home / skills / jeremylongshore / claude-code-plugins-plus-skills / customerio-advanced-troubleshooting
/plugins/saas-packs/customerio-pack/skills/customerio-advanced-troubleshooting
This skill helps you diagnose complex Customer.io issues by guiding API debugging, profile investigation, and webhook checks to isolate failures.
npx playbooks add skill jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills --skill customerio-advanced-troubleshootingReview the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.
---
name: customerio-advanced-troubleshooting
description: |
Apply Customer.io advanced debugging techniques.
Use when diagnosing complex issues, investigating
delivery problems, or debugging integration failures.
Trigger with phrases like "debug customer.io", "customer.io investigation",
"customer.io troubleshoot", "customer.io incident".
allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Bash(kubectl:*), Bash(curl:*)
version: 1.0.0
license: MIT
author: Jeremy Longshore <[email protected]>
---
# Customer.io Advanced Troubleshooting
## Overview
Advanced debugging techniques for diagnosing complex Customer.io integration issues.
## Prerequisites
- Access to Customer.io dashboard
- Application logs access
- Understanding of your integration architecture
## Troubleshooting Framework
### Phase 1: Symptom Identification
```
1. What is the expected behavior?
2. What is the actual behavior?
3. When did the issue start?
4. How many users/messages affected?
5. Is it consistent or intermittent?
```
## Instructions
### Step 1: API Debugging
```typescript
// lib/debug-client.ts
import { TrackClient, RegionUS } from '@customerio/track';
interface DebugResult {
success: boolean;
latency: number;
requestId?: string;
error?: {
code: string;
message: string;
details?: any;
};
}
export class DebugCustomerIO {
private client: TrackClient;
constructor() {
this.client = new TrackClient(
process.env.CUSTOMERIO_SITE_ID!,
process.env.CUSTOMERIO_API_KEY!,
{ region: RegionUS }
);
}
async debugIdentify(
userId: string,
attributes: Record<string, any>
): Promise<DebugResult> {
const start = Date.now();
console.log('=== Customer.io Debug: Identify ===');
console.log('User ID:', userId);
console.log('Attributes:', JSON.stringify(attributes, null, 2));
try {
await this.client.identify(userId, attributes);
const result: DebugResult = {
success: true,
latency: Date.now() - start
};
console.log('Result: SUCCESS');
console.log('Latency:', result.latency, 'ms');
return result;
} catch (error: any) {
const result: DebugResult = {
success: false,
latency: Date.now() - start,
error: {
code: error.statusCode || 'UNKNOWN',
message: error.message,
details: error.response?.body
}
};
console.log('Result: FAILED');
console.log('Error:', JSON.stringify(result.error, null, 2));
return result;
}
}
async debugTrack(
userId: string,
event: string,
data?: Record<string, any>
): Promise<DebugResult> {
const start = Date.now();
console.log('=== Customer.io Debug: Track ===');
console.log('User ID:', userId);
console.log('Event:', event);
console.log('Data:', JSON.stringify(data, null, 2));
try {
await this.client.track(userId, { name: event, data });
return {
success: true,
latency: Date.now() - start
};
} catch (error: any) {
return {
success: false,
latency: Date.now() - start,
error: {
code: error.statusCode || 'UNKNOWN',
message: error.message
}
};
}
}
}
```
### Step 2: User Profile Investigation
```typescript
// scripts/investigate-user.ts
interface UserInvestigation {
userId: string;
profile: {
exists: boolean;
attributes: Record<string, any>;
segments: string[];
};
activity: {
lastIdentify: Date;
lastEvent: Date;
eventCount24h: number;
recentEvents: string[];
};
delivery: {
emailsSent: number;
emailsDelivered: number;
emailsOpened: number;
bounces: number;
complaints: number;
suppressed: boolean;
};
issues: string[];
}
async function investigateUser(userId: string): Promise<UserInvestigation> {
const investigation: UserInvestigation = {
userId,
profile: { exists: false, attributes: {}, segments: [] },
activity: {
lastIdentify: new Date(0),
lastEvent: new Date(0),
eventCount24h: 0,
recentEvents: []
},
delivery: {
emailsSent: 0,
emailsDelivered: 0,
emailsOpened: 0,
bounces: 0,
complaints: 0,
suppressed: false
},
issues: []
};
// 1. Check if user exists
try {
const profile = await fetchUserProfile(userId);
investigation.profile = {
exists: true,
attributes: profile.attributes,
segments: profile.segments
};
} catch (error) {
investigation.issues.push('User profile not found in Customer.io');
return investigation;
}
// 2. Check for missing required attributes
if (!investigation.profile.attributes.email) {
investigation.issues.push('User missing email attribute - cannot receive emails');
}
// 3. Check suppression status
if (investigation.delivery.suppressed) {
investigation.issues.push('User is suppressed - no messages will be sent');
}
// 4. Check bounce/complaint history
if (investigation.delivery.bounces > 0) {
investigation.issues.push(`User has ${investigation.delivery.bounces} bounces`);
}
if (investigation.delivery.complaints > 0) {
investigation.issues.push(`User has ${investigation.delivery.complaints} spam complaints - HIGH PRIORITY`);
}
// 5. Check recent activity
const oneDayAgo = new Date(Date.now() - 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000);
if (investigation.activity.lastIdentify < oneDayAgo) {
investigation.issues.push('User profile not updated in 24+ hours');
}
return investigation;
}
```
### Step 3: Campaign Debugging
```typescript
// scripts/debug-campaign.ts
interface CampaignDebug {
campaignId: number;
status: 'active' | 'paused' | 'draft';
trigger: {
type: string;
conditions: any;
};
audience: {
segmentId?: number;
estimatedSize: number;
};
recentSends: Array<{
userId: string;
timestamp: Date;
status: string;
}>;
issues: string[];
}
async function debugCampaign(campaignId: number): Promise<CampaignDebug> {
const debug: CampaignDebug = {
campaignId,
status: 'draft',
trigger: { type: '', conditions: {} },
audience: { estimatedSize: 0 },
recentSends: [],
issues: []
};
// Fetch campaign details from API
// Analyze trigger conditions
// Check audience size
// Review recent send activity
// Common issues to check
if (debug.status !== 'active') {
debug.issues.push('Campaign is not active');
}
if (debug.audience.estimatedSize === 0) {
debug.issues.push('No users match campaign audience');
}
return debug;
}
```
### Step 4: Webhook Debugging
```typescript
// lib/webhook-debugger.ts
import crypto from 'crypto';
interface WebhookDebugResult {
signatureValid: boolean;
payloadParsed: boolean;
eventsProcessed: number;
errors: Array<{
event: string;
error: string;
}>;
processingTime: number;
}
export function debugWebhook(
rawBody: string,
signature: string,
secret: string
): WebhookDebugResult {
const start = Date.now();
const result: WebhookDebugResult = {
signatureValid: false,
payloadParsed: false,
eventsProcessed: 0,
errors: [],
processingTime: 0
};
// 1. Verify signature
const expectedSignature = crypto
.createHmac('sha256', secret)
.update(rawBody)
.digest('hex');
result.signatureValid = crypto.timingSafeEqual(
Buffer.from(signature || ''),
Buffer.from(expectedSignature)
);
if (!result.signatureValid) {
console.log('Expected signature:', expectedSignature);
console.log('Received signature:', signature);
result.processingTime = Date.now() - start;
return result;
}
// 2. Parse payload
try {
const payload = JSON.parse(rawBody);
result.payloadParsed = true;
// 3. Process events
for (const event of payload.events || []) {
try {
console.log('Processing event:', event.metric, event.event_id);
result.eventsProcessed++;
} catch (error: any) {
result.errors.push({
event: event.event_id,
error: error.message
});
}
}
} catch (error: any) {
result.errors.push({
event: 'parse',
error: error.message
});
}
result.processingTime = Date.now() - start;
return result;
}
```
### Step 5: Network Debugging
```bash
#!/bin/bash
# scripts/debug-network.sh
echo "=== Customer.io Network Diagnostics ==="
# 1. DNS Resolution
echo -e "\n1. DNS Resolution:"
dig track.customer.io +short
# 2. TCP Connectivity
echo -e "\n2. TCP Connectivity:"
nc -zv track.customer.io 443 2>&1
# 3. TLS Handshake
echo -e "\n3. TLS Certificate:"
echo | openssl s_client -connect track.customer.io:443 2>/dev/null | openssl x509 -noout -dates
# 4. API Response Time
echo -e "\n4. API Latency:"
curl -o /dev/null -s -w "Connect: %{time_connect}s\nTTFB: %{time_starttransfer}s\nTotal: %{time_total}s\n" \
-X POST "https://track.customer.io/api/v1/customers/test" \
-u "$CUSTOMERIO_SITE_ID:$CUSTOMERIO_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"email":"[email protected]"}'
# 5. Check for rate limiting
echo -e "\n5. Rate Limit Check:"
for i in {1..5}; do
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n" \
-X POST "https://track.customer.io/api/v1/customers/test-$i" \
-u "$CUSTOMERIO_SITE_ID:$CUSTOMERIO_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"email":"[email protected]"}'
done
```
### Step 6: Incident Response Runbook
```markdown
## Customer.io Incident Response Runbook
### P1: Complete API Outage
1. Check https://status.customer.io/
2. Verify credentials haven't expired
3. Test with curl directly
4. Enable circuit breaker if available
5. Queue events for retry
6. Notify stakeholders
### P2: High Error Rate (>5%)
1. Check error distribution by type
2. Identify affected operations
3. Review recent code deployments
4. Check for rate limiting
5. Scale down if self-inflicted
### P3: Delivery Issues
1. Check bounce/complaint rates
2. Review suppression list
3. Verify sender reputation
4. Check campaign configuration
5. Review segment conditions
### P4: Webhook Failures
1. Verify webhook secret
2. Check endpoint availability
3. Review payload format
4. Check for duplicate events
5. Verify idempotency handling
```
## Diagnostic Commands
```bash
# Check API health
curl -s "https://status.customer.io/api/v2/status.json" | jq '.status'
# Test authentication
curl -u "$CIO_SITE_ID:$CIO_API_KEY" "https://track.customer.io/api/v1/accounts"
# Check user exists
curl -u "$CIO_SITE_ID:$CIO_API_KEY" "https://track.customer.io/api/v1/customers/USER_ID"
```
## Error Handling
| Issue | Solution |
|-------|----------|
| User not receiving | Check suppression, segments |
| Events not tracked | Verify user identified first |
| High latency | Check network, enable pooling |
## Resources
- [Customer.io Status](https://status.customer.io/)
- [Troubleshooting Guide](https://customer.io/docs/troubleshooting/)
## Next Steps
After troubleshooting, proceed to `customerio-reliability-patterns` for resilience.
This skill applies advanced Customer.io debugging techniques to diagnose delivery, integration, and webhook issues. It bundles systematic checks for API calls, user profiles, campaigns, webhooks, network behavior, and incident response actions. Use this skill to quickly isolate the root cause and produce actionable remediation steps. It is aimed at engineers operating Customer.io integrations in production.
The skill walks through a phased troubleshooting framework: symptom identification, API-level probes, user profile audits, campaign analysis, webhook verification, and network diagnostics. It provides concrete diagnostics (test API calls, signature verification, DNS/TLS checks) and templates for programmatic investigation. Results highlight failures, latency, suppression or bounce history, and campaign/audience mismatches so you can prioritize fixes. An incident runbook maps common severities to immediate steps and follow-ups.
What are the first checks for a P1 Customer.io outage?
Check Customer.io status, verify credentials, run a curl test to the API, enable a circuit breaker and queue events for retries, then notify stakeholders.
How do I confirm a webhook failure is due to signature mismatch?
Recompute the HMAC SHA256 over the raw body with your secret, compare with the received signature using a timing-safe compare, and log both values for auditing.