Recording events
An event is an interaction between a user and your catalog. It can be an interaction with an item, such as a user purchasing an item or watching a video, or an action, such as taking the action. For example, applying for a credit card or enrolling in a membership program.
Amazon Personalize can make recommendations based on real-time event data only, historical event data only, or a mixture of both. Record real-time events as your customers interact with action recommendations. This builds out your interactions data and keeps your data fresh. And it tells Amazon Personalize about the current interests of your user, which can improve recommendation relevance.
If your domain use case or custom recipe supports real-time personalization, Amazon Personalize uses events in real time to update and adapt recommendations according to a user's evolving interest.
How you record real-time events depends on the type of interactions data you are importing:
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For item interactions, you record real-time events with the PutEvents API operation. Amazon Personalize appends this data to the Item interactions dataset in your dataset group. For more information, see Recording events.
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For action interactions, you record real-time events with the PutActionInteractions API operation. Amazon Personalize appends this data to the Action interactions dataset in your dataset group. Only the PERSONALIZED_ACTIONS recipes use action interactions data. For more information, see Recording action interaction events.
Topics
How real-time events influence recommendations
If your recipe supports real-time personalization, after you create a recommender or custom campaign, Amazon Personalize uses new recorded event data for existing items or actions within seconds of import. The following use cases and recipes support real-time personalization:
If you use the Trending-Now recipe, Amazon Personalize automatically considers items from new events data over configurable intervals. You don't have to create a new solution version. For more information, see Trending-Now recipe.
If the item, action, or user in the event is new, how the Amazon Personalize uses the data depends on your use case or recipe. For more information, see How new data influences real-time recommendations.