> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Daily Active Users, PostHog > Daily Active Users for PostHog stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it. **Card class:** [Hero](/nerve-centre/overview#card-classes-explained) • **Category:** [Analytics](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) ## At a glance > **Daily Active Users** is an executive-overview metric tracked from PostHog data. It counts the distinct users who triggered at least one event in a day, the broadest single read on how many real people are touching your store. PostHog derives it from distinct user identities across events, so it is resilient to multi-visit inflation. Watch it for week-on-week trend and as the denominator behind stickiness and retention. | | | | --------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | Distinct active users who triggered at least one event in the day, compared against the prior period. | | **Sample type** | Backend API data from PostHog active-user insights, refreshed on the standard data refresh. | | **Why it matters** | DAU is the headline pulse of audience size. A sustained decline upstream of any conversion change is an early warning that demand is softening. | | **Reading the value** | Compare today, 7-day, and 30-day reads against the previous period. Direction matters more than the absolute number. | | **Currency** | count | | **Time window** | `T/7D/30D vsP` | | **Alert trigger** | `drop >15% vsP` | | **Sentiment key** | `ph_dau` | | **Roles** | owner, marketing | ## Calculation Calculated automatically from your PostHog data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading. ## Worked example *A representative reading of **Daily Active Users** for a typical merchant on PostHog.* Suppose DAU runs around 9,400 on a normal weekday. After a paid-search budget pause on 02 Jun 26, the 7-day average falls to 7,600, a 19% drop versus the prior period, which trips the alert. Because DAU moved before conversion did, you have a head start on diagnosing demand rather than checkout. Cross-reference Monthly Active Users and Stickiness to see whether the loss is new visitors or returning ones. For deeper investigation, use Vortex Mind to trace upstream causes; for natural-language exploration, ask Ask Viq. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together | Card | Why merchants reach for it | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | | [`ph_mau`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/posthog/monthly-active-users) | Executive sibling: Monthly Active Users. | | [`ph_stickiness`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/posthog/stickiness-daumau) | Retention sibling: DAU as a share of MAU. | | [`ph_new_vs_returning`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/posthog/new-vs-returning-users) | Retention sibling: split of the active base. | | [`ph_retention_d7`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/posthog/d7-retention) | Retention sibling: do active users come back. | | [`ph_event_volume`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/posthog/total-event-volume) | Executive sibling: total event volume. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in PostHog's own dashboard:** In PostHog, the DAU trend is a unique-users insight aggregated daily. Open that insight and align the date range and any property filters with the Vortex IQ profile. PostHog's identity stitching can merge anonymous and identified users, which affects the count. **Why the Vortex IQ value may legitimately differ:** | Reason | Direction | What to do | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------- | -------------------------------------- | | **Identity stitching.** PostHog merges anonymous and identified users over time, shifting historical counts. | Variable | Allow for retroactive identity merges. | | **Aggregation unit.** Unique users by distinct ID versus by person can differ. | Variable | Match the aggregation setting. | | **Period boundary.** Vortex IQ uses rolling windows; PostHog may show calendar days in a different time zone. | Variable | Align time zone and date range. | **Cross-connector reconciliation:** complement with sibling cards in the same category for the full diagnostic picture. For divergence investigations, use Vortex Mind. ## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **Q: How often does Daily Active Users update?** The card refreshes on the standard data refresh (typically every 30-60 minutes for live integrations). For real-time signals, force a manual refresh from the dashboard. **Q: Is DAU the same as sessions or visits?** No. DAU counts distinct people, not visits. One user with three sessions in a day counts once. Use Sessions for visit volume and DAU for audience size. **Q: Why did DAU change for a past day?** PostHog stitches anonymous and identified identities over time, which can retroactively adjust historical unique-user counts as more is learned about each person. **Q: Can I customise the alert threshold?** Yes, sensitivity thresholds are configurable per profile in the Sensitivity tab. Adjust to match your business baseline rather than relying on the generic default. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Daily Active Users* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across PostHog and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. [Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.