Analytics & integrations

Google Analytics

Integrate Google Analytics 4 and Google Tag Manager with Fern Docs. Complete setup instructions for tracking website traffic and insights.
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Fern supports integrating with both Google Analytics 4 and Google Tag Manager.

Google Analytics 4

Before you begin, ensure you have a Google Analytics 4 property ID. This ID is typically in the format G-XXXXXXXXXX.

1

Add GA4 to docs.yml

Open your docs.yml file and add your Google Analytics 4 property ID under the measurement-id key:

docs.yml
1analytics:
2  ga4:
3    measurement-id: G-12345678

You can optionally add the ID as an environment variable:

docs.yml
1analytics:
2  ga4:
3    measurement-id: ${GA4_MEASUREMENT_ID} # scans for GA4_MEASUREMENT_ID environment variable
2

(Optional) Provide the ID at publish time

The ${GA4_MEASUREMENT_ID} syntax reads the value from an environment variable at publish time, so the variable must be present in whatever environment runs fern generate --docs.

When you publish with a GitHub Actions workflow, map it into the publish step’s env:

.github/workflows/publish-docs.yml
1- name: Publish Docs
2  env:
3    FERN_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.FERN_TOKEN }}
4    GA4_MEASUREMENT_ID: ${{ vars.GA4_MEASUREMENT_ID }}
5  run: |
6    npm install -g fern-api
7    fern generate --docs
3

Verify your integration

Check your browser’s developer tools or the network tab to confirm that the analytics script is loading correctly. Note that it may take 24–48 hours for website traffic data to start appearing in Google Analytics.

Google Tag Manager

Before you begin, obtain a container ID from your Google Tag Manager account. This ID follows the format GTM-XXXXXX.

1

Add GTM to docs.yml

Open your docs.yml file and add your Google Tag Manager container ID under the container-id key:

docs.yml
1analytics:
2  gtm:
3    container-id: GTM-NS32L7KR

You can optionally add the ID as an environment variable:

docs.yml
1analytics:
2  gtm:
3    container-id: ${GTM_CONTAINER_ID} # scans for GTM_CONTAINER_ID environment variable
2

(Optional) Provide the ID at publish time

The ${GTM_CONTAINER_ID} syntax reads the value from an environment variable at publish time, so the variable must be present in whatever environment runs fern generate --docs.

When you publish with a GitHub Actions workflow, map it into the publish step’s env:

.github/workflows/publish-docs.yml
1- name: Publish Docs
2  env:
3    FERN_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.FERN_TOKEN }}
4    GTM_CONTAINER_ID: ${{ vars.GTM_CONTAINER_ID }}
5  run: |
6    npm install -g fern-api
7    fern generate --docs
3

Verify your integration

Check your browser’s developer tools or the network tab to confirm that the analytics script is loading correctly. Note that it may take 24–48 hours for website traffic data to start appearing in Google Analytics.