AEP Assurance (aka Project Griffon) for debugging Adobe Experience Platform SDKs

Whether you are currently working with an Adobe mobile SDK or beginning your trek into the future with Adobe Experience Platform (AEP) Web SDK, you have probably heard the term Project Griffon. But what is Project Griffon? Project Griffon was introduced as a beta product by Adobe last year and has since been re-named as AEP Assurance for use in proofing your Adobe Mobile SDK and Platform Web SDK implementations. So, we are officially saying goodbye to Project Griffon and going to normalize AEP Assurance.

In today’s blog we are going to look at the benefits of using AEP Assurance and why it is so importance that you do not implement without the addition of the AEP Assurance extension. Here at Softcrylic we specialize in Data, from collecting to visualizing and analyzing. To assure we have data we can trust and is following best practices, all projects from implementations to audits all data is proofed. We have found benefits in using AEP Assurance in both App and Web deployments to help in testing and validating your implementation. First let’s look at the Adobe Mobile SDK.

ADOBE MOBILE SDK

Mobile Apps are everywhere. Literally we carry them around in our pockets every day and the data suggest that users are consuming more and more content on their mobile phones. With that being said it is clear that understanding a consumer’s journey on an app is vital to the success of that app. Unfortunately, that has always been a pain point within mobile app implementation. Adobe has worked hard to produce an intuitive tracking solution with the Adobe Mobile SDK which allows for the deployment of Adobe Experience Cloud solutions and services in your mobile apps. Before AEP Assurance there was not a very good solution to test and validate the Adobe Mobile SDK deployment. Yes, there are offerings out there such as Charles Proxy, but Charles can be difficult to use and has limitations to the visibility of what is being sent to Adobe.

This is where AEP Assurance comes into play assuming you already have it installed on your app. If you do not currently have AEP Assurance installed on your app we, read about this post on Configuration and Debugging AEP SDKs with AEP Assurance that can help you through the installation of AEP Assurance on your mobile app.

With AEP Assurance the connection is made very simply with only a quick scan of a QR code. There is no longer a need to hassle with network proxies or any other network configurations.

After connecting, you can see in real time, app events and activity. The events you can see in AEP Assurance contain details that are useful to validating, debugging, and troubleshooting your mobile app implementation.

AEP Assurance lets you validate the raw SDK events generated by the Adobe Mobile SDK. All events are shown in a list sorted by time. Each event has a detailed view that provides all details related to the SDK Event. As we are discussing Analytics events this is where you can see your props, eVars and events along with other device information associated to that event. Validation of your mobile implementation has never been easier with the addition of AEP Assurance.

PLATFORM WEB SDK

Adobe Experience Platform Web SDK is the newest JavaScript library that allows for customers to deploy all the applications within the Experience Cloud as well as the Experience Platform. One of those applications is Adobe Analytics. If you are looking for more information on AEP Web SDK, you can read about the lessons we learned with Platform Web SDK during Softcrylic’s maiden voyage. As we covered previously, AEP Web SDK does not replace Adobe Tags (formerly Launch) but it enhances the connection to the new Experience Edge that consolidates data collection into a single payload for consumption by the Adobe Experience Cloud.

Sounds great right? It truly is once you change your mind in how data is both collected and made available for consumption. Prior to the use of Platform Web SDK, we were able to set props, eVars and events in Adobe Launch or any of the legacy other tag managers such as Adobe Dynamic Tag Manager. But with AEP Web SDK the current recommended way to set analytics variables is using processing rules.

Processing rules are a great way to simplify data collection and manage content that is being sent to Adobe Analytics reporting. But it can also get real complex real fast. This is where AEP Assurance comes into play. Similar toMobile SDK validations, with processing rules there is a big gap in validation. With previous implementations you could see the prop and eVars in the web beacon in the browser developer tools.

Unfortunately, this isn’t how Analytics validation with Platform Web SDK works. With Experience Platform Web SDK, processing rules take XDM context Data variables and map those to props, eVars and events. You can see if those variables are being collected by using Analytics’ Real Time reporting, but if you want to view a single request to have full confidence in how Adobe Analytics will process the hit in reporting, you can test those processing rules with the AEP Assurance. Set up is simple and is done with the browser extension Adobe Experience Platform Debugger. To set up an AEP Assurance Session you will load the extension then navigate to Logs -> Edge -> Provide a Session Name -> Click Connect.

Once you connect to the Edge Network the process is very similar to the Adobe Mobile SDK. You will navigate to AEP Assurance where you can view a list of sessions. Once you load your unique session you are once again show a list of events logged during you visit to the website where you have AEP Web SDK deployed. Within those events you can filter out the Adobe Analytics events where you are now able to see the props, eVars and events just as we have seen in the browser developer tools for many years.

SUMMARY

Every implementation is different, and they will contain different context data variables so validation of you implementation is vital to having data that is both trusted and useful in making data driven decisions. So having the ability to use this new offering by Adobe is vital to the success of both your Mobile and Web SDK implementations.