The 'Lazy' Way to Build Your Own Google Analytics Reporter

I hate logging into Google Analytics.

The UI is slow, it's cluttered, and I have to click five times just to see "What pages are people reading today?"

> TL;DR: If you find this guide too long, just pass it to Claude Code or Gemini CLI and ask it to: *"Automate my GA4 reporting using this guide."* It will handle the scripts and setup for you.

I wanted a command-line tool that just tells me:

> *"100 people visited the Homepage. 20 visited the Pricing page."*

So, I built one. It took about 15 minutes.

Here is the exact step-by-step guide so you can do it too—even if you aren't a "hardcore" developer.

The Strategy: No Scraping, Just API

I'm not going to do anything messy like scraping the dashboard. I'm going to use the Google Analytics Data API. Think of it as a direct "pipe" to your data. It's free, it's fast, and it lets you pull *exactly* what you need without the fluff.

Step 1: Create a "Digital Assistant" (Service Account)

Google doesn't let just anyone access your data. You need a "Service Account"—basically a specialized robot user that works for you.

1. Go to the Google Cloud Console.

2. Enable the API: Search for "Google Analytics Data API" and click Enable.

3. Create the Robot: Go to "IAM & Admin" > "Service Accounts" and create one (call it something like traffic-bot).

4. Get the Key: Click on the account > "Keys" > "Add Key" > "Create New Key" > "JSON".

5. Save the file: It will download a JSON file. Put this in your project folder and rename it to ga-credentials.json.

Safety Tip: This file is your robot's password. Keep it secret. Add it to your .gitignore so it never gets uploaded to the web.

Step 2: Invite the Robot to the Party

Right now, your robot has a key, but it doesn't have permission to enter your Google Analytics property.

1. Open your Google Analytics dashboard.

2. Go to Admin (the gear icon) > Property Access Management.

3. Click Add User (the blue + icon).

4. Paste the email address of the robot you just created (found inside the JSON file).

5. Give it the Viewer role.

Step 3: The Script

Now, I'll write a few lines of code to ask the robot for data.

First, install the helper library:

```bash

npm install @google-analytics/data

```

Then, create a file called get-traffic.js and paste this in:

```javascript

const { BetaAnalyticsDataClient } = require('@google-analytics/data');

const path = require('path');

// Replace this with your Property ID (Found in GA4 Admin > Property Settings)

const PROPERTY_ID = 'YOUR_PROPERTY_ID_HERE';

const KEY_FILE_PATH = path.join(process.cwd(), 'ga-credentials.json');

const analyticsDataClient = new BetaAnalyticsDataClient({

keyFilename: KEY_FILE_PATH,

});

async function runReport() {

console.log("📊 Fetching traffic data...");

const [response] = await analyticsDataClient.runReport({

property: properties/${PROPERTY_ID},

dateRanges: [{ startDate: 'today', endDate: 'today' }],

dimensions: [{ name: 'pagePath' }],

metrics: [{ name: 'activeUsers' }, { name: 'screenPageViews' }],

limit: 10,

});

console.log('\n🚀 TOP PAGES TODAY:\n');

response.rows.forEach(row => {

console.log(${row.dimensionValues[0].value} | ${row.metricValues[0].value} Users);

});

}

runReport();

```

Step 4: Run It

In your terminal, just type:

```bash

node get-traffic.js

```

Boom. A clean, text-based report of your website's performance, instantly.

Why This Matters for Tinkerers

Once you have this data in a script, you can build cool stuff without being a "pro" coder:

Automation isn't just for engineers. It's for anyone who wants to spend less time clicking and more time building.