Telemetry Categories
The categories a browser session can capture, what each contains, and their cost
A category groups related telemetry events and is the unit you enable or disable. Selection is opt-in: a session captures a category only when you turn it on.
For the full payload schema of any event type, see the Stream telemetry events endpoint in the API reference.
Operational
These categories report on the session itself rather than page content.
| Category | Captures | Event types |
|---|---|---|
control | Computer-control API calls against the session | api_call |
connection | CDP and live view connect/disconnect activity | cdp_connect, cdp_disconnect, live_view_connect, live_view_disconnect |
system | VM-level failures | system_oom_kill, service_crashed |
captcha | Results of automated captcha solves | captcha_solve_result |
Browser activity
These categories report what's happening in the page. Capturing any of them attaches a Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) collector to the session and produces highly granular page-level events. Capturing them adds overhead, so enable only the ones you need.
| Category | Captures | Event types |
|---|---|---|
console | Console output from the page | console_log, console_error |
network | Network requests, responses, and failures | network_request, network_response, network_loading_failed, network_idle |
page | Navigation and page lifecycle, including performance signals | page_navigation, page_dom_content_loaded, page_load, page_tab_opened, page_layout_shift, page_lcp, page_layout_settled, page_navigation_settled |
interaction | Browser-native input in the page (clicks, keys, scroll) | interaction_click, interaction_key, interaction_scroll_settled |
screenshot | Periodic screenshots of the session | monitor_screenshot |
interaction events are browser-native DOM events observed in the page, not calls to the computer-control API (those are reported by the control category).
The monitor category
monitor reports the health of the CDP collector itself: monitor_disconnected, monitor_reconnected, monitor_reconnect_failed, and monitor_init_failed.
It isn't directly settable. It flows automatically whenever any of the browser-activity categories are captured. You can still filter the stream by monitor to isolate these events.
Data sensitivity
Telemetry is off by default and the default set carries operational metadata only. The browser-activity categories are different: they capture what actually flows through the session, which is your own browser's data and can include credentials and personal information.
| Category | Can contain sensitive data |
|---|---|
network | Request and response headers (including Authorization and Cookie), request bodies, and truncated response bodies, plus full URLs. A common place for session tokens, credentials, and personal data. |
console | Anything the page logs. Applications often log access tokens, request or response bodies, and personal data through console.log. |
page | Page URLs and titles, which can embed tokens or identifiers in query strings or fragments. |
interaction | Text of clicked elements and typed keys, which can include personal data entered into forms. |
screenshot | A full rendered image of the page - the broadest exposure, capturing anything visible on screen. |
control, connection, system, captcha, monitor | Session metadata only (control calls, connection and health events). No page content. |
Captured events are persisted and can be replayed by resuming the stream, so this sensitivity applies to the data at rest, not just the live stream. Treat captured telemetry - and anywhere you forward or store it - with the same care as the underlying content. For how Kernel encrypts, retains, and processes data overall, see Security and the Data Processing Addendum.
Some exposure is reduced for you automatically: input into sensitive fields such as passwords is suppressed (interaction_key isn't emitted for them, and interaction_click omits the element text). Beyond that, because selection is opt-in, the most effective control is to capture only the categories you need - enable network, console, page, interaction, or screenshot deliberately, and prefer the operational categories when you only need session health.
If you operate under HIPAA, GDPR, or similar obligations, be deliberate about the browser-activity categories: pointing them at a site that handles regulated data captures that data into storage. If your organization has a BAA with Kernel, the network, console, and screenshot categories are disabled and can't be captured.
If you have compliance requirements around what Kernel may process, contact us before enabling them.