Telemetry & Privacy

Telemetry & Privacy

Telemetry is off by default. RTK sends nothing until you give explicit consent, either at the rtk init prompt ([y/N], default no) or with rtk telemetry enable. Once enabled, RTK sends anonymous, aggregate usage metrics at most once per day.

Data Collector

Entity: RTK AI Labs Contact: contact@rtk-ai.app

How it works

1. Once per day (23-hour interval), RTK sends a single HTTPS POST to the telemetry endpoint
2. The ping runs in a background thread and never blocks the CLI (2-second timeout)
3. A marker file prevents duplicate pings within the interval
4. If the server is unreachable, the ping is silently dropped — no retries, no queue

What is collected

Example values below are illustrative.

Identity (anonymous)

Field	Example	Description
device_hash	a3f8c9... (64 hex chars)	SHA-256 of a per-device random salt stored locally (~/.local/share/rtk/.device_salt). Not reversible. No hostname or username included.

Environment

Field	Example	Description
version	1.0.0	RTK version
os	macos	Operating system
arch	aarch64	CPU architecture
install_method	homebrew	How RTK was installed (homebrew/cargo/script/nix)

Usage volume

Field	Example	Description
commands_24h	100	Commands run in the last 24 hours
commands_total	10000	Commands run since install
top_commands	["git", "cargo", "ls"]	Most used tools (names only, max 5)
tokens_saved_24h	100000	Estimated tokens saved in the last 24 hours
tokens_saved_total	10000000	Estimated tokens saved since install
savings_pct	70.0	Overall bash output reduction

Filter quality

Field	Example	Description
passthrough_top	["git:10", "npm:5"]	Top 5 commands with 0% bash output reduction
parse_failures_24h	0	Filter parse failures in the last 24 hours
low_savings_commands	["rtk <cmd>:25%"]	Commands with a weighted bash output reduction below 30% (net-negative ones included). The rate is SUM(saved)/SUM(input) over every call of the command, the same figure as the rtk gain By Command table. Exact 0% is reported in passthrough_top instead
avg_savings_per_command	70.0	Unweighted average of per-command reduction rates across distinct command names; commands that never had any input are skipped

Ecosystem distribution

Field	Example	Description
ecosystem_mix	{"git": 50, "cargo": 20, "js": 10}	Share of commands per tool category, in percent

Activity

Field	Example	Description
first_seen_days	30	Installation age in days
active_days_30d	20	Days with at least 1 command in the last 30 days

Economics

Field	Example	Description
tokens_saved_30d	1000000	Estimated tokens saved in the last 30 days
estimated_savings_usd_30d	—	A USD value derived from the estimated tokens saved and a fixed per-token rate. It is not a measured cost and does not reflect any provider’s pricing

Integration

Field	Example	Description
hook_type	claude	Which AI agent hook is installed (claude/gemini/codex/cursor/none)
custom_toml_filters	1	Number of user-created TOML filter files

Configuration

Field	Example	Description
has_config_toml	true	Whether a config.toml exists
exclude_commands_count	2	Number of entries in hooks.exclude_commands
projects_count	5	Number of distinct project paths

Feature usage

Field	Example	Description
meta_usage	{"gain": 5, "discover": 2}	How often RTK’s own commands are run

What is NOT collected

• Source code or file contents
• Full command lines or arguments (only tool names like “git”, “cargo”)
• File paths or directory structures
• Secrets, API keys, or environment variable values
• Repository names or URLs
• Personally identifiable information
• IP addresses (not stored in telemetry pings; stored temporarily in erasure audit log for accountability, anonymized after 6 months)

Consent

Telemetry requires explicit opt-in consent (GDPR Art. 6, 7). Consent is requested during rtk init or via rtk telemetry enable. Without consent, no data is sent.

rtk telemetry status     # Check current consent state
rtk telemetry enable     # Give consent (interactive prompt)
rtk telemetry disable    # Withdraw consent
rtk telemetry forget     # Withdraw consent + delete local data + request server erasure

Environment variable override (blocks telemetry regardless of consent):

export RTK_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1

Retention Policy

• Server-side: telemetry records are retained for a maximum of 12 months, then automatically purged.
• Server-side (erasure log): IP addresses in the erasure audit log are anonymized after 6 months (GDPR — IP is personal data).
• Client-side: the local SQLite database (~/.local/share/rtk/history.db) retains data for 90 days by default (configurable via tracking.history_days in config.toml). Deleted entirely by rtk telemetry forget.

Your Rights (GDPR)

Under the EU General Data Protection Regulation, you have the right to:

• Access your data: rtk telemetry status shows your device hash; the telemetry payload is fully documented above.
• Rectification: since data is anonymous and aggregate, rectification is not applicable.
• Erasure (Art. 17): run rtk telemetry forget to delete local data and send an erasure request to the server. Alternatively, email contact@rtk-ai.app with your device hash.
• Restriction of processing: rtk telemetry disable stops all data collection immediately.
• Portability: the local SQLite database at ~/.local/share/rtk/history.db contains all locally stored data.
• Objection: rtk telemetry disable or export RTK_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1.

Erasure Procedure

1. Run rtk telemetry forget — this disables telemetry, deletes your device salt, ping marker, and local tracking database (history.db), then sends an erasure request to the server.
2. If the server is unreachable, the CLI prints your full device hash and fallback instructions to email contact@rtk-ai.app for manual erasure.
3. You can also email contact@rtk-ai.app directly to request manual erasure.

Data Handling

• All communications use HTTPS (TLS)
• Data is used exclusively for RTK product improvement
• No data is sold or shared with third parties
• Aggregate statistics may be published