Read Parameters, Not Group Names

Statsig experiments differentiate their groups through parameters, not group names. Every group defines a value for the same parameters, your code reads those values with experiment.get("param", default), and the console blocks Start until the experiment defines at least one parameter. Checking a group name in code instead is an anti-pattern: it's fragile, it forces a code change for every new variant, and it borrows a field that exists for diagnostics. Group names belong in the console, where comparing "Sorted Long List" with "Default Search Results" is easier to discuss than the sorted = true, length = 10 parameters they represent.

Example: group names compared with parameters

A function that checks experiment groups might look like this:

async function getSearchItems(user: StatsigUser, searchTerm: String): String[] {
    const results = index.get(searchTerm);
    const experiment = statsig.getExperimentSync(user, 'search_results');
    // NOTE - these APIs don't actually exist - this is for the sake of an example
    if (experiment.groupName === 'Sorted Long List') {
      return results.sort().slice(10);
    } else if (experiment.groupName === 'Sorted Short List') {
      return results.sort().slice(3);
    } else {
      return results;
    }
}

This code has two problems:

1. It's fragile. If the group name in code doesn't match the name in the Statsig console, Statsig doesn't return the correct experience.
2. It's static. Adding another experiment group, such as an "Unsorted long list", requires a code change.

The same function using experiment parameters directly:

async function getSearchItems(user: StatsigUser, searchTerm: String): String[] {
    let results = index.get(searchTerm);
    const experiment = statsig.getExperimentSync(user, 'search_results');
    results = experiment.get("sorted", false) ? results.sort() : results;
    const numItems = experiment.get("length", 0);
    return numItems > 0 ? results.slice(numItems) : results;
}

This code doesn't reference any group names. To test an unsorted list of 5 items against a sorted list of 20 items, configure the groups in the Statsig console and name them however you want; the same code handles every combination of sorted and length.

Diagnostics rule meanings

The Diagnostics tab helps you debug your integration and understand which group Statsig assigns a user to. The Rule column of the Exposure Stream and the result of Check Group for a User use the following values.