Telemetry

Prefect collects anonymous usage telemetry to help improve the product. This page explains what data is collected, how it’s used, and how to opt out.

What We Collect

Prefect SDK telemetry tracks anonymous usage patterns to understand how developers use the product. We collect:

Data	Example	Purpose
Events	`first_sdk_import`, `first_flow_run`	Track feature adoption
Prefect version	`3.2.0`	Version distribution
Python version	`3.12.1`	Compatibility planning
Platform	`Darwin`, `Linux`, `Windows`	Platform support
Architecture	`arm64`, `x86_64`	Build optimization
Anonymous device ID	`uuid4()`	Session correlation (not user-identifiable)

Events Tracked

The SDK tracks milestone events in the “Quick Start Funnel”:

first_sdk_import - When Prefect is first imported in an interactive terminal
first_flow_defined - When you define your first flow
first_flow_run - When you successfully run your first flow
first_deployment_created - When you create your first deployment
first_schedule_created - When you create your first scheduled deployment

Each milestone event is only sent once per installation.

Server Telemetry

When running a Prefect server, anonymous heartbeat data is sent every 10 minutes to help us understand server deployment patterns. This data includes:

Data	Example	Purpose
Platform	`Darwin`, `Linux`, `Windows`	Server environment distribution
Architecture	`arm64`, `x86_64`	Build optimization
Python version	`3.12.1`	Compatibility planning
Prefect version	`3.2.0`	Version distribution
API version	`0.8.4`	API compatibility tracking
Anonymous session ID	`uuid4()`	Session correlation (not user-identifiable)
Session start timestamp	ISO-8601 datetime	Uptime tracking

Server telemetry is disabled automatically when PREFECT_SERVER_ANALYTICS_ENABLED=false.

What We Do NOT Collect

We respect your privacy. Prefect telemetry never collects:

User identity, credentials, or API keys
Code, flow definitions, or task parameters
Flow names, task names, or deployment names
File paths or directory structures
Environment variables or secrets
Error messages or stack traces
IP addresses or network information
Any personally identifiable information (PII)

How to Opt Out

You can disable telemetry using any of these methods:

Environment Variable

# Prefect-specific setting
export PREFECT_SERVER_ANALYTICS_ENABLED=false

# Industry standard DO_NOT_TRACK
export DO_NOT_TRACK=1

Prefect CLI

prefect config set PREFECT_SERVER_ANALYTICS_ENABLED=false

Automatic CI Detection

Telemetry is automatically disabled when Prefect detects a CI environment. We check for common CI environment variables including:

CI
GITHUB_ACTIONS
GITLAB_CI
JENKINS_URL
TRAVIS
CIRCLECI
BUILDKITE
TF_BUILD (Azure DevOps)
CODEBUILD_BUILD_ID (AWS CodeBuild)
BITBUCKET_COMMIT

First-Run Notice

The first time you import Prefect with telemetry enabled in an interactive terminal, you’ll see a brief notice:

Prefect collects anonymous usage data to improve the product.
To opt out: PREFECT_SERVER_ANALYTICS_ENABLED=false or DO_NOT_TRACK=1
Learn more: https://docs.prefect.io/concepts/telemetry

This notice only appears once and only in interactive terminal sessions (not in scripts, CI, or non-TTY environments).

Local State

Prefect stores telemetry state files locally to track which events have been sent:

~/.prefect/.sdk_telemetry/
├── device_id      # Anonymous UUID for this installation
├── milestones.json # Tracks which milestone events have been sent
└── notice_shown    # Marker that the first-run notice was displayed

Questions?

If you have questions about Prefect’s telemetry practices, please open an issue on GitHub or reach out to us at help@prefect.io.

Workflows

Deployments

Configuration

Automations

Prefect Cloud

What We Collect

Events Tracked

Server Telemetry

What We Do NOT Collect

How to Opt Out

Environment Variable

Prefect CLI

Automatic CI Detection

First-Run Notice

Local State

Questions?

​What We Collect

​Events Tracked

​Server Telemetry

​What We Do NOT Collect

​How to Opt Out

​Environment Variable

​Prefect CLI

​Automatic CI Detection

​First-Run Notice

​Local State

​Questions?

What We Collect

Events Tracked

Server Telemetry

What We Do NOT Collect

How to Opt Out

Environment Variable

Prefect CLI

Automatic CI Detection

First-Run Notice

Local State

Questions?