Overview
This check validates that your Adobe Experience Platform (AEP) Web SDK tags are sending data to the intended Datastream ID. In AEP, the Datastream acts as the router; it receives the data from your website and determines which AEP Sandbox, Adobe Analytics Report Suite, or Adobe Target environment should receive that information.
Ensuring the correct ID is used is essential to keeping your "Production" data clean and your "Development/Staging" data separated during the testing phase.
Why it is important
Sending data to the wrong Datastream can have significant business and technical consequences:
Data Contamination: If a "Development" environment sends test data to a "Production" Datastream, your live reports and AEP Customer Profiles will be skewed with fake interactions.
Broken Personalization: If your website is looking for Adobe Target activities in the wrong Datastream, users will not see the correct offers or tests, leading to a failed user experience.
Security & Compliance: Datastreams control where sensitive customer data is stored. Sending data to an incorrect or unauthorized Datastream could lead to data being processed in the wrong geographic region or sandbox.
Mapping Failures: Each Datastream is linked to a specific XDM Schema. If the ID is wrong, the Edge Network may reject the data entirely because it doesn't match the expected schema for that ID.
Implementation
We have made implementing this check for AEP Tags simple.
The primary pre-requisite step is to create an Audit that scans your specific environments (Dev, Staging, or Prod).
Then, check the pre-built ObservePoint report for Adobe Experience Platform Web SDK Config IDs (representing configured Datastream IDs).
Review the sub-domain to Datastream ID mapping or apply a filter in the subdomain column to ensure it matches your expected Datastream ID.
Remediation
If your AEP data is being sent to the incorrect Datastream ID, follow these steps to resolve the mapping:
Check Tag Environment Settings: In AEP Tags (Launch), ensure that your Web SDK Extension is configured using "Data Elements" for the Datastream ID. This allows the ID to change dynamically based on the environment (e.g., using a different ID for your Production library vs. your Staging library).
Verify Environment Switching: If you use a "Switcher" tool or manual library overrides, ensure the
edgeConfigIdin youralloy("configure", { ... })command is correctly updated.Audit Datastream Configuration: Log in to the Adobe Experience Platform interface and navigate to Datastreams. Ensure the ID you are using in your code is correctly mapped to the intended "Adobe Experience Platform" and "Adobe Analytics" services.
Check Hardcoded IDs: Search your custom code blocks or page-top snippets for hardcoded IDs. These often bypass the logic set in your Tag Manager and are a common cause of "Development" data leaking into "Production."
Environment | Expected ID Source | Common Error |
Production | Production Datastream ID | Using a "Sandbox" or "Test" ID in the live library. |
Staging/QA | Staging Datastream ID | Points to Production, polluting live customer profiles. |
Development | Dev Datastream ID | Missing ID, causing the Web SDK to fail to initialize. |
Conclusion
The Datastream ID is the "address" for your data. If it is wrong, your data is lost or, worse, ends up in the wrong place. By using ObservePoint to monitor the Datastream ID across all your domains and subdomains, you maintain strict data governance and ensure that your Production insights remain untainted.