feat(browser): Cookie persist `$user_state` by dustinbyrne · Pull Request #3135 · PostHog/posthog-js

dustinbyrne · 2026-02-23T20:00:59Z

Problem

Server-side web frameworks (e.g., Next.js) have no way to know whether a user's distinct ID is anonymous or identified. Comparing distinct_id to $device_id isn't always reliable considering users can override device ID generation via get_device_id(). This can lead to client and server disagreeing on user state, and means server-side identify() calls can't behave the same as client-side ones.

Changes

When using localStorage+cookie persistence, add $user_state to COOKIE_PERSISTED_PROPERTIES so it's written to the cookie alongside distinct_id, $device_id, etc. Server-side code can now read identification state directly from the cookie.

This is an additive change - $user_state is still persisted to local storage as well.

Release info Sub-libraries affected

Libraries affected

Checklist

Tests for new code
Accounted for the impact of any changes across different platforms
Accounted for backwards compatibility of any changes (no breaking changes!)
Took care not to unnecessarily increase the bundle size

If releasing new changes

Ran pnpm changeset to generate a changeset file
Added the "release" label to the PR to indicate we're publishing new versions for the affected packages

vercel · 2026-02-23T20:01:05Z

The latest updates on your projects. Learn more about Vercel for GitHub.

Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated (UTC)
posthog-js	Ready	Preview	Feb 23, 2026 8:45pm
posthog-nextjs-config	Ready	Preview	Feb 23, 2026 8:45pm

github-actions · 2026-02-23T20:06:53Z

Download bundle size visualization

github-actions · 2026-02-23T20:11:46Z

Size Change: +30 B (0%)

Total Size: 6.17 MB

Filename	Size	Change
`packages/browser/dist/array.full.es5.js`	322 kB	+3 B (0%)
`packages/browser/dist/array.full.js`	422 kB	+3 B (0%)
`packages/browser/dist/array.full.no-external.js`	442 kB	+3 B (0%)
`packages/browser/dist/array.js`	177 kB	+3 B (0%)
`packages/browser/dist/array.no-external.js`	191 kB	+3 B (0%)
`packages/browser/dist/main.js`	180 kB	+3 B (0%)
`packages/browser/dist/module.full.js`	425 kB	+3 B (0%)
`packages/browser/dist/module.full.no-external.js`	444 kB	+3 B (0%)
`packages/browser/dist/module.js`	180 kB	+3 B (0%)
`packages/browser/dist/module.no-external.js`	195 kB	+3 B (0%)

ℹ️ View Unchanged

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_{compressed-size-action}

dustinbyrne added the release label Feb 23, 2026

dustinbyrne requested a review from a team February 23, 2026 20:36

dustinbyrne added 2 commits February 23, 2026 15:37

feat: Persist $user_state to cookie

b025e91

chore: add changeset

83d9025

dustinbyrne force-pushed the feat/cookie-persist-user-state branch from b82aa85 to 83d9025 Compare February 23, 2026 20:37

vercel bot deployed to Preview – posthog-nextjs-config February 23, 2026 20:44 View deployment

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marandaneto approved these changes Feb 23, 2026

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dustinbyrne merged commit fba7e5b into main Feb 23, 2026
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dustinbyrne deleted the feat/cookie-persist-user-state branch February 23, 2026 21:23

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feat(browser): Cookie persist `$user_state`#3135

feat(browser): Cookie persist `$user_state`#3135
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