0005: Analytics and consent are part of the core

• Status: accepted
• Date: 2026-10-17

Context

Most site owners add Google Analytics and a third-party consent banner, which sends visitor data elsewhere and slows the site down. Wake knows the content, so it can show statistics where they matter: next to each post.

Decision

Wake measures page views itself, in two levels:

1. Without cookies, always on: a daily rotating, salted hash of IP address, user agent and site. The IP address is never stored.
2. With a cookie, only after consent: returning visitors and sessions.

The consent manager is part of the core, treats "Decline" exactly like "Accept", blocks external embeds until consent and keeps proof of every decision.

Consequences

• No visitor data leaves the server.
• The beacon (public/hit.php) must stay tiny and must not boot Laravel.
• Wake takes on legal responsibility for sensible defaults. A legal review of level 1 is required before the first live site.

Alternatives considered

• Plausible, Matomo or Umami as recommended add-ons. Good tools, but a second system to run, and they can't show stats inside the editor.