Lightweight usage analytics: GitHub downloads + anonymous launch ping

[idofrizler]

Goal

Track Cooper usage/installs without invasive analytics. Only collect:

• How many people are using it
• Which versions are running
• OS distribution

No PII, no behavioral tracking.

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Implementation Plan

Part 1: GitHub Releases Download Counts (Zero Implementation)

GitHub already tracks download counts per release asset. Query via API:

gh api repos/OWNER/cooper/releases --jq '.[].assets[] | {name, download_count}'

Provides: Total downloads per version/platform
Limitation: Doesn't track active installs or version distribution of running apps

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Part 2: Anonymous Launch Ping (Lightweight)

On app launch, send a single anonymous request to a lightweight endpoint (Cloudflare Worker / Vercel Edge Function / GitHub Gist).

Payload:

{
  "version": "1.2.3",
  "os": "darwin" | "win32" | "linux",
  "machineIdHash": "sha256-of-machine-id"
}

Privacy considerations:

• Machine ID is hashed (SHA-256) — not reversible, only used for unique counts
• No user data, no tracking, no PII
• Could add an opt-out toggle in settings (default: enabled, with clear disclosure)

Backend options (pick one):

• Cloudflare Worker + KV storage (~$0)
• Vercel Edge Function + KV
• Simple GitHub Gist counter (hacky but free)

Exposes:

• Unique active user count
• Version distribution
• OS breakdown

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Out of Scope

• Behavioral analytics
• Feature usage tracking
• Crash reporting
• Any PII collection

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Labels

enhancement, good first issue