Skills / Add analytics
Add analytics
Add privacy-respecting visit counts to a live site. Free options only, and no tracking people across the web. Use when they ask "is anyone visiting my site", "add analytics", or want proof of traffic for a resume line.
Use this skill. Nothing to install.
Don't have an agent? · Raw file: skills/add-analytics.md
Watch the first two minutes
This is how a session goes, including the honest talk about small numbers. Click through it.
Scripted example of a real session.
Worried analytics means spying on people?
Most of the industry earns that reputation, and this skill draws the line early: you measure traffic on your own site, and nothing more. The counters it offers use no cookies and do no fingerprinting, so visitors owe you no consent banner and you owe them no apology. Google Analytics gets skipped deliberately: for a personal site it is heavy, it collects far more than a visit count needs, and in much of the world it drags a consent banner onto a site that never needed one.
What you end up with
A dashboard you check weekly, and the vocabulary to read it. A normal week on a personal site looks like this:
example.com last 7 days pageviews 61 1 visitors 24 top pages / 41 /projects/ 13 /about/ 7 referrers direct 12 2 search 8 link in bio 4 your device excluded 3
- Pageviews count loads; visitors roughly dedupe to people. 61 loads by 24 people is a healthy ratio for a small site, and both numbers being modest is normal.
- Referrers answer the interesting question. "Did anyone come from the link I posted?" beats staring at totals. The skill sets a weekly check-in cadence for exactly this kind of question.
- You don't count yourself. Your own visits inflate everything, so excluding your device is part of setup, before you read any numbers.
Questions people actually ask
Is this free?
Yes. Cloudflare Web Analytics is free, and GoatCounter is free for personal sites and open source, so you could self-host it someday. The skill avoids options that would push you toward a paid tier for a simple visit count.
Why not Google Analytics?
For a personal site it is the wrong size: heavy on the page, collecting more than a visit count needs, and in much of the world it obliges a consent banner. The two counters this skill offers answer "did anyone visit?" without any of that.
Do I need a cookie banner now?
No, and that is by design. The counters here work without cookies, so there is nothing to ask consent for and your site stays banner-free.
What if the numbers are tiny?
They probably will be, and the skill says so before you look: 5 to 50 visits a week is normal for a personal site. Small honest numbers you understand beat big vague ones, and if you want more visitors, seo-basics is the honest next step.
Will the script slow my site down?
Not noticeably. Both options are a single small script tag, a fraction of the weight of one image. If you later run make-it-fast, the counter won't be what the report flags.
Where to go from here
Counter running? Now the numbers can drive decisions:
Curious? Read the full skill — the exact instructions your agent gets
--- name: add-analytics category: web description: Add privacy-respecting visit counts to a live site. Free options only, and no tracking people across the web. Use when they ask "is anyone visiting my site", "add analytics", or want proof of traffic for a resume line. --- # add-analytics Give someone their first answer to "does anyone actually visit my site?" The site is already live (deploy-anywhere). The goal is honest counts they check weekly — this is measurement of their own site's traffic, and it stops there. No tracking visitors across other sites, no fingerprinting, no selling anyone's attention. ## Picking a counter Offer these and let them choose; each is one line to explain. - Cloudflare Web Analytics: free, no cookies, works on any host — paste one script tag. The default pick, and automatic if the site is already on Cloudflare Pages. - GoatCounter: free for personal sites, open source, shows a public or private dashboard. One script tag. Good if they like that they could self-host it someday. - Host-provided stats: some hosts show basic traffic in their dashboard with no code change at all. Netlify's version is paid, so on Netlify use one of the two above. Prefer the smallest measurement tool that answers the stated question. Cookie and consent requirements vary by tool, configuration, visitor, and jurisdiction; do not promise that a site needs no notice or consent banner. Read the provider's current privacy documentation and the rules that apply to the site before enabling collection. Do not send names, email addresses, or other personal data in page paths or analytics events. ## Wiring and reading it 1. They create the account (their email, their password). You add the script tag before `</body>` on every page — or the shared layout if there is one — commit, push, deploy. 2. Verify for real: visit the live site, then watch the visit appear on the dashboard. Until they see their own visit counted, it is not done. 3. Read the first numbers together and calibrate: a personal site getting 5–50 visits a week is normal and fine. Pageviews count loads; visitors dedupe roughly to people; referrers show where people came from. Their own visits inflate everything — most tools can exclude their device, so set that up. 4. Agree on a cadence: check weekly, not hourly. One interesting question beats staring — "did anyone come from the link I posted?" ## Done - Dashboard shows real visits, verified with their own test visit - Their own device excluded from counts - They can explain pageviews, visitors, and referrers in their own words, and know the numbers may stay small - The chosen configuration and any required privacy notice are documented; no personal data is deliberately sent to analytics If the numbers make them want visitors, seo-basics is the honest next step.