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Recording Session Replays for Unauthenticated Users

This article explains how to record session replays in Fullview before a user logs in, and optionally how to update that session with the user’s real identity once authentication is complete.

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Written by Alex

This setup is useful if you want visibility into:

  • Login screen behavior

  • 2FA or verification flows

  • Failed login attempts

  • General pre-auth UX friction

The core idea:

Fullview can record sessions that begin before a user logs in — capturing the full journey from anonymous browsing through authentication in a single, continuous replay.

This is useful for understanding login flows, sign-up friction, and any experience that happens before your users identify themselves.


How to get access

Anonymous session recording is disabled by default. To enable it for your account, reach out to Fullview support or your account manager.

Once enabled, no additional SDK configuration is required — Fullview handles the rest automatically.


How it works

When anonymous session recording is enabled, Fullview starts capturing the session as soon as a visitor lands on your page — before any login occurs.

When the user authenticates, call window.Fullview.identify() as you normally would. Fullview automatically links the new identity to the session that was already in progress. The result is a single, uninterrupted replay that covers the visitor's full journey.

// Visitor lands — Fullview starts recording automatically

// User logs in
window.$fvIdentity = {
id: user.id,
name: user.name,
email: user.email,
};

The same session now carries the user's identity — no gap, no reset needed

There is no need to generate temporary IDs, call identify before login, or do anything special before the user authenticates.


Handling logout

When a user logs out, clear their identity and call resetSession() to end the current session and start a fresh one:

// User logs out
window.$fvIdentity = undefined;
window.Fullview.resetSession();

If anonymous session recording is enabled, Fullview will automatically begin recording the new session as an anonymous visitor — no additional setup required.

When a different user is logging in right after, the same pattern applies — resetSession() ensures the incoming user gets a clean session rather than a continuation of the previous one:

// User A logs out
window.$fvIdentity = undefined;

window.Fullview.resetSession();

// User B logs in
window.$fvIdentity = {
id: userB.id,
name: userB.name,
email: userB.email,
};

What you see in the dashboard

Anonymous sessions appear in your replay dashboard with no name or email until the user identifies themselves. Once identify() is called, the session is updated with the user's details.

If the user never logs in during that visit, the session remains anonymous.

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