--- title: Events slug: '2949' canonical_url: https://docs.coveo.com/en/2949/ collection: coveo-analytics source_format: adoc --- # Events A Coveo Analytics [event](https://docs.coveo.com/en/260/) is a set of parameters which describe a single action performed by a user on a Coveo-powered [search interface](https://docs.coveo.com/en/2741/). This action is defined as a [search](#search-performsearch), [click](#click-documentview), [view](#view), [custom](#custom-customevent), or [collect](#collect) [event](https://docs.coveo.com/en/260/). The Coveo-powered search interface is typically a search page or case creation panel built with the [Coveo JavaScript Search Framework](https://docs.coveo.com/en/187/). Coveo-powered search interfaces automatically send search, click, and custom events to Coveo Analytics, where they're subsequently stored and processed. The [metadata](https://docs.coveo.com/en/218/) of these events is associated with [dimensions](https://docs.coveo.com/en/258/) and is leveraged in the [Coveo Administration Console](https://docs.coveo.com/en/183/) [**Visit Browser**](https://platform.cloud.coveo.com/admin/#/orgid/usage/visit/) ([platform-ca](https://platform-ca.cloud.coveo.com/admin/#/orgid/usage/visit/) | [platform-eu](https://platform-eu.cloud.coveo.com/admin/#/orgid/usage/visit/) | [platform-au](https://platform-au.cloud.coveo.com/admin/#/orgid/usage/visit/)) and in [reports](https://docs.coveo.com/en/266/). **Example** A user types `hdmi issue` in the search box of a Coveo-powered search interface and selects Enter. The search interface then gathers relevant metadata and sends it in the form of a search event (`searchboxSubmit`) to the Coveo Analytics database, making it viewable in your [Coveo organization](https://docs.coveo.com/en/185/). The recorded event metadata and dimensions appear in the **Visit Browser** as one element under the user [visit](https://docs.coveo.com/en/271/). ![Visit Browser interface showing search details | Coveo Platform](https://docs.coveo.com/en/assets/images/coveo-analytics/visit-browser-search-details.png) The same event is also included in reports with a matching scope. Events are also [leveraged](https://docs.coveo.com/en/3372/) by [Coveo Machine Learning (Coveo ML)](https://docs.coveo.com/en/188/) to build [models](https://docs.coveo.com/en/1012/) which improve and personalize the search experience. You can further [add custom metadata](https://docs.coveo.com/en/365#modify-the-metadata-to-send-with-coveo-analytics-events) to your events and [associate them](https://docs.coveo.com/en/1522/) with dimensions to better tailor the collected information to your context. You may also want to [send view events](https://docs.coveo.com/en/1818#send-view-events) for Coveo ML [content recommendations](https://docs.coveo.com/en/1016/). ## Event categories ### Search (PerformSearch) When a user interacts with a search interface in a way that triggers the Search API, a search event is logged. Search events are used to calculate [metrics](https://docs.coveo.com/en/263/) such as [Search Event Count](https://docs.coveo.com/en/2041#search-event-count) and can be separated into three categories: manual search event, which is done consciously by the user on a particular topic, automatic search event, which is triggered automatically without the user noticing, and manual search event refinement. For a complete list of actions that trigger search events, see [Search Event Cause](https://docs.coveo.com/en/2948#search-event-cause). **Examples** * A user enters [keywords](https://docs.coveo.com/en/2738/) in a search box and sends a [query](https://docs.coveo.com/en/231/) by clicking the search button. * A user clicks the next search results page. * A user views recommended results without searching. * A user refines search results by selecting [facets](https://docs.coveo.com/en/198/). ### Click (DocumentView) When a user clicks or previews search results, a click event is logged. The click events are used to calculate metrics such as [Average Click Rank](https://docs.coveo.com/en/2836/) and **Click Event Count**. For a complete list of actions that trigger click events, see [Click Event Cause](https://docs.coveo.com/en/2948#click-event-cause). **Examples** * A user clicks an item to see it. * A user clicks the Quick view button to quickly visualize what the page contains. * A user clicks an item in the recommendation interface. ### View When a user accesses a tracked page, a view event is logged. The view events provide data to Coveo ML for the [Content Recommendations service](https://docs.coveo.com/en/3387/). **Example** A user accesses a recommended page from the recommendation interface. ### Custom (CustomEvent) > **Note** > > Custom data can only be leveraged when using the UA Protocol. > If your Coveo implementation uses the [Event Protocol](https://docs.coveo.com/en/o3r90189/), custom event types shouldn't be added to a report since they won't function as expected. When a user performs an action that's recorded, but it's not a search, click, or view event, a custom event is logged. Other events are those that neither generate a search event nor access a search result item. For a complete list of actions that trigger custom events, see [custom event types](https://docs.coveo.com/en/2948#custom-event-type). **Examples** * A user selects the number of query results to display per page. * A user clicks a custom navigation button. ### Collect When a user triggers an event that's recorded by the [Collect endpoint](https://docs.coveo.com/en/l41i0031#whats-the-collect-endpoint). Collect events are based on the [Google Measurement Protocol](https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/protocol/v1). They're especially useful in [commerce](https://docs.coveo.com/en/3188/) integrations, as they provide a detailed view of the customer journey with events such as add to cart, product detail view, and more. **Example** A user browsing for headphones on an electronics retailer website discovers the pair they want to purchase and adds them to cart. > **Notes** > > * Collect events differ from Coveo Analytics events ([search](#search-performsearch), [click](#click-documentview), [view](#view), [custom](#custom-customevent)) as they're custom user interactions that you define, while Coveo Analytics events are predefined user interactions with the search interface. > > * Collect events are mapped back to Coveo Analytics events, with the original collect event information still kept within the custom data of the Coveo Analytics event. > > * Sometimes, one collect event can be split into multiple Coveo Analytics events (for example, a purchase event becomes a separate custom event for each purchased product). > > * In essence, whether you use collect events, Coveo Analytics events, or a mix of both, you'll always be querying the stored Coveo Analytics events. > This ensures that you can access the same dimensions and metrics consistently, and also build ML models, no matter which protocol you use to log the event.