This guide covers the prerequisites, setup workflow, configuration limits, and best practices you need to successfully implement Real-Time 2.0. Use this guide to plan and execute your Real-Time 2.0 deployment.
New to Real-Time 2.0? Start with the Real-Time 2.0 Overview to understand what Real-Time 2.0 is and what it can do for your business.
Before configuring Real-Time 2.0, ensure you have:
- Parent Segment created: You must have at least one Parent Segment already created. Real-Time features are enabled on a per-Parent Segment basis.
- Administrator access: The Parent Segment owner must be a Treasure Data administrator, or you must have administrator privileges to enable real-time features.
- Enterprise Support contract: Real-Time 2.0 requires an Enterprise Support agreement (Standard Support is not sufficient) to receive SLA guarantees.
- Profile key strategy: Plan your profile key (primary ID) before enabling real-time, as it cannot be changed later.
- Data ingestion setup: Have your real-time data ingestion configured (web tracking, mobile SDKs, or streaming APIs).
- Use case definition: Identify specific use cases you want to implement (e.g., abandoned cart, web personalization).
- Channel integration: Ensure destination channels (email, SMS, personalization engines) are configured.
Here's the high-level process for enabling and configuring Real-Time 2.0:
If you don't already have a Parent Segment, create one using Data Workbench. This Parent Segment will contain the batch customer data you want to use in real-time decisioning.
Key decisions:
- Define your profile key (primary ID) - this cannot be changed later
- Include all relevant batch attributes you'll need for personalization and triggering
Learn more: Creating Parent Segments
Contact Treasure Data Customer Support to enable Real-Time features on your Parent Segment. Provide:
- Customer account information
- Parent Segment ID(s) to enable
- Link to your order form
- Desired connectors for activations
This step provisions the Real-Time infrastructure for your Parent Segment and can take several hours.
Set up data ingestion to capture customer events in real-time:
- Configure web tracking SDKs for website behavior
- Set up mobile SDKs for app events
- Integrate webhooks or streaming APIs for other event sources
Learn more: Ingesting Real-time Data
Use Data Workbench to configure your Parent Segment for real-time processing:
- Event Tables: Specify which streaming tables should trigger real-time processing
- Event Definitions: (Optional) Create filtered event definitions to refine triggering logic
- Attributes: Import batch attributes and configure real-time attributes
- ID Stitching: Define ID stitching keys to recognize and unify customer profiles
- Profile Key: Select the profile key for looking up customer data
Learn more: Setting Up Parent Segments
Once your Parent Segment is configured, you can:
- Create real-time journeys with triggered activations
- Configure personalization rules and API integrations
- Set up web or mobile personalization
Learn more:
Understanding these limits helps you design an effective Real-Time 2.0 implementation:
| Category | Limit / Behavior | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ID Stitching Keys | Up to 100 IDs can be defined as stitching keys | Examples: email, user_id, td_client_id. Used to link events to profiles. |
| Batch ID Sync (Initialization) | Optional. Batch ID graphs can be imported into real-time to ensure continuity | Recommended when existing batch identities need to be available in real-time. |
| Profile Key (Primary ID) | Defined at Parent Segment creation; cannot be changed later | Determines the main join key across batch and real-time data. |
| Event Tables | Maximum 100 event tables per Parent Segment | Applies to both batch and real-time event tables. |
| Event Definitions | No hard limit | Aggregate filter length across definitions must be ≤1000 characters. |
| Attribute Backfill | Supported for batch attributes | Use backfill to pre-populate RT attributes with values from existing batch data. |
| Importing Batch Attributes | Supported | Newly added fields in batch tables become available after segment refresh. |
| New Event Fields | Automatically available in the database | Must be explicitly configured as RT attributes to use in personalization or triggers. |
| Multi-Account Deployment | Supported via CI/CD pipeline | Configurations can be exported from one environment and reused in another. |
Profile Key Selection
- Chosen during Parent Segment setup and cannot be changed after real-time is enabled
- Must be both an ID Stitching key and a Parent Segment attribute
- Used as the primary lookup key for retrieving customer profiles
Batch ID Sync
- Not mandatory, but recommended when migrating existing batch identities into real-time
- Ensures continuity between batch and real-time identity graphs
- Improves profile recognition accuracy from the start
Attribute Configuration
- Backfill allows you to populate real-time attributes with historical batch values
- New event fields automatically appear in the database but must be explicitly configured as real-time attributes to use in activations or personalization
Configuration Deployment
- Configurations can be exported and reused across multiple environments
- Supports CI/CD workflows for consistent deployment
Real-Time 2.0 is built to handle enterprise-scale workloads:
- Web Personalization: 100 milliseconds (for up to 20 attributes)
- Triggered Activations: 3 minutes end-to-end (from event ingestion to activation delivery)
SLAs require an Enterprise Support contract. Standard Support does not include SLA guarantees.
- Event Ingestion: 2,000 events per second per customer (scales horizontally to 100,000+ events per second)
- Real-Time Decisioning: 8,000 events per second per customer (horizontally scalable with expected limit at 100x)
- Triggered Activations: 8,000 events per second per customer (horizontally scalable)
- Profiles: Supports billions of customer profiles
- Plan your profile key strategy carefully before enabling real-time. Once set, it cannot be changed.
- Define your use cases clearly. Know what customer behaviors you want to respond to and what actions you want to trigger.
- Start simple: Begin with 2-3 campaigns in one channel, then expand as you build expertise.
- Separate streaming and batch data: Keep streaming event data separate from Parent Segment tables for better organization.
- Use attribute backfill when enabling real-time for existing batch segments to ensure historical data is available.
- Limit the number of ID stitching keys to those that truly identify unique customers (email, phone, customer ID).
- Configure Event Definitions thoughtfully to filter only the events you need, reducing unnecessary processing.
- Test thoroughly in a non-production environment before deploying to production.
- Monitor activation logs regularly to track successes, failures, and performance.
- Review new batch or event fields periodically to decide if they should be promoted to real-time attributes.
- Manage configurations with CI/CD to ensure consistent deployments across multiple environments.
- Iterate and optimize: Use A/B testing to continuously improve your real-time experiences.
Real-time engagement expertise takes time to develop. Use this maturity model to guide your journey:
Begin with 2-3 campaigns in 1 channel like email or web. Build expertise in real-time engagement.
Focus: Learn the basics of triggered activations and simple personalization
Expand foundational campaigns to incorporate 2-3 more channels.
Focus: Orchestrate real-time interactions across multiple channels
Incorporate ML & AI into real-time interactions. Include sales and service touchpoints in your real-time strategy.
Focus: Automate decisioning and expand beyond marketing
Build omni-department journey strategy to deliver fully unified experiences for all customers interacting with your brand.
Focus: Enterprise-wide real-time decisioning with AI/ML optimization
Now that you understand the setup process, proceed to:
- Ingesting Real-time Data - Set up web tracking, mobile SDKs, or streaming APIs
- Setting Up Parent Segments - Configure Event Tables, ID Stitching, and Attributes
- Real-Time Journeys - Build triggered activations
- Real-Time Personalization - Deliver personalized web/mobile experiences
- Real-Time 2.0 Overview - Product overview, capabilities, and use cases
- Performance Limitations and Expected Behavior
- Observability and Logs
- Real-Time Attribute FAQs