Bklit: Open-Source Analytics SaaS (Discontinued)

Introduction

Bklit Analytics was an ambitious open-source project aimed at providing a privacy-focused analytics platform for modern web applications. It allowed users to track pageviews, custom events, user sessions, and conversion funnels through a powerful SDK and an intuitive dashboard. Built with a cutting-edge tech stack, Bklit offered real-time insights and a comprehensive feature set for web analytics.

Important Note: Bklit Analytics has been officially discontinued. The hosted service, npm packages (@bklit/sdk, @bklit/create), and self-hosted infrastructure are no longer maintained. While the project is no longer actively developed, its codebase remains a valuable resource for understanding advanced analytics system design and modern web development practices.

Installation

Although the project is discontinued, you can still explore its architecture and setup for learning purposes. The project was designed for a quick start:

To get Bklit running in under 2 minutes, you would use:

npx @bklit/create

This CLI tool was designed to automate the setup process, checking prerequisites, generating secure secrets, setting up PostgreSQL & ClickHouse with Docker, installing dependencies, creating the database schema, and starting the development server.

Prerequisites (for local exploration):

Node.js 22.0.0+
pnpm 9.6.0+
Docker (optional, for automatic database setup)
PostgreSQL (if not using Docker)
ClickHouse (if not using Docker)

For manual setup, the repository provides detailed instructions, including cloning the repo, installing dependencies, configuring environment variables, and starting backend and frontend services.

Examples

The primary example of interacting with Bklit was through its npx @bklit/create command, which provided a full local development environment. This setup included:

Dashboard: Accessible at http://localhost:3000
Playground: For SDK testing, at http://localhost:5173
Website: Marketing site, at http://localhost:4000
WebSocket: Real-time server, at ws://localhost:8080

These local instances allowed developers to experiment with the analytics SDK, track events, and visualize data in real-time, showcasing the platform's capabilities before its discontinuation. The project's architecture, involving a WebSocket server, Redis queue, and ClickHouse for data storage, offers a robust example of a real-time analytics pipeline.

Why Use

Despite its discontinuation, Bklit remains an excellent open-source project for educational purposes and as a reference for building complex, real-time web applications. Its codebase demonstrates:

Real-time Analytics: A sophisticated WebSocket-based architecture for instant live tracking and session management.
Modern Tech Stack: Utilizes Next.js 16 (App Router), React 19, Tailwind CSS v4, PostgreSQL with Prisma ORM, ClickHouse for analytics, Redis for queuing, tRPC for type-safe APIs, and shadcn/ui for components.
Monorepo Structure: Managed with Turborepo and pnpm workspaces, showcasing best practices for large-scale projects.
Comprehensive Features: Features like a visual funnel builder, geographic insights, and a developer-friendly SDK provide a blueprint for advanced analytics functionalities.
Privacy Focus: Designed with privacy in mind, offering a valuable perspective on building ethical data platforms.

Exploring Bklit's source code can provide invaluable insights into building high-performance, scalable, and real-time data-driven applications.