Blog
24 posts currently live in this category.
Introducing Scarf's New Pricing Model
Today we are launching a new pricing model for new Scarf accounts going forward, and we'd love your feedback. For customers already on a paid Scarf plan, your billing will not be impacted by this change.
Scarf Go SDK is Now Available
Scarf's Go SDK is now available on GitHub. You can now send telemetry to Scarf from your Golang code more easily than ever, with things like user opt-out being managed for you.
Scarf's GitBook Integration Is Live!
A common request we've received from the Scarf community is that many of you are using GitBook for your docs, which does not directly support a way to embed your Scarf tracking pixel.
Scarf AI Public Beta
We often talk about the power of open source usage data, but anyone who has worked with any analytics tools knows that data is not particularly useful on its own. Understanding what insights to care about, what is actionable, and how to solve day-to-day business problems with data can sometimes just be a lot of work -- whether that's manual analysis, building automations, or even just remembering to look at the insights regularly. We've heard the feedback on where Scarf users are spending too much of their time and where they can be made more efficient. Fortunately, most of the common problems are where precisely AI assistance shines the brightest.
Tracking Usage of Your MCP Server with Scarf
Scarf Gateway provides a very simple redirect layer to track requests through arbitrary URL templates. Follow these instructions to track downloads and requests to your MCP Server.
That 2024 wrap-up Scarf-up we sent you is accurate
That 2024 wrap-up Scarf-up we sent you is accurate
How Weaviate Leverages Open Source Usage Data to Drive RevOps
"At the end of the day, it’s all about turning open source usage into enterprise adoption—and Scarf helps us do that.” - Soham Maniar, Director of RevOps, Weaviate
Scarf Summit Recap: Open Source Insights with Weaviate & Common Room
The Scarf Summit brought together open source industry leaders to explore how open source usage signals are shaping the future of commercial open source companies. We were joined by Soham Maniar, Director of RevOps at Weaviate and Kevin White, Head of Marketing at Common Room, to expand on leveraging open source usage data for sales and marketing campaigns.
How We Use Scarf for Open Source Marketing
Open source projects generate a treasure trove of data (downloads, doc views, project usage), but most open source companies aren’t tapping into it. That interest is there, but how do you connect it to real business opportunities through marketing?
Join Us at the Scarf Summit on December 10th
The Open Source Business Metrics Guide
Summary (The TLDR): Whether you are responsible for growing the adoption of an open source project or you have a role in growing the paying customer base of a company built around open source, you require data to help optimize and refine that growth. Today, the most commonly accepted metrics for open source adoption and growth are heavily focused on the contributor and community aspect of growth ( the idea is healthy contributors should equate to healthy adoption ). While these are fantastic metrics in themselves, they are only showing part of the picture. Many projects have small contributor bases but are widely adopted and considered commercial successes, while the inverse is also true with projects having large contributor bases and limited commercial success. This guide is built for those project mantainers, product owners, and executives at open source based companies who are responsible for growth and adoption. Here you will find the metrics and critical business information collected over the last 20 years after talking with hundreds of business executives, maintainers, and product owners.
Bringing Open Source Usage Data Directly to Your CRM: Scarf's New Salesforce Integration
We’ve got some exciting news: Scarf just launched a powerful, native integration with Salesforce, bringing Scarf’s rich open source usage data directly into your CRM. No more bouncing between tools or setting up S3 data exports—you can now get all the insights you need where you already do your work. 🎉
Scarf Completes SOC 2 Type 2 Examination: What It Means for Our Community
We're thrilled to announce that Scarf has successfully completed the SOC 2 Type 2 examination! This might sound like legal jargon at first glance, but let’s break down what this means for us, our users, and the open-source community as a whole.
Introducing Match Feedback: Take Control of Your Data
Our core service lets you identify which companies are viewing your documents, downloading your packages or executing your software, we call these Monthly Tracked Companies (MTCs). The foundation of Scarf company tracking is IP Address attribution. Our Company Tracking algorithm considers confidence and reputation scores from multiple sources to provide what we believe to be the best matching data in the industry. Despite our confidence, “best” still isn’t perfect. We are tracking individual endpoints, but understand that IP addresses can change assignment or be shared by multiple users or companies, that means matches Scarf provides might not always be 100% accurate. That’s why we’re excited to introduce our newest feature: Match Feedback!
3 Methods to Collect Data with Scarf
Scarf Packages are part of the service that sits in front of your existing software, acting as a single access point to all of your artifacts, regardless of where they are actually hosted. Scarf Packages decouple your distribution from your hosting provider to give you in-depth download analytics. scarf.gateway.scarf.sh
What's New at Scarf: Key Takeaways from the Scarf Summit
On July 16th, we hosted our first-ever Scarf Summit, celebrating analytics for open source and the significant improvements we’ve made to the Scarf platform. In case you missed it, here’s a recap of all the key updates shared by our Engineering Leader, Aaron Porter. You can also watch the recording below:
Below the Surface: Why Open Source Needs Analytics
Understanding open source user engagements and usage is obscured by a lack of actionable data, a result of its inherent openness and anonymity. Metrics like GitHub stars and number of contributors barely scratch the surface, failing to paint the full picture of project health. Having more contributors than other similar projects may look good on paper, but that doesn't directly translate to more users. Similarly, an increase in the number of contributors, pull requests, or issues on GitHub may seem promising, but doesn't necessarily indicate growth in your project's user base.
Why Haskell is a Terrible Choice for Startups (and why we picked it anyway)
Here are some observations about using Haskell in production at a small startup with a high-traffic system. This is a list based on Avi Press' original talk at Scale by the Bay 2023.
Analytics are Starting to Win in Open Source
When I got started working on Scarf back in 2019, many people expressed skepticism that usage analytics would ever be tolerated in the open source world. There was a widespread belief that I was barking up the wrong tree on a problem that couldn't be solved. Open source developers would never know how their software was really being used because the culture norm was absolutely against any kind of tracking, telemetry, or analytics. I pushed forward anyway, largely due to my own experience. Six months earlier, I was faced with a hard decision around whether I would leave my day job to work on open source full-time, and build a small business around tools I had been maintaining during nights and weekends. Unfortunately, I lacked the necessary information I needed to reasonably navigate that decision. The resistance to tracking and telemetry was deeply ingrained in open source culture, so I felt I had to make that decision in the dark. In that darkness, I hedged my bet by reducing my hours to part-time rather than fully departing, and in the end, the endeavor was unsuccessful. The idea for Scarf came soon after, when I talked to other OSS developers and learned my difficulties were not unique to me. Lots of developers struggled with simply not knowing which companies were relying on their work or what impact it was actually having day to day.
Introducing OQLs: A New Way for Businesses to Quantify Open Source Adoption
In the open source ecosystem, user behaviors are diverse and conversion tracking poses unique challenges frequently leaving traditional marketing strategies insufficient. Amidst these obstacles, we've observed that our customers consistently face difficulties when attempting to prioritize the growing list of companies adopting their open source project. With thousands of users and companies engaging in a variety of ways, determining where to direct attention becomes a daunting task.
The BSL Phenomenon: Balancing Sustainability and Open Source Principles
Open source, as defined by the Open Source Initiative, goes beyond merely providing access to source code. It is about the freedom to use, modify, and redistribute that code without infringing on copyrights. This ethos has made open source attractive to corporate users as it allows them to adapt software to their needs, build commercial products, and scale without fear of licensing issues.
Unlocking the Power of Custom URL Parameters with Scarf: A Comprehensive Guide
If you have not seen, a recent release of Scarf added the ability to track and report on custom URL parameters.
Building Trust: How to Collect Data Responsibly as an Open Source Project
In the ever-evolving landscape of open source software, data collection has become a hot-button issue. As the open source community grows and software becomes increasingly integral to our daily lives, concerns about data collection ethics have emerged. This article delves into the complex world of data collection in open source, addressing the concerns of both advocates and skeptics, and explores recommended solutions to bridge the gap.
Selling Open Source: 101 - Guide for Sales and Marketing Teams
Monetizing open source software is a challenging task, but it can also be highly rewarding. Unlike traditional software, you're essentially competing against a free version of your product. So, how do you sell something that is inherently free? This guide will delve into the complexities of selling open source software and provide actionable strategies tailored for sales and marketing teams. We'll explore the nuances of open source business models, uncover ways to turn anonymous users into qualified leads, and dissect growth strategies that work.
