Using analytics.reset()

Analytics comes with a reset mechanism to reset information about the visitor.

This reset functionality will clear out the saved userId, anonymousId, user traits, and any third party cookies or local storage values set by a given analytics tool.

Think of it as the "big red RESET" button.

When to use reset

Typically reset is used when a user logs in to a different account than the values previously persisted with analytics.identify calls on the browser or device.

Using analytics.reset() will wipe out previously stored values, start analytics with a clean slate and will set a new anonymous user Id.

How to use reset

Inside of your app code, call reset.

import Analytics from 'analytics'
import googleAnalyticsPlugin from '@analytics/google-analytics'

/* Initialize analytics */
const analytics = Analytics({
  app: 'my-app-name',
  version: 100,
  plugins: [
    googleAnalyticsPlugin({
      trackingId: 'UA-121991291',
    })
  ]
})

/*  
 Your app does stuff...
 User logs in to a different account...
*/

// Call analytics.reset to reset user Id & traits
analytics.reset()

It's also possible to fire a callback after reset is complete.

analytics.reset(() => {
  console.log('reset complete')
  // Set new id/traits
})

Reset in plugins

To leverage the core analytics.reset function, expose a reset function from your plugin.

function analyticsPluginExamples(pluginConfig = {}) {
  return {
    name: 'my-analytics-plugin',
    /* Remove cookies & localStorage values when analytics.reset() is called */
    reset: ({ instance }) => {
      // Using native browser storage utilities
      window.localStorage.removeItem('thing')
      // Using analytic utilities
      instance.storage.removeItem('localStorageKey')
      instance.storage.removeItem('cookieName', { storage: 'cookie' })
      // ... etc
    },
    /* ... Other methods: page, track, identify */
  }
}

This function will trigger every time analytics.reset() is called from the application code.

Inside the reset function, you can clear out browser cookies, local storage, make remote clean up calls, etc. Whatever you need to do to set a clean "this is a new user" state.

See the segment plugin for a real world example.