Documentation Experience Platform Data Collection

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Differences from Web SDK

Last update: October 29, 2026

Topics:
Data Collection

CREATED FOR:

Developer

The Server SDK and the Web SDK share the same core, so they send data in the same format, to the same datastreams, and use the same cookies. Because one runs on a server and the other in a browser, they differ in several ways. Use this page to plan a migration, or to share code between a browser and a server implementation.

Comparison comparison

Area

Web SDK

Server SDK

Where it runs

The visitor’s browser

Your server, in Node.js or another server-side JavaScript runtime. See Runtime support.

Installation

Tag extension, JavaScript library, or the @adobe/alloy npm package

The @adobe/alloy-node npm package. See Install.

How you call it

alloy("sendEvent", { ... })

alloy.sendEvent({ ... }). See Methods overview.

Instances

One per page load, serving one visitor

One per process, plus a forRequest handle for each visitor request

Authentication

None

Required. Events go to the authenticated Edge Network Server API. See Authentication.

Identity

Read from and written to browser cookies automatically

Read from and written to a cookie service that you provide. Every event needs a primary identity.

Consent

defaultConsent accepts "in", "out", and "pending"

defaultConsent accepts "in" and "out" only

Personalization

Requests, renders, and tracks the display of propositions

Requests propositions and returns them. Doesn’t render them or track their display.

Context data

Page, device, environment, place, and client hint details from the browser

Implementation details, the visitor’s forwarded request headers, and the page URL from the Referer header. See Context and forwarded headers.

sendEvent result

propositions, inferences, and destinations

propositions

Debugging

debugEnabled, setDebug, the alloy_debug query string parameter, and Adobe Experience Platform Debugger

debugEnabled and setDebug, with messages written to the console

Monitoring hooks

The monitors option and the __alloyMonitors global variable

The monitors option of createInstance

Methods methods

The Server SDK adds the forRequest method, which doesn’t exist in the Web SDK.

It supports the following Web SDK commands as methods: appendIdentityToUrl, applyResponse, configure, getIdentity, getLibraryInfo, sendEvent, setConsent, and setDebug.

The following Web SDK commands aren’t available, because they depend on a browser or on components that the Server SDK doesn’t include:

applyPropositions
createMediaSession
getMediaAnalyticsTracker
sendMediaEvent
sendPushSubscription
subscribeRulesetItems

Configuration options configuration

New and required: edgeCredentials.
Supported: datastreamId, orgId, debugEnabled, defaultConsent, edgeBasePath, edgeConfigOverrides, edgeDomain, idMigrationEnabled, onBeforeEventSend, and thirdPartyCookiesEnabled. Some of these behave differently on a server. See each option’s page.
Not supported: Every other Web SDK option. If you include one, configure rejects. See Options that the Server SDK doesn’t support.

sendEvent options sendevent

Supported: xdm, data, type, personalization.decisionScopes and personalization.surfaces, the top-level decisionScopes array, and edgeConfigOverrides.
Accepted, but no effect: renderDecisions, advertising, and the other personalization properties. See Options that have no effect on a server.
Avoid: documentUnloading.

Frequently asked questions faq

Can I use the Server SDK and the Web SDK on the same website? same-site

Yes. A common pattern is to request personalization on the server and render it in the browser. See Hybrid personalization. Both libraries can send data to the same datastream if its Access Type is Mixed Authentication. Both use the same cookie names for identity and consent.

Why does every event need a primary identity? primary-identity

The Server SDK sends events to the authenticated Edge Network Server API. Because the request comes from your server, the Edge Network can’t use the visitor’s browser cookies to identify them. Instead, it requires a primary identity in the event. See xdm.

Can I use the Server SDK in serverless functions? serverless

Yes, if the function’s runtime meets the requirements. Create and configure the instance at the top level of your module, outside the function handler. This way, warm invocations reuse the configured instance and its cached access token. Call forRequest inside the handler for each invocation.

Can I use Adobe Experience Platform Debugger? debugger

No. Adobe Experience Platform Debugger is a browser extension that inspects pages. To debug the Server SDK, set debugEnabled to true or call setDebug, and review your server’s console output.

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