fix: new user detection race condition + telemetry gaps

UI Fixes:
- Guard `isFirstTimeUser` on sync status — don't show beginner UI
  while sessions are loading (prevents flash on every startup)
- Make Tips component reactive — tip pool now updates when
  `isFirstTime` changes (was locked at render time)

Telemetry Fixes (privacy-safe):
- Add `first_launch` event — fires once after install, contains only
  version string and is_upgrade boolean. No PII. Opt-out-able.
- Use machine_id as ai.user.id fallback — IMPROVES privacy by
  giving each anonymous user a distinct random UUID instead of
  grouping all non-logged-in users under empty string ""

Documentation:
- telemetry.md: added `first_launch` to event table, new "New User
  Identification" section, "Data Retention" section
- security-faq.md: added "How does Altimate Code identify users?"
  and "What happens on first launch?" sections

All telemetry changes respect existing ALTIMATE_TELEMETRY_DISABLED
opt-out. No PII is ever sent — machine_id is crypto.randomUUID(),
email is SHA-256 hashed.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: anandgupta42

docs/docs/reference/security-faq.md

@@ -126,6 +126,23 @@ Or via environment variable:
 export ALTIMATE_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=true
 ```
 
+### How does Altimate Code identify users for analytics?
+
+- **Logged-in users:** Your email is SHA-256 hashed before sending. We never see your raw email.
+- **Anonymous users:** A random UUID (`crypto.randomUUID()`) is generated on first run and stored at `~/.altimate/machine-id`. This is NOT tied to your hardware, OS, or identity — it's purely random.
+- **Both identifiers** are only sent when telemetry is enabled. Disable with `ALTIMATE_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=true`.
+- **No fingerprinting:** We do not use browser fingerprinting, hardware IDs, MAC addresses, or IP-based tracking.
+
+### What happens on first launch?
+
+A single `first_launch` event is sent containing only:
+
+- The installed version (e.g., "0.5.9")
+- Whether this is a fresh install or upgrade (boolean)
+- Your anonymous machine ID (random UUID)
+
+No code, queries, file paths, or personal information is included. This event helps us understand adoption and is fully opt-out-able.
+
 ## What happens when I authenticate via a well-known URL?
 
 When you run `altimate auth login <url>`, the CLI fetches `<url>/.well-known/altimate-code` to discover the server's auth command. Before executing anything:

docs/docs/reference/telemetry.md

@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ We collect the following categories of events:
 | `skill_used` | A skill is loaded (skill name and source — `builtin`, `global`, or `project` — no skill content) |
 | `sql_execute_failure` | A SQL execution fails (warehouse type, query type, error message, PII-masked SQL — no raw values) |
 | `core_failure` | An internal tool error occurs (tool name, category, error class, truncated error message, PII-safe input signature, and optionally masked arguments — no raw values or credentials) |
+| `first_launch` | Fired once on first CLI run after installation. Contains version and is_upgrade flag. No PII. |
 
 Each event includes a timestamp, anonymous session ID, CLI version, and an anonymous machine ID (a random UUID stored in `~/.altimate/machine-id`, generated once and never tied to any personal information).
 
@@ -88,6 +89,19 @@ We take your privacy seriously. Altimate Code telemetry **never** collects:
 
 Error messages are truncated to 500 characters and scrubbed of file paths before sending.
 
+### New User Identification
+
+Altimate Code uses two types of anonymous identifiers for analytics, depending on whether you are logged in:
+
+- **Anonymous users (not logged in):** A random UUID is generated using `crypto.randomUUID()` on first run and stored at `~/.altimate/machine-id`. This ID is not tied to your hardware, operating system, or identity — it is purely random and serves only to distinguish one machine from another in aggregate analytics.
+- **Logged-in users (OAuth):** Your email address is SHA-256 hashed before sending. The raw email is never transmitted.
+
+Both identifiers are only sent when telemetry is enabled. Disable telemetry entirely with `ALTIMATE_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=true` or the config option above.
+
+### Data Retention
+
+Telemetry data is sent to Azure Application Insights and retained according to [Microsoft's data retention policies](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/logs/data-retention-configure). We do not maintain a separate data store. To request deletion of your telemetry data, contact privacy@altimate.ai.
+
 ## Network
 
 Telemetry data is sent to Azure Application Insights:

packages/opencode/src/altimate/telemetry/index.ts

@@ -350,6 +350,15 @@ export namespace Telemetry {
         skill_source: "builtin" | "global" | "project"
         duration_ms: number
       }
+    // altimate_change start — first_launch event for new user counting (privacy-safe: only version + machine_id)
+    | {
+        type: "first_launch"
+        timestamp: number
+        session_id: string
+        version: string
+        is_upgrade: boolean
+      }
+    // altimate_change end
     // altimate_change start — telemetry for skill management operations
     | {
         type: "skill_created"
@@ -618,7 +627,13 @@ export namespace Telemetry {
         iKey: cfg.iKey,
         tags: {
           "ai.session.id": sid || "startup",
-          "ai.user.id": userEmail,
+          // altimate_change start — use machine_id as fallback for anonymous user identification
+          // This IMPROVES privacy: previously all anonymous users shared ai.user.id=""
+          // which made them appear as one mega-user in analytics. Using the random UUID
+          // (already sent as a custom property) gives each machine a distinct identity
+          // without any PII. machine_id is a crypto.randomUUID() stored locally.
+          "ai.user.id": userEmail || machineId || "",
+          // altimate_change end
           "ai.cloud.role": "altimate",
           "ai.application.ver": Installation.VERSION,
         },

packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/tui/component/tips.tsx

@@ -47,26 +47,28 @@ const BEGINNER_TIPS = [
 ]
 // altimate_change end
 
-// altimate_change start — first-time user beginner tips
+// altimate_change start — first-time user beginner tips with reactive pool
 export function Tips(props: { isFirstTime?: boolean }) {
   const theme = useTheme().theme
-  const pool = props.isFirstTime ? BEGINNER_TIPS : TIPS
-  const parts = parse(pool[Math.floor(Math.random() * pool.length)])
-  // altimate_change end
+  const tip = createMemo(() => {
+    const pool = props.isFirstTime ? BEGINNER_TIPS : TIPS
+    return parse(pool[Math.floor(Math.random() * pool.length)])
+  })
 
   return (
     <box flexDirection="row" maxWidth="100%">
       <text flexShrink={0} style={{ fg: theme.warning }}>
         ● Tip{" "}
       </text>
       <text flexShrink={1}>
-        <For each={parts}>
+        <For each={tip()}>
           {(part) => <span style={{ fg: part.highlight ? theme.text : theme.textMuted }}>{part.text}</span>}
         </For>
       </text>
     </box>
   )
 }
+// altimate_change end
 
 const TIPS = [
   "Type {highlight}@{/highlight} followed by a filename to fuzzy search and attach files",

packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/tui/routes/home.tsx

@@ -38,7 +38,13 @@ export function Home() {
     return Object.values(sync.data.mcp).filter((x) => x.status === "connected").length
   })
 
-  const isFirstTimeUser = createMemo(() => sync.data.session.length === 0)
+  // altimate_change start — fix race condition: don't show beginner UI until sessions loaded
+  const isFirstTimeUser = createMemo(() => {
+    // Don't evaluate until sessions have actually loaded (avoid flash of beginner UI)
+    if (sync.status === "loading" || sync.status === "partial") return false
+    return sync.data.session.length === 0
+  })
+  // altimate_change end
   const tipsHidden = createMemo(() => kv.get("tips_hidden", false))
   const showTips = createMemo(() => {
     // Always show tips — first-time users need guidance the most

packages/opencode/src/cli/welcome.ts

@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ import path from "path"
 import os from "os"
 import { Installation } from "../installation"
 import { EOL } from "os"
+// altimate_change start — import Telemetry for first_launch event
+import { Telemetry } from "../altimate/telemetry"
+// altimate_change end
 
 const APP_NAME = "altimate-code"
 const MARKER_FILE = ".installed-version"
@@ -41,6 +44,16 @@ export function showWelcomeBannerIfNeeded(): void {
     // altimate_change end
     const isUpgrade = installedVersion === currentVersion && installedVersion !== "local"
 
+    // altimate_change start — track first launch for new user counting (privacy-safe: only version + machine_id)
+    Telemetry.track({
+      type: "first_launch",
+      timestamp: Date.now(),
+      session_id: "",
+      version: installedVersion,
+      is_upgrade: isUpgrade,
+    })
+    // altimate_change end
+
     if (!isUpgrade) return
 
     const tty = process.stderr.isTTY