First-Party Tracking

By default, Snitcher’s tracker sends data to radar.snitcher.com and loads scripts from cdn.snitcher.com. While this works for most websites, some visitors use ad-blockers or privacy tools that may block requests to third-party tracking domains. First-party tracking solves this by routing all Snitcher traffic through your own domain, making it indistinguishable from your website’s regular traffic.

Why Use First-Party Tracking?

Bypass Ad-Blockers

Requests to your-domain.com aren’t blocked by tools that target third-party trackers.

Higher Data Quality

Capture more pageviews, sessions, and identified users.

First-Party Cookies

Cookies set by your domain have longer lifespans and better browser support.

Privacy Compliance

All data flows through your infrastructure, giving you full control.

How It Works

Instead of:

Your Website → cdn.snitcher.com (script)
Your Website → radar.snitcher.com (data)

With first-party tracking:

Your Website → cdn.yoursite.com → cdn.snitcher.com
Your Website → tracking.yoursite.com → radar.snitcher.com

You set up a reverse proxy on your domain that forwards requests to Snitcher’s servers. The tracker is configured to use your domain instead of ours.

Setup Overview

You’ll need to configure two proxies:

Purpose	Your Domain	Proxies To
Tracker script (CDN)	`cdn.yoursite.com`	`cdn.snitcher.com`
Tracking API	`tracking.yoursite.com`	`radar.snitcher.com`

Avoid subdomains containing words like analytics, tracking, or pixel—some ad-blockers target these patterns. Use neutral names like api, cdn, or your company abbreviation.

CloudFront Setup (AWS)

CloudFront is a popular choice for proxying because it’s fast, reliable, and easy to configure.

Step 1: Create SSL Certificates

If using Route 53 for DNS, create certificates for your proxy domains:

Go to AWS Certificate Manager in us-east-1 (required for CloudFront)
Request certificates for:
- cdn.yoursite.com
- tracking.yoursite.com
Validate via DNS

Step 2: Create CloudFront Distribution for the API

Go to CloudFront → Create Distribution
Configure the origin:
- Origin Domain: radar.snitcher.com
- Protocol: HTTPS Only
Configure cache behavior:
- Viewer Protocol Policy: Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
- Allowed HTTP Methods: GET, HEAD, OPTIONS, PUT, POST, PATCH, DELETE
- Cache Policy: CachingDisabled
Create an Origin Request Policy that forwards:
- Headers: Origin, Accept, User-Agent, Content-Type
- Query strings: All
- Cookies: All
Under Settings:
- Add alternate domain name: tracking.yoursite.com
- Select your SSL certificate
Create the distribution

Step 3: Create CloudFront Distribution for the CDN

Repeat the process for the CDN:

Origin Domain: cdn.snitcher.com
Alternate Domain: cdn.yoursite.com
Use default caching (scripts can be cached)
Select your SSL certificate

Step 4: Configure DNS

Create CNAME records pointing to your CloudFront distributions:

cdn.yoursite.com      → d1234abcd.cloudfront.net
tracking.yoursite.com → d5678efgh.cloudfront.net

Step 5: Update Your Tracking Script

Modify your Snitcher tracking script to use your proxy domains:

<script>
!function(e){"use strict";var t=e&&e.namespace;if(t&&e.profileId&&e.cdn){var i=window[t];if(i&&Array.isArray(i)||(i=window[t]=[]),!i.initialized&&!i._loaded)if(i._loaded)console&&console.warn("[Radar] Duplicate initialization attempted");else{i._loaded=!0;["track","page","identify","group","alias","ready","debug","on","off","once","trackClick","trackSubmit","trackLink","trackForm","pageview","screen","reset","register","setAnonymousId","addSourceMiddleware","addIntegrationMiddleware","addDestinationMiddleware","giveCookieConsent"].forEach((function(e){var a;i[e]=(a=e,function(){var e=window[t];if(e.initialized)return e[a].apply(e,arguments);var i=[].slice.call(arguments);return i.unshift(a),e.push(i),e})})),i.bootstrap=function(){var t,i=document.createElement("script");i.async=!0,i.type="text/javascript",i.id="__radar__",i.setAttribute("data-settings",JSON.stringify(e)),i.src="https://"+e.cdn+"/releases/latest/radar.min.js";var a=document.scripts[0];a.parentNode.insertBefore(i,a)},i.bootstrap()}}else"undefined"!=typeof console&&console.error("[Radar] Configuration incomplete")}({
  "apiEndpoint": "tracking.yoursite.com",
  "cdn": "cdn.yoursite.com",
  "namespace": "Snitcher",
  "profileId": "YOUR_PROFILE_ID"
});
</script>

Note the changes:

apiEndpoint: Your API proxy domain
cdn: Your CDN proxy domain

Nginx Setup

If you’re running your own infrastructure, nginx is a lightweight proxy option.

Nginx Configuration

# API Proxy
server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name tracking.yoursite.com;

    ssl_certificate /path/to/cert.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /path/to/key.pem;

    location / {
        proxy_pass https://radar.snitcher.com;
        proxy_ssl_server_name on;
        proxy_set_header Host radar.snitcher.com;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

# CDN Proxy
server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name cdn.yoursite.com;

    ssl_certificate /path/to/cert.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /path/to/key.pem;

    location / {
        proxy_pass https://cdn.snitcher.com;
        proxy_ssl_server_name on;
        proxy_set_header Host cdn.snitcher.com;
        
        # Cache static assets
        proxy_cache_valid 200 1d;
        add_header X-Cache-Status $upstream_cache_status;
    }
}

Vercel Rewrites

For Next.js sites on Vercel, use rewrites in next.config.js:

/** @type {import('next').NextConfig} */
const nextConfig = {
  async rewrites() {
    return [
      {
        source: '/sn-api/:path*',
        destination: 'https://radar.snitcher.com/:path*',
      },
      {
        source: '/sn-cdn/:path*',
        destination: 'https://cdn.snitcher.com/:path*',
      },
    ];
  },
};

module.exports = nextConfig;

Then update your tracking script:

{
  "apiEndpoint": "yoursite.com/sn-api",
  "cdn": "yoursite.com/sn-cdn",
  ...
}

Netlify Redirects

Add to your netlify.toml:

[[redirects]]
  from = "/sn-api/*"
  to = "https://radar.snitcher.com/:splat"
  status = 200
  force = true

[[redirects]]
  from = "/sn-cdn/*"
  to = "https://cdn.snitcher.com/:splat"
  status = 200
  force = true

Testing Your Setup

After configuration, verify everything works:

1. Test the CDN Proxy

curl -I https://cdn.yoursite.com/releases/latest/radar.min.js

You should receive a 200 OK response with JavaScript content.

2. Test the API Proxy

curl https://tracking.yoursite.com/health

You should receive a successful response.

3. Check Browser Network Tab

Visit your website
Open Developer Tools → Network
Look for requests to your proxy domains
Verify no requests go to *.snitcher.com

Troubleshooting

Requests still going to snitcher.com

Clear your browser cache
Verify your tracking script has the correct apiEndpoint and cdn values
Check that DNS has propagated: dig cdn.yoursite.com

CORS errors in console

Ensure your proxy forwards the Origin header and returns appropriate CORS headers. CloudFront handles this automatically with the right origin request policy.

SSL certificate errors

Verify certificates are valid and not expired
For CloudFront, certificates must be in us-east-1
Ensure the certificate covers your proxy subdomain

Cloudflare not working

Cloudflare doesn’t support cross-account proxying. If your main domain is on Cloudflare, use a different CDN (CloudFront, Fastly) for the proxy, or use a different subdomain not on Cloudflare.

Get Started

Tracker

Spotter API

Integrations

Why Use First-Party Tracking?

Bypass Ad-Blockers

Higher Data Quality

First-Party Cookies

Privacy Compliance

How It Works

Setup Overview

CloudFront Setup (AWS)

Step 1: Create SSL Certificates

Step 2: Create CloudFront Distribution for the API

Step 3: Create CloudFront Distribution for the CDN

Step 4: Configure DNS

Step 5: Update Your Tracking Script

Nginx Setup

Nginx Configuration

Vercel Rewrites

Netlify Redirects

Testing Your Setup

1. Test the CDN Proxy

2. Test the API Proxy

3. Check Browser Network Tab

Troubleshooting

Next Steps

Verify Installation

Cookie Consent

Get Started

Tracker

Spotter API

Integrations

​Why Use First-Party Tracking?

Bypass Ad-Blockers

Higher Data Quality

First-Party Cookies

Privacy Compliance

​How It Works

​Setup Overview

​CloudFront Setup (AWS)

​Step 1: Create SSL Certificates

​Step 2: Create CloudFront Distribution for the API

​Step 3: Create CloudFront Distribution for the CDN

​Step 4: Configure DNS

​Step 5: Update Your Tracking Script

​Nginx Setup

​Nginx Configuration

​Vercel Rewrites

​Netlify Redirects

​Testing Your Setup

​1. Test the CDN Proxy

​2. Test the API Proxy

​3. Check Browser Network Tab

​Troubleshooting

​Next Steps

Verify Installation

Cookie Consent

Why Use First-Party Tracking?

How It Works

Setup Overview

CloudFront Setup (AWS)

Step 1: Create SSL Certificates

Step 2: Create CloudFront Distribution for the API

Step 3: Create CloudFront Distribution for the CDN

Step 4: Configure DNS

Step 5: Update Your Tracking Script

Nginx Setup

Nginx Configuration

Vercel Rewrites

Netlify Redirects

Testing Your Setup

1. Test the CDN Proxy

2. Test the API Proxy

3. Check Browser Network Tab

Troubleshooting

Next Steps