Managing subscriptions
This skill guides you through managing PostHog subscriptions.
Subscriptions deliver scheduled snapshots of insights or dashboards via email, Slack, or webhook.
When to use this skill
Use this skill when the user:
- Wants to "track", "follow", "subscribe to", or "get updates" about an insight or dashboard
- Asks for "daily updates", "weekly reports", or "send me this every morning"
- Wants to know what subscriptions they have
- Asks to stop, pause, or unsubscribe from something
- Wants to change who receives an update or how often
Subscriptions vs alerts
Subscriptions and alerts serve different purposes:
- Subscriptions deliver a snapshot on a fixed schedule (daily, weekly, etc.) regardless of the data
- Alerts fire only when a condition is met (threshold crossed, anomaly detected)
If the user says "notify me when this drops below 100", use alerts.
If the user says "send me this every morning", use subscriptions.
Workflow
Listing existing subscriptions
Before creating a new subscription, check if one already exists.
Use
with optional filters:
- Filter by insight: pass the query parameter with the insight ID
- Filter by dashboard: pass the query parameter with the dashboard ID
- Filter by channel: pass as , , or
Creating a subscription
Step 1: Ask the user how they want to receive it
Always ask the user whether they want email or Slack delivery before creating a subscription.
Do not assume a channel — ask explicitly:
Would you like to receive this via email or Slack?
If the user says Slack, you must verify the integration is available (see step 2).
If the user doesn't have a preference, suggest email as the simplest option.
Step 2: Verify channel availability
Email requires no setup — it works out of the box. You just need the user's email address.
Get it from the user context or from
.
Slack requires a connected Slack integration. Before creating a Slack subscription:
- Call and look for an integration where is
- If a Slack integration exists, note its — you'll need it as
- If no Slack integration exists, tell the user:
Slack isn't connected to this project yet. You can set it up in
Project settings > Integrations.
In the meantime, would you like to receive this via email instead?
Slack setup requires an OAuth flow in the browser — it cannot be done via MCP.
Webhook requires the user to provide a URL. Verify it looks like a valid URL before submitting.
Step 3: Identify the target
Get the insight ID or dashboard ID. If the user provides a URL like
/project/2/insights/pKxzopBG
,
fetch the insight first with
to get the numeric ID.
Step 4: Determine delivery settings from the user's request
| User says | Parameters |
|---|
| "every day" / "daily" / "every morning" | |
| "every week" / "weekly" | |
| "every Monday" | , |
| "every month" / "monthly" | |
| "twice a week" | , , byweekday: ["monday", "thursday"]
|
Step 5: Create with
For an insight subscription via email:
json
{
"insight": 12345,
"target_type": "email",
"target_value": "user@example.com",
"frequency": "daily",
"start_date": "2025-01-01T09:00:00Z"
}
For a dashboard subscription (requires selecting which insights to include, max 6):
json
{
"dashboard": 67,
"dashboard_export_insights": [101, 102, 103],
"target_type": "email",
"target_value": "user@example.com",
"frequency": "weekly",
"byweekday": ["monday"],
"start_date": "2025-01-01T09:00:00Z"
}
For Slack delivery, include the
from step 2:
json
{
"insight": 12345,
"target_type": "slack",
"target_value": "#general",
"integration_id": 789,
"frequency": "daily",
"start_date": "2025-01-01T09:00:00Z"
}
Updating a subscription
Use
subscriptions-partial-update
with the subscription ID. Common updates:
- Change frequency:
{"frequency": "weekly", "byweekday": ["monday"]}
- Add recipients: Update with the full comma-separated list
- Change channel: Update and together
Deactivating a subscription
Subscriptions are soft-deleted. Use
subscriptions-partial-update
:
json
{
"id": 456,
"deleted": true
}
Defaults
When the user doesn't specify details:
- Frequency:
- Channel: email to the current user
- Start date: now (ISO 8601)
- Title: auto-generated from the insight/dashboard name if not specified
Error handling
- Duplicate check: If a subscription already exists for the same insight/dashboard and channel, inform the user and offer to update it rather than creating a duplicate
- Slack not connected: If a Slack subscription is requested but no Slack integration exists, explain that Slack must be connected in Project settings > Integrations first, then offer email as an alternative. Do not attempt to create the subscription — it will fail with a validation error
- Slack integration wrong team: The Slack integration must belong to the same PostHog team. If returns Slack integrations but creation still fails, the integration may be misconfigured
- Dashboard insights: Dashboard subscriptions require at least 1 and at most 6 insights selected via
dashboard_export_insights