Google Cloud Storage (GCS) Destination

PremiumThis feature is available on our Premium and Enterprise plans. Updated

About this integration

Google Cloud Storage is a unified object storage solution that lets you store your data across multiple storage classes. You can use Cloud Storage to host static assets for your website, store backups, or log data.

How it works

This destination sends CSV, JSON, or parquet files containing your source data to your Google Cloud Storage bucket. Then you can ingest the files in your storage bucket to your data warehouse of choice.

We write files for each type of source call to your storage bucket every 10 minutes. So you’ll have files for identify calls, track calls, and so on. Files are named with an incrementing number, so it’s easy to determine the sequence of files, and the order of calls made to your sources.

sequenceDiagram participant a as Customer.io participant b as Google Cloud Storage participant c as Data Warehouse loop every 10 minutes a->>b: export CSV, JSON, or parquet files b->>c: ingest c->>b: expire/delete files
before next sync end

Sync frequency and filenames

Syncs occur every 10 minutes. Each sync file contains data from the previous sync interval. For example, if the last sync occurred at 12:00 PM, the next sync will only send data from 12:00 PM to 12:09:59 PM.

Each sync generates new files for each data type in your storage bucket. Files are named in the format <destination id>.<subscription id>.<current position>.<type>.

  • The Destination ID and Subscription ID are unique identifiers generated by Customer.io. You’ll see them with the first sync.
  • current position is an incrementing number beginning at 1 that indicates the order of syncs. So your first sync is 1, the next one is 2, etc.
  • type is the type of source call—identify, track, page, screen, alias, or group.

So, if your file is called 2184.13699.1.track.json, it’s the first sync file for the track call type.

Getting started

  1. Go to Destinations and click Add New.

  2. Select the Google Cloud Storage destination.

  3. Connect to your storage destination:

    1. Endpoint: Endpoint for the internal ETL API.

    2. Token: Authentication token for the internal ETL API.

    3. Format: Format of the data files that will be created.

    4. Bucket Name: Name of the Google Cloud Storage Bucket where files will be written to. Learn more about GCS buckets and bucket naming rules.

    5. Bucket Path: Optional folder inside the bucket where files will be written to.

    6. Service Account: The JSON string of the Google Cloud Service Account with permissions to upload files to a bucket, which can be found in your Google Cloud Console. Learn more about Google Cloud Service Accounts.

    Setup your destination
    Setup your destination

  4. Review your setup and click Finish to enable your destination.

Schemas

The following schemas represent JSON for the different types of files we export to your storage bucket (identify, track, and so on). For CSV and Parquet files, we stringify objects and arrays. For example, if identify calls contain the traits object with a first_name and last_name, CSV files output to your destination will contain a traits column with data that looks like this for each row: "{ "\first_name\": \"Bugs\", \"last_name\": \"Bunny\" }".

Identifies files contain identify calls made from your sources. The context and traits in the schema below are objects in JSON. In CSV and parquet files, these columns contain stringified objects.

  • anonymous_id string
    A unique substitute for a User ID in cases when you don’t have an absolutely unique identifier. Our libraries generate this value automatically to help you track people before they sign up, log in, provide their email, etc.
  • context
    A dictionary of context about a source call/event, like the user’s IP address or locale. Context is automatically collected by our source libraries.
    • active boolean

      Whether a user is active.

      This is usually used when you send an .identify() call to update the traits independently of when you’ve “last seen” a user.

    • channel string
      The channel the event originated from.

      Accepted values:browser,server,mobile

    • ip string
      The user’s IP address. This isn’t captured by our libraries, but by our servers when we receive client-side events (like from our JavaScript source).
    • locale string
      The locale string for the current user, e.g. en-US.
    • userAgent string
      The user agent of the device making the request
      • content string
      • medium string
        The type of traffic a person/event originates from, like email, or referral.
      • name string
        The campaign name.
      • source string
        The source of traffic—like the name of your email list, Facebook, Google, etc.
      • term string
        The keyword term(s) a user came from.
      • Additional UTM Parameters* string
      • keywords array of [ strings ]
        A list/array of keywords describing the page’s content. The keywords are likely the same as, or similar to, the keywords you would find in an HTML meta tag for SEO purposes. This property is mainly used by content publishers that rely heavily on pageview tracking. This isn’t automatically collected.
      • name string
        The name of the page. Reserved for future use.
      • path string
        The path portion of the page’s URL. Equivalent to the canonical path which defaults to location.pathname from the DOM API.
      • referrer string
        The previous page’s full URL. Equivalent to document.referrer from the DOM API.
      • search string
        The query string portion of the page’s URL. Equivalent to location.search from the DOM API.
      • title string
        The page’s title. Equivalent to document.title from the DOM API.
      • url string
        A page’s full URL. We first look for the canonical URL. If the canonical URL is not provided, we’ll use location.href from the DOM API.
  • id string
    A unique identifier for a Data Pipelines event, ensuring that each individual event is unique.
  • received_at integer
    The Unix timestamp (in seconds) when Data Pipelines receives an event.
  • sent_at integer
    The Unix timestamp (in seconds) when a library sends an event to Data Pipelines.
    • createdAt string  (date-time)
      We recommend that you pass date-time values as ISO 8601 date-time strings. We convert this value to fit destinations where appropriate.
    • email string
      A person’s email address. In some cases, you can pass an empty userId and we’ll use this value to identify a person.
    • Additional Traits* any type
      Traits that you want to set on a person. These can take any JSON shape.
  • user_id string
    The unique identifier for a person. This value should be unique across systems, so you recognize the same person in your sources and destinations.

Groups files contain group calls made from your sources. If your integration outputs CSV or parquet files, the context and traits columns contain stringified objects.

  • anonymous_id string
    A unique substitute for a User ID in cases when you don’t have an absolutely unique identifier. Our libraries generate this value automatically to help you track people before they sign up, log in, provide their email, etc.
  • group_id string
    ID of the group
  • id string
    A unique identifier for a Data Pipelines event, ensuring that each individual event is unique.
  • objectTypeId string

    If you use Customer.io Journeys as a destination, this value is the type of group/object your group belongs to; object type IDs are stringified integers. If you don’t include this value, we assume the object type ID is 1. See objects in Customer.io Journeys for more information.

    You can include this value as objectTypeId at the top level of your payload or as object_type_id in the traits object.

  • received_at integer
    The Unix timestamp (in seconds) when Data Pipelines receives an event.
  • sent_at integer
    The Unix timestamp (in seconds) when a library sends an event to Data Pipelines.
    • Additional Traits* any type
      Traits can have any name, like `account_name` or `total_employees`. These can take any JSON shape.
  • user_id string
    The unique identifier for a person. This value should be unique across systems, so you recognize the same person in your sources and destinations.

Tracks contains entries for the track calls you send to Customer.io. It shows information about the events your users perform.

If your integration outputs CSV or parquet files, the context and properties columns contain stringified objects. If your integration outputs JSON files, the context and properties columns contain objects.

  • anonymous_id string
    A unique substitute for a User ID in cases when you don’t have an absolutely unique identifier. Our libraries generate this value automatically to help you track people before they sign up, log in, provide their email, etc.
  • context
    A dictionary of context about a source call/event, like the user’s IP address or locale. Context is automatically collected by our source libraries.
    • active boolean

      Whether a user is active.

      This is usually used when you send an .identify() call to update the traits independently of when you’ve “last seen” a user.

    • channel string
      The channel the event originated from.

      Accepted values:browser,server,mobile

    • ip string
      The user’s IP address. This isn’t captured by our libraries, but by our servers when we receive client-side events (like from our JavaScript source).
    • locale string
      The locale string for the current user, e.g. en-US.
    • userAgent string
      The user agent of the device making the request
      • content string
      • medium string
        The type of traffic a person/event originates from, like email, or referral.
      • name string
        The campaign name.
      • source string
        The source of traffic—like the name of your email list, Facebook, Google, etc.
      • term string
        The keyword term(s) a user came from.
      • Additional UTM Parameters* string
      • keywords array of [ strings ]
        A list/array of keywords describing the page’s content. The keywords are likely the same as, or similar to, the keywords you would find in an HTML meta tag for SEO purposes. This property is mainly used by content publishers that rely heavily on pageview tracking. This isn’t automatically collected.
      • name string
        The name of the page. Reserved for future use.
      • path string
        The path portion of the page’s URL. Equivalent to the canonical path which defaults to location.pathname from the DOM API.
      • referrer string
        The previous page’s full URL. Equivalent to document.referrer from the DOM API.
      • search string
        The query string portion of the page’s URL. Equivalent to location.search from the DOM API.
      • title string
        The page’s title. Equivalent to document.title from the DOM API.
      • url string
        A page’s full URL. We first look for the canonical URL. If the canonical URL is not provided, we’ll use location.href from the DOM API.
  • event string
    The slug of the event name, mapping to an event-specific table.
  • event_text string
    The name of the event.
  • id string
    A unique identifier for a Data Pipelines event, ensuring that each individual event is unique.
    • Event Properties* any type
  • received_at integer
    The Unix timestamp (in seconds) when Data Pipelines receives an event.
  • sent_at integer
    The Unix timestamp (in seconds) when a library sends an event to Data Pipelines.
  • user_id string
    The unique identifier for a person. This value should be unique across systems, so you recognize the same person in your sources and destinations.

Pages contains entries for the page calls your sources send to Customer.io. If your integration outputs CSV or parquet files, the context and properties columns contain stringified objects. If your integration outputs JSON files, the context and properties columns contain objects.

  • anonymous_id string
    A unique substitute for a User ID in cases when you don’t have an absolutely unique identifier. Our libraries generate this value automatically to help you track people before they sign up, log in, provide their email, etc.
  • context
    A dictionary of context about a source call/event, like the user’s IP address or locale. Context is automatically collected by our source libraries.
    • active boolean

      Whether a user is active.

      This is usually used when you send an .identify() call to update the traits independently of when you’ve “last seen” a user.

    • channel string
      The channel the event originated from.

      Accepted values:browser,server,mobile

    • ip string
      The user’s IP address. This isn’t captured by our libraries, but by our servers when we receive client-side events (like from our JavaScript source).
    • locale string
      The locale string for the current user, e.g. en-US.
    • userAgent string
      The user agent of the device making the request
      • content string
      • medium string
        The type of traffic a person/event originates from, like email, or referral.
      • name string
        The campaign name.
      • source string
        The source of traffic—like the name of your email list, Facebook, Google, etc.
      • term string
        The keyword term(s) a user came from.
      • Additional UTM Parameters* string
      • keywords array of [ strings ]
        A list/array of keywords describing the page’s content. The keywords are likely the same as, or similar to, the keywords you would find in an HTML meta tag for SEO purposes. This property is mainly used by content publishers that rely heavily on pageview tracking. This isn’t automatically collected.
      • name string
        The name of the page. Reserved for future use.
      • path string
        The path portion of the page’s URL. Equivalent to the canonical path which defaults to location.pathname from the DOM API.
      • referrer string
        The previous page’s full URL. Equivalent to document.referrer from the DOM API.
      • search string
        The query string portion of the page’s URL. Equivalent to location.search from the DOM API.
      • title string
        The page’s title. Equivalent to document.title from the DOM API.
      • url string
        A page’s full URL. We first look for the canonical URL. If the canonical URL is not provided, we’ll use location.href from the DOM API.
  • id string
    A unique identifier for a Data Pipelines event, ensuring that each individual event is unique.
    • category string
      The category of the page. This might be useful if you have a single page routes or have a flattened URL structure.
    • path string
      The path of the page. This defaults to location.pathname, but can be overridden.
    • referrer string
      The referrer of the page, if applicable. This defaults to document.referrer, but can be overridden.
    • search string
      The search query in the URL, if present. This defaults to location.search, but can be overridden.
    • title string
      The title of the page. This defaults to document.title, but can be overridden.
    • url string
      The URL of the page. This defaults to a canonical url if available, and falls back to document.location.href.
    • Page Properties* any type
  • received_at integer
    The Unix timestamp (in seconds) when Data Pipelines receives an event.
  • sent_at integer
    The Unix timestamp (in seconds) when a library sends an event to Data Pipelines.
  • user_id string
    The unique identifier for a person. This value should be unique across systems, so you recognize the same person in your sources and destinations.

Screens files contain entries for the screen calls your sources send to Customer.io. If your integration outputs CSV or parquet files, the context and properties columns contain stringified objects. If your integration outputs JSON files, the context and properties columns contain objects.

  • anonymous_id string
    A unique substitute for a User ID in cases when you don’t have an absolutely unique identifier. Our libraries generate this value automatically to help you track people before they sign up, log in, provide their email, etc.
  • context
    A dictionary of context about a source call/event, like the user’s IP address or locale. Context is automatically collected by our source libraries.
    • active boolean

      Whether a user is active.

      This is usually used when you send an .identify() call to update the traits independently of when you’ve “last seen” a user.

    • channel string
      The channel the event originated from.

      Accepted values:browser,server,mobile

    • ip string
      The user’s IP address. This isn’t captured by our libraries, but by our servers when we receive client-side events (like from our JavaScript source).
    • locale string
      The locale string for the current user, e.g. en-US.
    • userAgent string
      The user agent of the device making the request
      • content string
      • medium string
        The type of traffic a person/event originates from, like email, or referral.
      • name string
        The campaign name.
      • source string
        The source of traffic—like the name of your email list, Facebook, Google, etc.
      • term string
        The keyword term(s) a user came from.
      • Additional UTM Parameters* string
      • keywords array of [ strings ]
        A list/array of keywords describing the page’s content. The keywords are likely the same as, or similar to, the keywords you would find in an HTML meta tag for SEO purposes. This property is mainly used by content publishers that rely heavily on pageview tracking. This isn’t automatically collected.
      • name string
        The name of the page. Reserved for future use.
      • path string
        The path portion of the page’s URL. Equivalent to the canonical path which defaults to location.pathname from the DOM API.
      • referrer string
        The previous page’s full URL. Equivalent to document.referrer from the DOM API.
      • search string
        The query string portion of the page’s URL. Equivalent to location.search from the DOM API.
      • title string
        The page’s title. Equivalent to document.title from the DOM API.
      • url string
        A page’s full URL. We first look for the canonical URL. If the canonical URL is not provided, we’ll use location.href from the DOM API.
  • id string
    A unique identifier for a Data Pipelines event, ensuring that each individual event is unique.
    • Additional event properties* any type
      Properties that you sent in the event. These can take any JSON shape.
  • received_at integer
    The Unix timestamp (in seconds) when Data Pipelines receives an event.
  • sent_at integer
    The Unix timestamp (in seconds) when a library sends an event to Data Pipelines.
  • user_id string
    The unique identifier for a person. This value should be unique across systems, so you recognize the same person in your sources and destinations.

The Alias schema contains entries for the alias calls you send to Customer.io. It shows information about the users you merge, with each entry showing a user’s new user_id and their previous_id.

  • id string
    A unique identifier for a Data Pipelines event, ensuring that each individual event is unique.
  • previous_id string
    The userId that you want to merge into the canonical profile.
  • received_at integer
    The Unix timestamp (in seconds) when Data Pipelines receives an event.
  • sent_at integer
    The Unix timestamp (in seconds) when a library sends an event to Data Pipelines.
  • user_id string
    The unique identifier for a person. This value should be unique across systems, so you recognize the same person in your sources and destinations.
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