PostHog + Data Alias: Read PostHog person properties with a key that stays in your tab
Why use PostHog with Data Alias
Person profiles in product analytics carry emails and names next to the behaviour you want to study. This reads just the properties you choose into review.
How it works
PostHog uses personal API keys instead of a sign-in. You paste a key; Data Alias keeps it in this tab's memory only, sends it only in an Authorization header to your PostHog host, and never writes it to storage or sends it to a Data Alias server. You pick US or EU Cloud, or give a self-hosted https address, then a project and the properties to read.
What it does
- Read persons with the properties you pick
- Show the key only as a mask, such as phx_…mnop
- Drop a key PostHog rejects instead of retrying it
- Forget the key on request, on sign-out and when the tab closes
How it will connect
These are the steps once the connection is available. Until then: Export persons from PostHog as a CSV and upload the file to Data Alias.
- 1
Create a personal API key in PostHog
Use a key you can delete afterwards.
- 2
Read where it will be kept, then paste it
Data Alias shows those terms above the key field, before you paste.
- 3
Pick a host, a project and properties
US Cloud, EU Cloud or a self-hosted https address. The distinct ID always counts as one column.
- 4
Review in your browser
Detection, your rules and the review before export run in the tab, the same as for an uploaded file. Change any suggestion you disagree with.
What moves where
- What reaches Data Alias servers
- Nothing. There is no server step at all — your browser talks to PostHog.
- Where the key is kept
- This tab's memory. Never in storage, a cookie, a URL or a Data Alias server.
- What Data Alias reads
- Persons, with the properties you picked.
- Never sent
- The original file, the alias mapping, and restored results with real names never leave your browser.
Limits worth knowing
- “Forget this key” removes it from Data Alias; it doesn't revoke it. Delete the key in PostHog when you're done.
- While the key is in memory, it is as reachable as any other value in the page. What this removes is the lasting exposure — disk, logs, URLs, screenshots and servers.
Can I connect PostHog today?
No. The connection is built and tested against stand-ins for PostHog, but it hasn't been run against a real PostHog account, so there is nothing to connect yet. Export persons from PostHog as a CSV and upload the file to Data Alias.
Where is my API key kept?
Only in this tab's memory. It isn't written to local storage, session storage, IndexedDB or a cookie, and a refresh clears it.
Is “Forget this key” the same as revoking it?
No. It removes the key from Data Alias. The key still works until you delete it in PostHog.
Data Alias reduces exposure risk but cannot guarantee detection of every sensitive value. Every transfer passes the same review as a download — check the result before you send it. How connected services are handled.