OpenVeda Playbook: PostHog

Your guide to contributing to one of the world's most popular open-source product analytics platforms.

1. The "Why": Mission & Impact

• The Mission: PostHog is an open-source product analytics platform that helps companies understand user behavior through event tracking, session recording, feature flags, and more. Their mission is to increase the number of successful products in the world.
• Your Impact: You'll be working on a powerful, data-heavy application used by thousands of startups and enterprises to make better product decisions.
• Why it's a Career Supercharger: PostHog is a high-growth, venture-backed startup with a transparent, open-source culture. Contributing here gives you direct experience with a modern, scalable tech stack (Python/Django, TypeScript/React, and ClickHouse for big data). It's a masterclass in building a modern data application.

2. The "What": Tech Stack

• Backend: Python with Django.
• Frontend: TypeScript with React.
• Database (Analytics): ClickHouse. A high-performance columnar database for analytics.
• Database (Application): PostgreSQL.
• Infrastructure: Kubernetes, Docker.

3. The "How": Your Onboarding Journey

3.1: Join the Community

• Primary Channel (Slack): The PostHog team and community are very active on Slack.
  • Link: Join the PostHog Community Slack

3.2: The Setup Guide

• Official Guide: PostHog has excellent documentation for setting up a full development environment using Docker Compose.
  • Link: PostHog Developer Setup Guide
• OpenVeda Pro-Tip: The Docker-based setup is the only way to go. It will spin up all the services you need (PostHog, Postgres, ClickHouse, etc.) with a single command. Don't try to install everything manually.

3.3: The Contribution Workflow

• Official Guide: They have a fantastic, detailed contribution guide.
  • Link: Contributing to PostHog
• Key Point: They have a very high bar for quality. All PRs must have tests, and the code must be clean and well-documented.

4. Mentorship & Getting Hired

• Focus: PostHog doesn't typically participate in GSoC, but they are famous for hiring directly from their community of contributors. Making high-quality contributions is the #1 way to get a job at PostHog.
• What They Look For: Product sense and autonomy. They value contributors who don't just fix bugs, but who also understand the user's problem and can propose thoughtful solutions.

5. Key Repositories to Know

• Main Monorepo: github.com/PostHog/posthog - Almost all development happens here.

6. Find Your First Task Right Now

• The Golden Link: They have a well-curated list of issues for community members.
  • Link: "good first issue" tag on GitHub

7. The Unwritten Rules (Mentor Insights)

• Read the Handbook: PostHog operates as a fully transparent company. Their entire company handbook is public. Read it to understand their culture.
• Write a Great PR Description: They value clear, detailed PR descriptions that explain the "why" behind a change, not just the "what."
• Think Like a Product Manager: The best contributors are those who think about the user experience and the business impact of their changes.