Connect an Event Output

An output (sometimes called an output integration) is a third-party service that you can forward data to from mParticle. There are two types of outputs:

• Event outputs: These integrations accept event data triggered by your users.
• Audience outputs: These integrations accept mParticle audiences, or collections of users. Audience outputs are covered in the next section of the Getting Started guide: Create an Audience Output.

Continue reading below to learn how to configure, and connect an input to, an events output.

Prerequisites

Before continuing, you should have completed:

• Creat an input
• Start capturing data

Connect an event output

mParticle offers over one hundred different event output integrations. The process for configuring and connecting to an events output is similar, regardless of the integration you select. To demonstrate, this example will use the Rokt events integration.

1. Create your Rokt events output

1. Log into mParticle and go to Data Platform > Setup > Directory using the left hand nav.
2. Search for “Rokt”, hover your cursor over the Rokt tile, and click Setup.
3. Check the Output Event box and click Configure.
4. Enter a descriptive Configuration Name. This is how you will identify this specific output when connecting it with data inputs. You can create multiple configurations for an output integration.

5. Check Use same settings for Development & Production if you want to forward data from both your development (or your testing) and your production environments.

   • If you disable this setting, you must select whether you want to forward production (PROD) or development (DEV) data to your output.

6. Enter your Rokt API Key and your Rokt Account IDs.

   • Most event output integrations will require one or more account credentials. mParticle uses these credentials when connecting with the integration before forwarding your data. To obtain some credentials, like the Rokt API key, you may need to contact the account administrator for your integration.
7. Click Save & Open in Connections.

2. Connect your input to your Rokt output

1. From your mParticle account, go to Data Platform > Setup > Connections, and select your configured data input.
2. Click Connect Output.
3. Select your new Rokt events output.
4. Each events output will offer different connection settings. For example, some will require that you manually map event data fields from mParticle to fields in the integration’s platform. For Rokt, there are no additional connection settings.
5. Set the Connection Status to Active and click Save.

3. Verify your connection

After creating your connection, you can test it by sending data to your input from your development environment.

4. Troubleshoot your connection

If you don’t see data arriving in your output, navigate to Data Platform > Live Stream and filter the Message Direction to “Outbound”.

1. If you see messages in the outbound Live Stream, but none in the output service:

   • You may just need to wait. For most event outputs, mParticle forwards information in close to real time. However, there are factors which can slow down processing and the amount of time it takes for data to become visible in an output service’s dashboard can be different for each service.
   • Navigate to Oversight > System Alerts and see if there are any errors noted for the output you want to troubleshoot. The error type may give you a clue as to what is wrong.

2. If the previous step doesn’t resolve the issue:

   • Check all of your configuration and connection settings. Make sure that all settings are correct, especially any access credentials, such as Project or App IDs, API Key & Secret, etc.
   • It is common for a particular output service to require certain identifiers or other data points to be present to allow data to be forwarded. As an example, the Google Ads output requires information about a user’s device, including the Device Advertising ID, in order to construct a User Agent Header. If the Device Advertising ID is not present, no data can be sent. Check the docs for the output service and make sure you’re sending all the required information.

If there are no outgoing messages in the Live Stream, then mParticle is not attempting to send any data to the output service. Some possible reasons for this could include:

• Not all outputs support every platform or accept every event type. The Directory shows a list of available platforms and supported event types for each output. Make sure the data you are trying to send is supported.
• mParticle allows you to filter your data for each output. Check the Data Filter to make sure you haven’t turned off the data points you’re trying to send.

Next steps

By now you should be successfully forwarding data to at least one event output.

Related information

• One of the key benefits of mParticle is the power to collect data once and forward it to as many output services as you wish. Browse the Integrations section of our docs to learn more about the different services mParticle can forward your data to.
• Most event outputs work by forwarding data server-side via the output partner’s HTTP API. However, some outputs require extra client-side code to be added to your native app, to allow data to be sent directly from your app to the output service. These integrations are called “embedded kits”. You can read more about them in the iOS and Android documentation.
• Sending web data to an output usually works a little differently from native. If you’re using mParticle on the web, read our guide to Working with Web Data.

Next, you will learn about the second category of mParticle data by creating an audience.