AirBridge → Mixpanel Instrumentation Mapping

v1.3 correction — read first

The raw channel moved to its own field

Earlier circulation wrote a raw channel into acquisition_source. Do not do that. The raw, lossless value belongs in acquisition_channel; acquisition_source may contain only an enum from the committed v1.4.0 rollup.

Interactive — §3

Click any link parameter to see where it lands

This is a real example AirBridge link. Every parameter maps to something in Mixpanel — or explicitly doesn't. Click one to see the rule.

§4 — latest-touch event context, "read carefully"

Touch semantics: profile vs. super props

The rule that's easy to get backwards: profile fields never change after first touch, but the mx_* super props update on every new tagged open — and organic opens don't clear them. Step through three sessions for the same user to see it happen.

§1

The chain — what happens on a click

The app owns everything inside the device. The server-side join is MMRP's — but it only works if the app sets the join keys, which is why this is a developer spec.

§2 — read this first, most bugs live here

Identity & timing model

Four rules, in this order. Breaking the order causes silent attribution loss — no error, just a missing join.

1. Consent gate is absolute (DPDP). No SDK initializes, no storage is written, and no event fires before affirmative consent. Deny-by-default.

2. Mixpanel initializes before attribution work. A distinct_id must exist. Order: consent → Mixpanel init → AirBridge init → read link → set props.

3. Handle deferred deep links. New installs receive params through AirBridge's deferred callback; existing installs use the immediate handler. Handle both.

4. Profile attribution is first-touch immutable. acquisition_channel, acquisition_source, and affiliate credit use $set_once. A wrong enum can never be corrected for that user.

§5 — app sequencing

Step-by-step (app side)

Use the real SDK method names per platform. The order and property names are the contract.

// Phase 1: before code-freeze, write raw channel only to acquisition_channel.
if (!userHasConsented()) return;

mixpanel.init(MIXPANEL_TOKEN);
mixpanel.identify(stableDistinctId());
airbridge.init(AIRBRIDGE_APP_TOKEN);

airbridge.onDeferredDeeplink(params => applyAttribution(params));
airbridge.onDeeplink(params => applyAttribution(params));

function applyAttribution(params) {
  mixpanel.people.setOnce({ acquisition_channel: params.channel });
  // Phase 2: also set acquisition_source from the v1.4.0 JSON rollup.
  // Never write a raw channel into acquisition_source.
  mixpanel.people.set({ airbridge_id: airbridge.getAirbridgeId() });
  if (isAffiliate(params)) {
    mixpanel.people.setOnce({ marketing_affiliate_id: params.campaign });
  }
  mixpanel.register({
    mx_channel: params.channel, mx_phase, mx_episode, mx_recipe, mx_asset,
    mx_placement, mx_funding, mx_ad_platform, mx_persona, mx_layer,
    mx_team, mx_cta, ...(isAffiliate(params) && { mx_aff: params.campaign })
  }); // overwrite on tagged opens; omit absent params
}

mixpanel.track("signup_complete", { new_otp_unique_account: <bool> });
// NOT account_created

§5

Server-side join — why the app props matter

The AirBridge server postback hits MMRP at /api/ingestion/airbridge/*. MMRP joins that postback to the Mixpanel funnel using airbridge_id (and marketing_affiliate_id for affiliate credit). The join is deterministic-only — if the app didn't set these keys, the postback and the funnel can't be joined and the install looks organic.

Affiliate credit follows a no-clawback ledger: money is only released on met conditions, never reversed — so a missing join key means an affiliate is silently underpaid. That's why §2/§3 are strict.

§6 — must not get wrong

Naming & parity

• The signup event is signup_complete, not account_created. account_created exists in no Mixpanel environment; any code emitting it produces silent zeros. MAP payout logic keys off signup_complete.
• iOS === Android: identical event names, identical property names, identical lowercase enum values.
• Production is currently behind — marketing_affiliate_id is on zero events in Prod (present in Staging/Dev). This guide is exactly what closes that gap; verify it lands in all three environments.

§7 — non-negotiable

DPDP hard constraints

• No phone numbers, no raw PII in any Mixpanel property. Linkage is pseudonymous (airbridge_id).
• Nothing fires before affirmative consent (deny-by-default, granular, all unchecked).
• new_otp_unique_account is a boolean only — never the phone number or a hash of it.
• Permitted property content: IDs, enums, booleans, episode_id, acquisition_source. Nothing else.

§9

Verify — one decisive end-to-end test

Use a clean device (no prior install), per platform and per environment. Events are not backfillable.

1. Test an affiliate link with RISING-E0-TESTONLY, and separately a marketing link: instagram / phase1_tease__ep01_discovery / trend__testasset_01 / funding=organic.
2. Tap → install → consent → sign up → open an episode.
3. Confirm signup_complete, a second event with full mx_*, raw acquisition_channel, enum-only acquisition_source, and airbridge_id.
4. Affiliate case: confirm exact marketing_affiliate_id and the AirBridge postback join.
5. Tap a second tagged link. Its event context must change while first-touch profile keys remain unchanged.

§10 — do not hardcode against these

Open pins

v1.3 consolidation

Changelog — what changed

v1.3 supersedes v1.0–v1.2 and resolves the old rollup guidance against the committed v1.4.0 contract.