're set!** From here, every other chapter dives into one area of the app. If you want a guided suggestion, head to **Chapter 5 — Sessions** next — sessions are the foundation of everything else in FullSession.

***

> **Next up:** \[Chapter 3 — Installing the Tracker] covers the full installation details — the `<script>` snippet, GTM, the `fullsession` npm package, native mobile SDKs, multi-domain routing, and verifying installation in tricky environments.


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