What a KPI is in StretchAnalytics
A KPI (also called a metric definition) is a named, reusable measure with a stable key, a title, a category, and the suite app it draws from. KPIs give everyone in your organization a shared vocabulary: when two people say "form submissions," they mean the same number, calculated the same way.
StretchAnalytics ships with a catalog of KPIs so you don't start from a blank page.
The KPI catalog
The built-in catalog spans your whole suite. Each metric has a category and a source app:
| Metric | Category | Source app |
|---|---|---|
| Platform total events | Traffic | StretchAnalytics |
| Form submissions | Intake | StretchForms |
| Open support tickets | Support | StretchSupport |
| CRM contacts | CRM | StretchCRM |
| CRM deals | CRM | StretchCRM |
| File assets | Files | StretchFiles |
| Learn courses | Learning | StretchLearn |
| Books invoices | Finance | StretchBooks |
| Support KB pages | Support | Support KB |
| Search projects | Search | StretchSearch |
Each KPI shows a current value scoped to your organization plus the app it comes from, so you always know the source of truth.
Metric snapshots
A KPI shows you now. A metric snapshot is a point-in-time capture that lets you see history. Each snapshot records:
- the metric key and its numeric value,
- the snapshot date/time,
- a quality status (a data-quality flag that tells you whether the capture looked healthy),
- the calculation mode and engine version that produced it.
Snapshots are how you answer "was this number higher last week?" without digging through raw events.
Step-by-step: read your KPIs
- Open StretchAnalytics → Overview.
- Find the KPI catalog panel.
- Read each metric's current value and note its source app.
- Scroll to Latest snapshots to see recent captures and their quality status.
- To track a specific KPI over time, note its value on the snapshot dates and compare.
Step-by-step: compare a KPI across two periods
Snapshots give you history, but for an on-demand comparison use the Compare feature:
- Open the Compare view.
- Choose the metric (for example
form_submissions). - Set the current window (from/to).
- Set the comparison window (compare-from/compare-to).
- Read the delta and percent change returned.
Example
A revenue operator wants to know whether deals are trending up. On the overview, CRM deals reads 214. In Latest snapshots, last week's capture was 198. To be precise, she opens Compare, selects the deals metric, sets this week versus last week, and gets a delta of +16 and a +8.1% change. She saves the configuration as a report view so the comparison is one click next week.
Tips
- Use KPIs for shared definitions and snapshots for history; use Compare for a precise period-over-period read.
- A quality status flag on a snapshot is a prompt to sanity-check the source data before making a decision.
- Not every catalog KPI will have activity on day one — values fill in as you use more of the suite.
FAQ
Can I change how a KPI is calculated? The catalog metrics have fixed, auditable definitions so numbers stay comparable across your team. To measure something bespoke, build it in Explore and save it as a report view.
Why does a KPI read zero when I know there's activity? Confirm the activity is in the KPI's source app and belongs to your organization. StretchAnalytics reflects what the suite has recorded for your org.
How often are snapshots taken? Snapshots are captured as part of the analytics foundation and appear in the latest-snapshots panel; check the snapshot date to see the cadence for your organization.
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