---
title: Monitor Electron Applications Using the Browser SDK
description: >-
  Learn how to monitor desktop applications built with Electron through the
  browser RUM SDK.
breadcrumbs: >-
  Docs > RUM & Session Replay > Real User Monitoring & Session Replay Guides >
  Monitor Electron Applications Using the Browser SDK
---

# Monitor Electron Applications Using the Browser SDK

## Overview{% #overview %}

[Electron](https://www.electronjs.org/) is an open source framework that can be used to build cross-platform macOS and Windows desktop applications.

You can install and configure the Datadog Browser SDK to start monitoring applications built using Electron.

**Note**: The Browser SDK only supports monitoring the *renderer processes* of an application. It does not initialize or monitor anything installed on the *main process*. For more information, see Electron's documentation on its [renderer process](https://www.electronjs.org/docs/latest/tutorial/process-model#the-renderer-process).

{% image
   source="https://docs.dd-static.net/images/real_user_monitoring/guide/monitor-electron-applications-using-browser-sdk/diagram_electron-js-browser-rum.41335fe246273465d00c93f74fb9938b.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850 1x, https://docs.dd-static.net/images/real_user_monitoring/guide/monitor-electron-applications-using-browser-sdk/diagram_electron-js-browser-rum.41335fe246273465d00c93f74fb9938b.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850&dpr=2 2x"
   alt="The Datadog Browser SDK only supports monitoring the renderer processes of an Electron application" /%}

## Installation{% #installation %}

To install the Datadog Browser SDK to support Electron apps:

1. Set up and install [RUM Browser Monitoring](https://docs.datadoghq.com/real_user_monitoring/application_monitoring/browser/setup.md) inside **every renderer process**, following the steps for CDN sync, CDN async, or npm.

1. Set the `sessionPersistence` parameter to `"local-storage"` in the RUM initialization configuration of each renderer process, as shown below.

**Note**: This setting allows Datadog to collect RUM data without relying on browser cookies.

   - If you are targeting pages **available on the internet** (using the `https://` protocol), you **do not** need this parameter.
   - if you are embedding pages **inside your application** (using the `file://` protocol), Datadog needs to store sessions in local storage, as cookies are not available.

   ```javascript
   datadogRum.init({
     applicationId: '<DATADOG_APPLICATION_ID>',
     clientToken: '<DATADOG_CLIENT_TOKEN>',
     site: '<DATADOG_SITE>',
     ...
     sessionPersistence: "local-storage"
     });
   ```

1. Once you've configured the SDK correctly, your data populates the [RUM Explorer](https://docs.datadoghq.com/real_user_monitoring/explorer.md).

## Troubleshooting{% #troubleshooting %}

### Support for hybrid Electron applications{% #support-for-hybrid-electron-applications %}

The same-origin policy prevents tracking an application for the same session in which pages load from both local (`file://`) and remote (`http(s)://`).

This means that an application that uses Electron to embed a landing page, then later redirects the user to a website hosted on the Internet results in two sessions being created for that user - one for the embedded local files (`file://`) landing part of the application, and one for the remote part (`https://` files available on the internet). **Note**: Unminified stack traces are not available when monitoring Electron applications that load embedded local files where stack traces start with `file://`. To obtain unminified stack traces in this scenario, you must manually overwrite them using the [`beforeSend()` callback](https://docs.datadoghq.com/real_user_monitoring/application_monitoring/browser/advanced_configuration.md?tab=npm#enrich-and-control-rum-data). For further assistance, contact the [Datadog Support team](https://docs.datadoghq.com/help/).

### Short-lived sessions for instances with multiple windows at once{% #short-lived-sessions-for-instances-with-multiple-windows-at-once %}

An issue with local storage replication latency between windows can cause a short-lived session to be created (<1 second). To work around this, ensure multiple windows are created and initialized with a gap of more than 10 ms.

## Further Reading{% #further-reading %}

- [Learn about Real User Monitoring](https://docs.datadoghq.com/real_user_monitoring.md)