Kickoff: Usage Metrics

> [!NOTE]
> **Kickoff — Wayfinder not yet run, no chart yet.** Placeholder child of the **Usage Metrics** initiative (#2010). "Placeholder" means only that there's no chart — the content below is real. Run `/wayfinder` against the initiative to create the map; **this kickoff closes when that map is created**.

## Rough intent

Research and scope embedding usage metrics in Graph Explorer: what to measure, how to collect it without compromising user privacy or trust, and how the data gets surfaced to the team.

## Notes

- **Skills to consult when charting:** `/research` (analytics/telemetry approaches, privacy norms for a self-hosted OSS tool), `/wayfinder`, `/domain-modeling`.

## Paths to explore

- **Deployment reality** *(grilling)* — Graph Explorer is **self-hosted** (users run it in their own Docker/SageMaker). Who would metrics even report to, and is any phone-home acceptable? This may be the gating question for the whole initiative.
- **What to measure** *(grilling)* — feature usage, database types connected, query volumes, error rates? What actually informs the roadmap?
- **Privacy & consent** *(research + grilling)* — opt-in vs opt-out, what's PII-safe given users connect to their own databases, how to be transparent.
- **Collection mechanism** *(research)* — client events, proxy-server logs, an external sink; existing OSS telemetry patterns.
- **Surfacing** *(grilling)* — dashboards, where the team sees the data.

## Potential blockers & pitfalls

- **Self-hosted trust:** any telemetry in a tool users run against their *own* databases is sensitive; a misstep damages trust. This could block the initiative entirely, or restrict it to opt-in only.
- **No existing telemetry infrastructure** in the product today — this is greenfield.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Internal only — this issue is maintained by the core team and is not accepting external contributions.