Build custom GA4 reports with HireOtto

Use HireOtto to turn a reporting question into a property-specific GA4 report without rebuilding it in the Analytics interface. The reliable workflow is: confirm the property, find the current API fields, check that those fields work together, run a small report, review coverage, then export the rows you need. HireOtto’s Google Analytics server is read-only. Running a report does not change the GA4 property, its events, key events, audiences, links, or data streams.

Google Analytics is currently available in beta. Core GA4 tools are available on Free, Starter, Pro, and Agency plans and consume HireOtto credits. Named connection profiles require Agency. See HireOtto pricing for current plan limits.

Before you start

You need:

HireOtto’s GA4 server connected at https://ga4.hireotto.com/mcp
A Google login with access to the GA4 property
The property ID you intend to query
A reporting question with a date range, breakdown, measures, and output requirement

If GA4 is not connected yet, follow Connect Google Analytics 4 to Claude, ChatGPT, and AI tools. Start by verifying the property rather than relying on a property name alone:

List the GA4 accounts and properties available to my connected Google login. Return each property name and property ID. Do not run a report yet.

Use this reporting workflow

1. Write the reporting brief

Define the question before selecting fields. Include:

Property: property ID and, for Agency users, the named profile
Period: complete start and end dates
Breakdown: the dimensions that define each row
Measures: the metrics that answer the question
Filters: the traffic, events, pages, countries, or campaigns to include or exclude
Comparison: the previous period, previous year, or another explicit range
Sort and row cap: how results should be ranked and how much detail to return
Output: inline review, CSV export, or both

Prefer complete periods for performance comparisons. Ending a report at yesterday avoids mixing a partial current day with completed days. GA4 interprets relative dates in the property’s time zone.

2. Find the property’s current fields

Use metadata before asking for a custom report. Metadata returns the dimensions and metrics available to that property, including registered custom definitions.

For GA4 property 123456789, find dimensions and metrics related to landing pages, sessions, engagement, key events, source, medium, and campaign. Return the API name, UI name, category, and description. Exclude deprecated aliases.

The metadata search accepts:

Parameter	Default	Accepted value	Use
`property_id`	Required	A GA4 property ID, with or without `properties/`	Selects the property’s reporting schema
`search`	Blank	Text matched against API name, UI name, description, or category	Narrows a large schema
`include_deprecated`	`false`	`true` or `false`	Includes deprecated API-name aliases in the metadata details
`limit`	`500`	1–2,000 per dimension and metric list	Caps returned metadata items
`profile_id`	`default`	`default`, or an Agency named profile	Selects the connected Google login

Do not guess custom dimension or custom metric names. Their API names are property-specific. Search the property’s metadata and use the returned API name exactly.

3. Check field compatibility

Dimensions and metrics can exist in GA4 but still be incompatible in the same Core report. Check the exact set before running the report:

Check whether landingPagePlusQueryString can be reported with sessions, engagedSessions, engagementRate, and keyEvents for property 123456789. Return only compatible fields. Do not run the report.

The compatibility check accepts:

Parameter	Default	Accepted value	Use
`property_id`	Required	A GA4 property ID	Selects the property
`dimensions`	Empty list	GA4 dimension API names	Fields that define rows
`metrics`	Empty list	GA4 metric API names	Fields that measure results
`compatibility_filter`	`COMPATIBLE`	`COMPATIBLE`, `INCOMPATIBLE`, or the API’s unspecified value	Filters the compatibility response
`profile_id`	`default`	`default`, or an Agency named profile	Selects the connected login

Compatibility checks apply to Core reports. Realtime reports use a different field set and different compatibility rules.

A compatible field set is not a complete validation of the reporting decision. It does not confirm that your date range, filters, attribution interpretation, or comparison is appropriate.

4. Run a small review report

Ask for a modest row cap and summary output first. This makes it easier to verify the property, date range, field names, filters, and ordering before creating a larger export.

For property 123456789, report sessions, engaged sessions, engagement rate, and key events by landing page for the previous 28 complete days. Exclude blank landing pages, order by sessions descending, return the first 50 rows inline, and do not change GA4.

For standard reports, HireOtto passes a GA4 RunReportRequest in request_json. Common request fields are:

Field	What it controls
`dateRanges`	One or more reporting periods
`dimensions`	The breakdown shown in each row
`metrics`	The measures returned for each row
`dimensionFilter`	Conditions applied to dimension values
`metricFilter`	Conditions applied to metric values after aggregation
`orderBys`	Deterministic ranking of the result
`metricAggregations`	Optional totals, minimums, or maximums
`comparisons`	GA4 comparison definitions when supported by the request
`currencyCode`	Display currency for currency metrics
`keepEmptyRows`	Whether to retain rows whose metrics are all zero

Use camelCase field names inside request_json. The outer property_id selects the property; a property field inside the request is ignored.

5. Review coverage before interpreting the result

Check these fields in the response:

row_count: rows available from GA4 for the request
returned_rows: rows HireOtto collected
inline_row_count: rows shown directly in the AI client
truncated: whether the collection stopped before all available rows were retrieved
metadata: report time zone, currency, thresholding, sampling, schema restrictions, and high-cardinality signals when GA4 returns them
property_quota: remaining GA4 Data API quota information

A short inline answer is not necessarily the full report. inline_limit only controls how many collected rows appear in the conversation. It does not increase collection.

6. Export after the report is correct

When the review report is correct, rerun it with the required collection and export limits:

Rerun the approved landing-page report for property 123456789. Collect up to 25,000 rows, return a 100-row inline summary, and include a CSV export. Tell me if GA4 has more rows than were collected.

CSV links are temporary. Download the file before its expiry.

Standard report parameters and defaults

Parameter	Default	Accepted range or value	Behavior
`property_id`	Required	GA4 property ID	Selects the property
`request_json`	Required	A valid GA4 Core `RunReportRequest` object	Defines fields, dates, filters, and ordering
`profile_id`	`default`	`default`, or an Agency named profile	Selects the connected login
`max_rows`	`10,000`	1–100,000	Maximum rows collected across paginated requests
`output_mode`	`summary_and_csv`	`summary`, `summary_and_csv`, `csv_only`	Controls inline rows and CSV creation
`inline_limit`	`200`	1–5,000	Maximum collected rows shown inline
`export_limit`	`50,000`	1–100,000	Maximum collected rows written to CSV
`export_ttl_minutes`	`30`	1–1,440	CSV link lifetime

If request_json.limit is lower than max_rows, the request limit becomes the effective collection cap. Each GA4 page contains at most 10,000 rows, and HireOtto continues paging until it reaches the effective cap or the available result ends.

export_limit does not cause HireOtto to collect more rows. To export 50,000 rows, set max_rows to at least 50,000 and confirm that the response is not truncated.

No CSV is created when GA4 returns no rows. In csv_only mode, an empty inline row list is expected even when the CSV contains data.

Practical report patterns

Compare acquisition periods

Use separate, equal, complete date ranges and label them clearly:

For property 123456789, compare sessions, engaged sessions, key events, and session key-event rate by session source, medium, and campaign for 28daysAgo through yesterday versus 56daysAgo through 29daysAgo. Check metadata and compatibility first. Order each result by sessions descending and return the top 100 rows plus CSV.

When several date ranges are requested, GA4 can return a date-range dimension identifying the period. Keep the raw periods visible; do not describe a change without showing both values and the denominator.

Review landing-page quality

Find the exact property-supported API names for landing page, sessions, engagement rate, and key events. Check compatibility. Then report the previous 28 complete days by landing page, exclude blank values, order by sessions descending, and flag pages with meaningful traffic but weak downstream outcomes. Show evidence separately from recommendations.

Do not rank low-volume pages by a rate alone. A high or low percentage built from a handful of sessions is not a stable performance signal.

Investigate an event

For property 123456789, report event count, total users, and key events by event name for the previous 30 complete days. Filter to events containing lead, order by event count descending, and include totals. Return the first 100 rows inline.

Use an exact event-name filter when you already know the implemented event. A contains filter is useful for discovery, but it can combine events with different meanings.

Build a campaign export

For property 123456789, find and verify the session campaign, source, and medium dimensions and compatible session, key-event, and revenue metrics. Report the previous calendar month, order by sessions descending, collect up to 50,000 rows, export CSV, and state whether the result is truncated or subject to thresholding.

Filters and ordering

Use dimensionFilter for dimensions and metricFilter for metrics. Do not place a metric in a dimension filter or a dimension in a metric filter. For a single exact dimension value, a request can use:

{
  "filter": {
    "fieldName": "sessionDefaultChannelGroup",
    "stringFilter": {
      "matchType": "EXACT",
      "value": "Paid Search",
      "caseSensitive": false
    }
  }
}

For repeatable reports, specify the sort explicitly. For example, order by sessions descending instead of accepting an unspecified row order.

Read and write scope

This workflow can read:

Reporting metadata for the selected property
Core report rows, totals, minimums, maximums, response metadata, and quota status
Property configuration needed to orient the report, including streams, key events, Ads links, and custom definitions

It cannot:

Create or edit GA4 events, key events, custom definitions, audiences, data streams, links, or property settings
Install or validate website tags
Change attribution or data-retention settings
Repair missing historical data
Confirm CRM lead quality or business impact without data you provide

Limits and interpretation guardrails

Collection, inline display, and export are separate limits. Review all three before assuming you have a complete result.
High-cardinality dimensions can produce an (other) row. Check report metadata before treating the visible rows as a complete distribution.
Thresholding or schema restrictions can hide detail. Treat metadata warnings as part of the result, not as technical noise.
GA4 can sample some reports. If sampling metadata is returned, disclose it with the analysis.
Long ranges, many columns, complex filters, and high-cardinality fields use more GA4 quota. Start small, then expand deliberately.
Current-day data is incomplete. Prefer complete periods for comparisons unless the job is explicitly intraday monitoring.
GA4 and ad-platform conversions are not interchangeable. Attribution, identity, consent, processing, and import settings can produce legitimate differences.
Rates need denominators. Show the underlying sessions, users, or events alongside conversion and engagement rates.
Do not average row-level rates to create a total. Use report totals or recompute the rate from the relevant summed numerator and denominator.

Failure cases

Problem	What it usually means	What to do
GA4 is not connected	The Google authorization is missing or expired	Reconnect GA4, then retry the property list
Property is missing	The connected Google login cannot access it	Confirm the login and GA4 property permissions
Invalid field name	The API name was guessed, renamed, deprecated, or belongs to another property	Search the property’s metadata and copy the current API name
Incompatible fields	The requested dimensions and metrics cannot be combined in a Core report	Run compatibility again and remove or split incompatible fields
Invalid filter	The field type, expression, or value does not match the request	Check the field in metadata and keep dimension and metric filters separate
Empty result	The date range, filters, property, or collection state produced no rows	Broaden one constraint at a time and confirm data exists in GA4
Partial configuration result	GA4 returned some property resources but not others	Review each section’s status; permissions can differ by resource
Truncated result	More rows exist than `max_rows` allowed HireOtto to collect	Raise `max_rows`, narrow the report, or split it into smaller requests
No CSV link	The output mode was `summary`, or GA4 returned no rows	Use `summary_and_csv` or `csv_only` after confirming rows exist
Expired CSV link	The signed export passed its time-to-live	Rerun the same reviewed request to generate a new link
Quota error	The property or project reached a GA4 Data API limit	Reduce complexity or wait for the relevant quota window to reset
HireOtto access blocked	Trial, credits, billing, or entitlement checks stopped the tool	Check billing status and current plan limits

A reusable approval-gated prompt

Build a custom GA4 report for property 123456789 that answers: Which landing pages gained qualified traffic but lost key-event efficiency? Use the previous 28 complete days and the preceding equal period. First find the property's exact landing-page, session, engagement, and key-event fields. Check Core compatibility. Show me the proposed fields, filters, date ranges, ordering, and effective row limits before running anything. After I approve, run a 50-row summary. Report row coverage, truncation, thresholding, sampling, and (other)-row signals. Do not change GA4. Create a CSV only after I approve the reviewed report.

This separates three decisions: whether the question is well-defined, whether GA4 can answer it with compatible fields, and whether the result is complete enough to support action.

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Build custom GA4 reports with HireOtto

Before you start

Use this reporting workflow

1. Write the reporting brief

2. Find the property’s current fields

3. Check field compatibility

4. Run a small review report

5. Review coverage before interpreting the result

6. Export after the report is correct

Standard report parameters and defaults

Practical report patterns

Compare acquisition periods

Review landing-page quality

Investigate an event

Build a campaign export

Filters and ordering

Read and write scope

Limits and interpretation guardrails

Failure cases

A reusable approval-gated prompt

​Before you start

​Use this reporting workflow

​1. Write the reporting brief

​2. Find the property’s current fields

​3. Check field compatibility

​4. Run a small review report

​5. Review coverage before interpreting the result

​6. Export after the report is correct

​Standard report parameters and defaults

​Practical report patterns

​Compare acquisition periods

​Review landing-page quality

​Investigate an event

​Build a campaign export

​Filters and ordering

​Read and write scope

​Limits and interpretation guardrails

​Failure cases

​A reusable approval-gated prompt

​Related resources

Before you start

Use this reporting workflow

1. Write the reporting brief

2. Find the property’s current fields

3. Check field compatibility

4. Run a small review report

5. Review coverage before interpreting the result

6. Export after the report is correct

Standard report parameters and defaults

Practical report patterns

Compare acquisition periods

Review landing-page quality

Investigate an event

Build a campaign export

Filters and ordering

Read and write scope

Limits and interpretation guardrails

Failure cases

A reusable approval-gated prompt

Related resources